Young Frankenstein - The Musical (Saturday Sept 9, 2017)

We hadn't been out to any of the Super Summer Theater outdoor events at Blue Diamond Ranch in Red Rock Canyon before and thought that this adaptation of Young Frankenstein - as a musical - was a good excuse to check it out.

We had no idea what a production people made out of these events. Because it is open, picnic-style seating and the gates open an hour before the show starts, people make a night of it and either buy food at the (reasonably priced) concession stands there or bring picnic dinners. But, many of these were not the ordinary picnic dinner (like we brought), but they bring chairs and tables (!), several courses (pizza, roast chicken, sandwiches, etc.) and copious bottles of wine! One group even brought a chandelier! So, the people watching was as much of an event as the show itself.

The setting itself it quite nice - Red Rock Canyon is beautiful - and the stage and sound system are well done (although there were a few issues with Frankenstein's microphone) and the casual atmosphere makes for a fun time.

The show itself was, unfortunately, just ok. A lot of the musical numbers were overly silly, and crossed the line from clever/silly of Mel Brooks to just-plain-silly and not particularly funny. But, the actors were all good, the voices were great and the stage setting was effective. Not a story that needed to be made into a musical though - I think I would have enjoyed it more as simply a stage presentation of the movie's plot.

In any case, it was still a nice night out, the weather was great (the show was rained out the night before but the rain brought cool temperatures to the Canyon so we actually needed jackets), and it was organized well so getting in and out was not a huge hassle. We'll keep an eye open for other shows that grab our attention next season.