Monroe Township High School’s drama department presented this year’s spring musical “Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein” on April 23, 2015. The other performances were April 24 and 25 at 7 P.M., and a Sunday matinee on April 26 at 3 P.M.
The nearly full house was blown away by the cast’s performance and were left electrified by the end of the show. This was the first time Monroe Township has ever performed “Young Frankenstein”, and it will certainly be remembered for years to come.
“It was better than Broadway,” said senior Rachel Gentile.
For the first time on our stage, backdrops were replaced with animated projections, which lent a professional and artistic effect to the show. Director Mr. Robert Byrnes and choreographer Candice Theinart guided the actors, and Mr. Daniel Lombardi with the rest of stage crew put together intricate sets that accompanied the powerful orchestra and performers very nicely.
“Being in this show was such a great opportunity. Everyone in the cast and crew did excellent work to create such a fantastic experience. The show is unique in that it has animated background projections that add a lot of funny situations to the scenes,” said junior Matthew Maiolo.
The show itself took over a month to put together and several extra hands to help create. In the end, an incredibly impressive production was presented. Hours were spent every day after school for rehearsal, ending in “Tech Week”, which are the days before the show that require eight hour rehearsals each day. The outcome makes all the work incredibly worth it, and the bonds made in Drama Club will last a lifetime.
“It was really fun being in such a large ensemble. Even though there were so many people, Mr. Byrnes did a wonderful job bringing forward how talented each one of us is,” said junior Amy Williamson.
The story begins with Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (played by Maiolo) being informed that his grandfather, Viktor Frankenstein (played by junior Chaz Restivo) has passed away and left his castle as inheritance. Once Frederick travels to Transylvania, he meets Igor (sophomore Peter Toto) and Inga (senior Alison Levier) who help him discover his grandfather’s lab. Along with Viktor’s ex-girlfriend Frau Blaücher (senior Anne Ballman), they recreate the original monster (junior Jared Theinart) experiment. Then, as you can imagine, many shenanigans ensue.
The rest of the cast and crew included:
Miranda Crowley as Herald
Nic Noa as Inspector Kemp
Kirsten Pasewaldt as Ziggy
Lucas Fox as Dracula/Mr. Hilltop
Lindsay Tuen as Telegraph Girl
Katie Simone as Steward
Krystle Danza as Elizabeth
Jeff Gardner as Hermit
Teddy Walker, Katherine Alcala, Sam Anzalone, Megan Hyjack, Mia Ingui, Cameron Fuller, Jasmine Elshamy, Allegra Mannarino, Emily Nolan, Sam Rasimowicz, Amy Williamson, Maddy Lipoff, Pooja Sonikar, Alexis Pitta, Matt Bash, Dana Steinberg, Anthony Fiordaliso, Gina DiRusso, Andrea Averillo, Micaela Cardile, and Tiffany Emelle as the Ensemble
Stage Mangers – Tory Talga and myself
Crew – Julia Fernandez, Taylor Vienna, Emily Christensen, Eva Douglas, Sabrina Mohamed, Winnie Zheng, Zach Belmonte, Amanda Skuraton, Gabby Jiminez, Irum Yasmin, Rachel Fernandez, Miranda Gonzales, Brianna LaRussa, and Jada Minaya.
If you are interested joining us next year, keep an eye out for “Showcase 2015” auditions at the end of the marking period! We are open to all students – freshmen to seniors!
Did you go see “Young Frankenstein” this weekend? What did you think?
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