Oak Park Resident Stars in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at Drury Lane Theatre

OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill.- Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, presents the Mel Brooks Broadway hit YOUNG
FRANKENSTEIN, previewing January 16, opening Thursday, January 23, and running through
March 16, 2014. The cast is led by Devin DeSantis as “Dr. Frederick
Frankenstein” (Anyone Can Whistle with Patti LuPone at the
Ravinia Festival, four years in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and
Pirates of Penzance, Boys from Syracuse and Hot Mikado at Drury Lane Theatre); Jeff Award
winner Jeff Dumas as “Igor” (First National Tour of Spamalot Directed by
Mike Nichols, Bounce at The Kennedy Center, NBC TV’s Chicago Fire,
The Merry Widow at Lyric Opera Chicago, Pacific Overtures at
Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Winesburg, Ohio at About Face Theatre);
and Johanna McKenzie Miller as “Elizabeth Benning” (Mary Poppins at
Marriott Theatre, Fiddler on the Roof at Drury Lane Theatre, The
Music Man at Marriott Theatre, Sunday in the Park with George at
Ravinia Festival and The Three Musketeers at Chicago Shakespeare
Theater).The production is Directed by Drury Lane Theatre Artistic
Director William Osetek (Drury Lane Theatre’s smash hit production of Spamalot
and Jeff Award nominee for Best Director and Best Production for Thoroughly
Modern Millie) and Choreographed by Jeff Award winner Tammy Mader (Sunset
Boulevard, Gypsy, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Hairspray at Drury
Lane Theatre). Oak Park resident, Jared Titus stars as an ensemble member. 

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is based on the critically-acclaimed Mel Brooks film that was named “one of the funniest movies of all time” by the American Film Institute and features a Book by Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner Brooks (The Producers) and multi-Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan (The Producers, Annie, and Hairspray) and Music and Lyrics by Brooks. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN has been called “Truly exhilarating!” (The New York Times); “Delightfully nutty! Glittering, buoyant fun that tickles its audience into high spirits!” (Los Angeles Times); “A highly entertaining musical-comedy spectacular featuring endless doses of Brooks’ classic humor!” (Hollywood Reporter); and “A jolly monster of a show!” (Variety).   

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend. The story follows young Dr. Frankenstein as he attempts to complete his grandfather’s masterwork and bring a corpse to life. With his creepy servant, Igor, bombshell lab assistant, Inga, and madcap fiancée, Elizabeth, Dr. Frankenstein succeeds in creating a monster—but not without monstrous repercussions. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN was nominated for three 2008 Tony Awards, a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album, and was the winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. It ran on Broadway from 2007 to 2009 and toured the U.S in 2010 and 2011. 

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN also stars Scott Calcagno as “Inspector Kemp”/ “Hermit” (First National Tour of Ragtime and First National Tour of Scrooge); Jeff Parker as “Dr. Victor Von Frankenstein” (the World Premiere of Turn of the Century Directed by Tommy Tune at Goodman Theatre, Bounce at The Kennedy Center, and The Three Musketeers  at Chicago Shakespeare Theater); multi-Jeff Award winner Paula Scrofano as “Frau Blücher” (Thoroughly Modern Millie at Drury Lane Theatre, Oklahoma! at Lyric Opera Chicago, and Fiddler on the Roof at Marriott Theatre); newcomer Allison Sill as “Inga,” and Travis Taylor as “The Monster” (The Christmas Schooner at Mercury Theater Chicago and Shrek the Musical at Chicago Shakespeare Theater).  The ensemble features Gary Carlson, Sean Effinger Dean, Skyler Adams, Zachary L. Gray, Jeff Max, Gerry Galante, Philip Ollenburg, Jared Titus, Tiffany Herlien, Ericka Mac, Sarah Page, Rebecca Bradford, Amanda Compton, Ariane Dolan, and Stephanie Hansen.

Jeff Award winner Roberta Duchak (Hello, Dolly!, Singin’ in the Rain and Ragtime at Drury Lane Theatre, and vocal coach for Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman for the Academy Award-winning film Les Misérables) serves as Musical Director.  The lavish medieval-inspired set is by Kevin Depinet (Oliver!, Singin’ in the Rain, The Sound of Music, Sweeney Todd, and Ragtime at Drury Lane Theatre; The Iceman Cometh at the Goodman Theatre; and Set Designer for the film Public Enemies).  Vivid Lighting Design is by Lee Fiskness (over 12 years at The Santa Fe Opera).  Costume Design is by Maggie Hofmann and Erika Senase.  Sound Design is by Ray Nardelli (Next to Normal at Drury Lane Theatre and Follies at Chicago Shakespeare Theater) and Wig Design is by Rick Jarvie.

The performance schedule for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is as follows:  Wednesdays and Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. ($35), Thursdays at 8 p.m. ($45), Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ($49), Saturdays at 5 p.m. ($49) and 8:30 p.m. ($49) and Sundays at 2 p.m. ($49) and 6 p.m. ($45).  Lunch and dinner theater packages range from $50 to $74 depending on the day of the week.  Student tickets start as low as $30 and Senior Citizen tickets start as low as $32 for matinees and $47 for a matinee luncheon package.  For reservations, call the Drury Lane Theatre box office at 630.530.0111, call Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000, or visit www.drurylane.com.