It makes sense to dissociate yourself from a crazy relative. But what if you discover that you’re not that different from that person?
That’s the situation Dr. Frederick Frankenstein finds himself facing in “The Mel Brooks Musical, Young Frankenstein” Oct. 22-30 at Devonshire Playhouse in Skokie.
Performances of the hilarious musical based on the 1974 Mel Brooks film are at 7 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays.
Tyler Skafgaard, who plays Dr. Frederick Frankenstein recalls watching the “Young Frankenstein” film with his family when he was a child. “I never realized it was a musical until two years ago. Once it turned out that Devonshire was doing it, I was jumping with joy,” he said.
Skafgaard auditioned specifically for the role of Frederick. “It was that or bust,” he declared. “I love that role.”
Skafgaard described Frederick as “a bit lost in himself and lost in his lineage. Going back to the family ties unlocks that side of him that makes him more of himself — a better person.”
It turns out that even though he is so disturbed by his late grandfather’s behavior, Frederick shares some of his traits.
“He has that mania that his grandfather had,” Skafgaard said. “His obsession with the brain matches the obsession his grandfather had with reanimation of that tissue.”
“He’s extremely passionate about everything,” added director Eileen Hand.
He differs from his grandfather, the actor noted, because he is kinder.
However, when Frederick comes to Transylvania to settle his inheritance, he finds himself recreating his late grandfather’s experiments. The result is a monster played by Skokie resident Tony Fernandez, who has performed with Devonshire Playhouse for seven years since appearing in “Spamalot” there.
“I’ve always tried to add a little comedy to all the parts that I was playing where possible,” he said. “I’ve been pushing for this ‘Young Frankenstein’ for three or four years because I wanted to be the Monster.”
Fernandez finally got his wish.
“The monster is at first confused because he’s suddenly alive,” the actor said. “He’s born full-size. He can’t speak, he can only growl. He’s larger than everybody else and everybody’s scared of him through no fault of his own.”
Because of those factors, the monster is initially angry and lashes out at everybody, Fernandez said. “Later when they fix his brain and he is able to talk, it turns out that the monster really was just misunderstood.”
Hand added that the monster is “a sensitive guy. We see that even when he doesn’t have language but we especially see it when he gets his ability to speak.”
Fernandez reported that he loves this role because there’s a lot of physical comedy. The biggest challenge of the part, the actor admitted, is that he has to learn to tap dance.
Hand admitted that initially she wasn’t sure that she wanted to direct “Young Frankenstein,” a project that she didn’t personally choose.
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“I loved the movie forever and I know this show, but my fear with this show is that you do it as a musical and it doesn’t quite meet up to the movie,” Hand explained. She noted that she had seen productions of it where the comedy fell short.
“But then I started to look at the script even further and I thought, ‘This is funny. They really have captured the movie in this,'” Hand said.
Another reason she decided to direct the show was for another chance to work with frequent collaborator choreographer Tony Springs.
A third factor that swayed Hand was the quality of auditioners. “I could see I had some really good people coming out for this that I feel understand Mel Brooks,” Hand said.
To help her actors understand Hand’s concept for the play, she gave them some homework.
“I required them to watch the movie but also to watch the original Frankenstein movie because Mel Brooks does such a brilliant job of combining that passion and that intensity with humor,” she said.
Skafgaard thinks that this will be a unique production of the musical because of director Eileen Hand’s vision of getting the musical closer to the movie, “and leaning into the tropes and the comedic parts of the movie that we all know and love,” the actor said. “Those funny moments will be heightened with the way the direction’s going.”
“We’re probably going to have more sets than we’ve ever had for any other production,” Fernandez said. “And there’s a lot of laughs.”
That’s true even during rehearsals. Hand said, “I’m laughing every time I watch it.”
‘The Mel Brooks Musical, Young Frankenstein’
When: Oct. 22-30
Where: Devonshire Playhouse at Devonshire Cultural Center, 4400 Greenwood St., Skokie
Tickets: $25; $20 students and seniors
Information: 847-929-7420; skokieparks.org/events/
Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.