YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (SECOND TIME)

Date of Run: September 6-September 22, 2024

Role: Ensemble, Igor Understudy

Photos by Miller Oberlin Photography

This was the first time I did a show that I had previously done. If you had asked me which show would have made that happen, this one would not have been the first that came to mind. 

I was reluctant to audition for the company, Sonoma Arts Live, at all. In pre-pandemic times, they had in person auditions, but they had since switched to doing video auditions. The previous year when I sent a video in, it was never forwarded to the directors. How do I know? Two reasons: I could see the view count for the video, which was only two and one of the views was from me and I worked with one of the directors of that season on a show at a different company and he told me he didn't see my video. The same thing happened later on when I sent a video audition to another company and never heard back from them either. These instances were the final straw for me; after that I decided I would send in no more videos to anyone. If I could not attend in person, I would just have to let it go and move on, as hard as that might be for me.

Sonoma Arts Live actually did have a round of in person auditions the previous season in addition to videos, though I was told I didn't need to come in since I'd already sent in a video (again, never seen). That being the case, I decided to take my chances and wait and hope they'd do it again this year. Two days before the day of the deadline to submit a video audition, I received an email from Larry Williams, the director of the first show of the season, Young Frankenstein. I had worked with him earlier that year in Spamalot at Novato Theater Company. He asked if I was interested in doing the show (Maybe) and if I could come to callbacks on May 19. Shoot! I had the closing performance of my current show that day and couldn't make it. He said he wanted me to read for the role of Igor (for those of you who haven't seen the movie, it's pronounced Eye-gor).

I had a laughing fit over that (Igor?! Me? You gotta be kidding!). The first time I had done this show, it had been eleven years earlier when I was twenty-four. I hadn't given much thought to doing it since then because I thought the only role I could ever play, vocally speaking, was Inspector Kemp/Blind Hermit. Still had a while to wait for that. It had been a long time since I looked at the music, but I was certain it was out of my vocal range. I looked at the music again and found it wasn't quite as high as I thought. Perhaps I was thinking back to when I first did this show, and my voice was not as strong then. Or I could have thought it was higher because the actor who originated this role on Broadway was Christopher Fitzgerald and he's a tenor.

Though it was something to consider, I was not sure my availability would work. I had a show, Twelfth Night, in August where I would not be available for quite a few evenings and Young Frankenstein opened two weeks after Twelfth Night closed. Granted, I had done back-to-back shows before: a year earlier I closed one show and opened another four days later. In that instance though, I could get away with it because they were desperate for any man they could get to do the show. I didn't think I'd be so lucky this time around. I sent an email back to him explaining the situation, fully expecting him to say, "Thanks anyway, good luck with your show." That was not the case. He said they might be able to work with that and he'd keep me posted. 

Days turned to weeks, and I heard nothing. I assumed he found people at callbacks with better availability. Then, little more than a month later, and after I had abandoned any further hope of hearing from him, he sent me another email asking me if I was still interested and that he might be able to fit my schedule into his production. He asked to let him know if I was still interested and "I'll see what he could do." I'll see what I can do. Very interesting wording.

Three weeks after that email I received an offer to appear in the ensemble and be the understudy for Igor. He was very flattering in the email, saying he'd love to have my energy in the show, and he admired how I could pick up choreography and knew all aspects of the show. That was the case during Spamalot; I knew the show enough to have a firm grasp of everything that was supposed to be happening. 

I had reservations about doing this show; there was another play coming up in Yountville during October with a role I was very much interested in, but I didn't think the director for that would be able to work with the rehearsal schedule for Young Frankenstein. Also, if I did Young Frankenstein, did I really want to be ensemble again? I always thought if I did a musical/play for a second time it would be because I got a more prominent role or at least a different role. I've often wondered if I had been available for callbacks or if I kept my availability issues to myself, would I have gotten the role of Igor? But since Young Frankenstein was in Sonoma, it would be closer to home than Yountville. This was also a sure thing, whereas I could very well end up with nothing in the other play. I accepted the offer.

I had another reason for choosing this show. This would be the first show I would do at Sonoma Arts Live. I had performed in this theater a few times in 2014 when it was then Sonoma Theatre Alliance. That was a few individual theatre companies coming together with one show each (maybe two) and putting together a season. In the time since, Sonoma Arts Live (further referred to as SAL) had formed and most of the individual companies no longer seemed to be around. I had been trying to get back to this venue for a long time, but to no avail. SAL auditions were usually on the weekend in the middle of the afternoon for only a couple hours. Though at the time I worked fairly close by, the auditions were before I would be off. The few times I was allowed to leave early, I never even got called back.

I sacrificed potentially getting a good role for ensemble. I wondered more than once whether I made the right decision. It would have been nice to add another resume worthy role, and it could have potentially been more challenging trying to form a fully developed character. There's not much time for that in musicals, unless you're one of the principal roles. 

Sometime into rehearsals, I heard bits and pieces about the casting for this show. If I heard correctly, it was a bit of a hassle to cast this show because there were other people considered for roles, but they didn't want to be ensemble if they didn't get a main character role. That being the case, I was possibly doing them a favor by stepping in.

The rest of the cast included Michael Bauer, Emma Sutherland, Pat Barr, Kim Williams, Joanna Lynn Costa, Bruce Viera, Todd Krish, Kevin Allen, Paul Coinci, Tara Roberts, Phi Tran, Hannah Passanisi, Addie Lowe, and John Gibbons.

We originally had one more woman in the cast as an ensemble member, but just under three weeks before opening, she dropped out. She called Larry an hour and a half before rehearsal in tears, saying that someone had left her work, and her boss was insisting that she had to work on weekends. It sucked, but we could still make it work without her. As it turned out later, she was in another show in addition to this (possibly afterwards) and her work would not accommodate both and she had to choose one. Problems with work...been there, done that.

The first week consisted of the read through and looking at the music. And then, I contracted Covid. It was a double edge sword situation: If I had to get it, better to do so early on than during performances, but since I was going to miss a number of rehearsals in August, I needed all I could get during July. Honestly though, I felt lousy for maybe two days at most. If I felt exactly the same and had something by any other name, I would not have been expected to stay away. I wasn't the only one; Kevin (who played Harold, the blind hermit) also contracted it, probably the same place I got it.

After a week, I returned to rehearsal, briefly, and then at the beginning of August, I had to stop attending again due to Twelfth Night. Kevin and I were both in that and due to tech rehearsals and performances for that we would miss up to nine rehearsals for this show. I was hopeful that Larry made the schedule so he could work around us for at least most of that. While Kevin and I were away for that, Michael Bauer (who played Frederick, the lead) contracted Covid. Since he was in nearly every scene, that was quite a curveball, trying to schedule rehearsal around him and then work without him. I'm not sure for certain if anyone else contracted it, but again, better now than during performance time. 

There was a huge contrast for my ensemble parts between this time and last time I did this show. I always liked to say I had all the good parts the first time. The first time around, I was the town herald who started the show with the first lines, I was Mr. Hilltop, I was a horse during "Roll in the Hay," and I was Bob the astrologer in "Surprise." This time, since I was the understudy for Igor, they could not have me play anything that would greatly affect the show should I have to go on as that role. However, I did get something I really wanted; in "Join the Family Business," one person has the line "Join the family business, boy, if you don't want to die," and I got it. Even though I was understudying Igor, I felt I could easily have stepped in for John Gibbons if he couldn't go on as Mr. Hilltop or Bob the astrologer.

The further we went into rehearsals the more things from the first time I did this show came back to me. There were a few times in the rehearsal tracks where I instinctively knew what happened, even though it was not included in the soundtrack. I knew where cues were supposed to be not only for me, but for the principals as well. I also could feel the muscle memory in my vocal cords when practicing some of the music. Luckily though, I would never accidentally do choreography from the first time around during the songs. I could see bits and pieces of it in my head, but I'd never be able to translate that to physical movements. 

In spite of missing a number of rehearsals, I was not in as bad shape as you'd think. When it came to it, I was barely in the second act. As for the first act, I ran through everything and realized that I didn't have many lines, and I knew the lyrics to the songs I was in already. The main hurdle for me was learning Igor's lines which wasn't too difficult because he doesn't have as many as other main characters and quite a few of them were simply "Yes, Master" or something in that vein. What I had to devote the most time to was learning the choreography.

There were five big dance numbers: "Happiest Town," "Please Don't Touch Me," "Join the Family Business," Transylvania Mania," and "Puttin' on the Ritz." I was not in the number "Puttin' on the Ritz," just like the first time I did this musical. Since I was not a tap dancer, it didn't bother me either time. I was at something to do with Twelfth Night when Liz, the choreographer taught "Happiest Town" and "Transylvania Mania." Thanks to the videos taken during those rehearsals and posted on our Facebook group later, I was able to teach myself the first half of "Transylvania Mania." "Happiest Town" was not that difficult, especially since a lot of it concerns Inspector Kemp and his lines.

"Happiest Town"

Near the end of "Happiest Town," Tara, Phi and I had to run offstage for a quick change for "The Brain" because we were the ones who started that scene. For me, it meant taking my villager hat, vest and shirt off, putting a blue button up shirt on with a lab coat over it and also not looking disheveled. The last time I did this show I remembered how much of a hassle this quick change was for those who did it. The reason? The choreographer of that show was the type who had to have every person in the scene onstage for the whole dance up to the last minute. I don't know if it was Larry or Liz who made that decision to have the three of us off earlier, but I'm glad someone had the sense to comprehend that there was a quick costume change.

Not that that made it any easier. It had been so long since I had performed in this space, I'd forgotten how tight it was. In fact, it had been over two years since I had even seen anything performed here. The wing space was slim and for a lot of the show there were large set pieces store there after being used only once. This was also the largest show I had ever done here. Any show I had done previously had few to no set changes. One critic later said the scene changes led to the theatre being drawn as many times as he could remember it ever being drawn here.

That being said, all three of us exited stage left for the change, then we were shortly joined in the wings by three more people. Larry was also on that side to help Tara with her change (her first costume had many layers) and Michael was also on that side because he was also in that scene. So that made eight people on stage left and stage right had...only three. There were endless traffic jams getting on and offstage because there was no room for it to go both ways no matter how much tried to make it work. The three of us who started the scene often were running out to make our cue since we didn't have a conductor who could hold the music. Finally, on the final weekend, when we were still trying to figure out how to make it work, I asked "Do all three of us have to come out on the same side?" Larry answered we didn't and changed it so that now Tara and I would dash offstage right. That evened the number of people on the two sides of the wings and now we had plenty of time to make it out. Still, it was only closing night when I finally felt I had the quick change down efficiently with enough time to spare.

"The Brain"

This was the first time I ever did a full-length show that used performance tracks provided by the licensing company instead of a live band. I had done that when I did Mary Poppins Jr., but I don't count that one. We were also provided with rehearsal tracks, but I never used them. I couldn't figure out how to, but I had listened to the soundtrack of this musical enough for years to know the music. Justin Pyne, the music director, would be up in the balcony pressing the buttons to start the next piece.

Using performance tracks had positives and negatives. 

Some positives-

1. Having the actual music for dance rehearsals.

2. Practicing the lyrics with what we'd hear in the show.

3. The music would sound perfect every time.

Some negatives (it mainly comes down to no conductor)-

1. Some of the music had no clear cue. A conductor could cue us in.

2. Not much wiggle room to say lines. They'd have to be said at the same pace as they were in the soundtrack because there was no conductor to speed up or slow down the music or keep it vamping as needed.

3. It wasn't live music.

I cannot think of one time I've done a musical where the directors didn't make cuts to the music, especially in the big dance numbers. It was usually so the show wouldn't run so long, and it was also easier to make the music the way it sounded on the soundtracks for dance teaching purposes. At first, I thought since we were using performance/rehearsal tracks rather than a real band, maybe we'd have longer dances to learn. My thinking was that we had the full music, rather than just a piano or the shortened soundtrack version, and we'd know what it would sound like. But not so.

We cut the music down to what it sounded like in the soundtracks, except for "Puttin on the Ritz" and for that, they cut a lot. And I mean a lot. While making it the same as the soundtrack had been the case the first time I did this show, this time around, we cut it to a mere 1.5 minutes. In fact, the first time they played what the dancing section of the music would sound like, I blurted out "That's it?!" I felt it took away the one big dance number of the second act and besides, anyone who's watched the film knows that song/scene. 

They also cut a lot out of "Transylvania Mania." It was longer the first time I did this musical. If you listened to that song on the soundtrack, that's what it was cut down to. There was a long dance break in between verses. This time around...not so much.

The end of "Transylvania Mania"

Why did they do this rather than use all the music or at least make it like the soundtrack? Hard to say. Not enough rehearsal time? Maybe. To make the show shorter? Possibly. A choreographer who was not younger and slightly healthier? (Liz was gone for a couple rehearsals for a health reason). Whatever the reason, it was no different than any other community theatre musical I'd done.

This was the first musical I ever did where there was no sitzprobe. We originally had one scheduled, but Larry cancelled it in favor of something else since we were a little behind on some things. It seemed kind of redundant to me since we'd be using tracks. I felt it seemed like we were doing a sitzprobe every rehearsal. Also, even if we had had one, it wouldn't have been the same. A sitzprobe is the first time you sing with a live band, and you hear how the music will sound during shows after weeks of just singing with a piano or singing along to a soundtrack. It was something to be excited about and after hearing the actual show music for so long, the excitement wouldn't have been there. Nonetheless, Hannah pointed out that we should have had one anyway since it meant the designers didn't have the opportunity to get the sound mixing right.

Indeed, when we started using microphones, it took some time through trial and error before everything sounded decent. Some people could not be heard over the music, particularly Joanna. At other times, we would hear a feedback noise blare out. And then at other times we would not hear the person singing over the monitor in the dressing room. Albert, our sound designer, worked hard to sort it all out by opening. I assume he succeeded because I heard no complaints after.

The set was designed as such. The back was a screen used for projections. On either side of the stage were two swinging walls. One was used for the rotating bookcase in one scene. If you know the movie it's the "Put the candle back" moment. The other side was used as the front door to the castle. Both of these walls were used only once and then closed for the remainder of the performance. Behind either wall was a set piece, one being the hay cart for "Roll in the Hay" and the other being the lab table. A set of stairs at the front of the stage allowed for entrances and exits to the audience and on either side at the bottom were two platforms used throughout the show. Any set pieces used in the show sat offstage in the wing space, most of which were only used once. For set changes to take place, the curtain had to be closed.

The first act would be very stressful for me up to the end of "Together Again." In the first act, I had a total of seven costume changes. I had to change from villager to medical student to "Please Don't Touch Me" dancer to horse. Then after "Roll in the Hay," I had to change from horse to ancestor to villager to ancestor to villager again. The ancestor costume was merely my villager costume, but with a lab coat, goggles and fake spider webbing thrown on. Simple. The webbing was a headache though: there were a number of performances where it didn't stay one me and when the show's run ended, I ripped it to shreds.

"Join the Family Business"

The set change for "Roll in the Hay" was at least a five person job. One person had to open and close the wall it was behind, Phi and I would carry the cart, which was two pieces and heavy, to its spot, two people carried blocks out for Phi and me to stand on and Emma, who played Inga, would get herself under the blanket on the cart. There was not a lot of time to do it, and it wasn't a straight shot out. Phi and I had to carefully pivot and maneuver it in and out where it stayed until needed. Taking the cart off required the wall used as the front door to be closed then the bookcase one opened again so we could move the cart off. When it was put away, it had to be in far enough or the wall would not close all the way. Not only that, but the cart had to be covered by a black sheet afterwards so the audience wouldn't see it when the bookcase rotated.

The second act was much easier. I was in "He's Loose," then I had a long break until "He's Loose (reprise)," which was after "Puttin' on the Ritz," and no costume changes.

"He's Loose"

In the days leading up to tech weekend, we did not have Phi for a few days because he was out sick. He returned for one day and then he was out on both Saturday and Sunday of tech weekend. His dog had a herniated disc and had to go to the emergency vet. I overheard Larry and Areya, the stage manager, talking about it and it sounded as though he might be gone for a few more days before opening. Thankfully, he returned on Monday.

The show photos, such as they were, were a disappointment to me. The photographer only got a whopping sixty-four or at least sixty-four that he didn't delete. There were no good ones of me, certainly no close-ups. The principal characters got at least one each, but not the ensemble. I know of one other photographer in the area who would get hundreds of photos at every show and there would always be at least one closeup of everybody in the show, regardless of the size of their role. I guess not everyone can be him. To make matters worse, the shirt for my first costume change accidentally got moved from where I pre-set it and I had to perform "The Brain" and "Please Don't Touch Me" in the wrong costume piece. 

Having done this musical once already, it didn't take long for me to know a lot of other people's lines. At one point, Michael B. asked me "Are you covering Frederick?" No. Just Igor. I probably could have learned his role, but it would be difficult since his first song "The Brain" was the one I always skipped whenever I listened to the soundtrack. I think I could have easily covered Bruce if he couldn't go on.

Sadly, Larry never really got to see the show in its finished form, at least not live. He had to wait until a filmed performance was released to us. In addition to directing, he also played the brief roles of Victor Frankenstein and Dracula, and he worked backstage helping with set changes and controlling the fog machine used for certain scenes. Some of the actors did help with that, as well as Carmella, the assistant stage manager, but it still never seemed to be enough. The ensemble was not much help in that area since we had all those costume changes.

We had packed houses every performance for opening weekend. The one on Saturday was without a doubt the best one. They were very vocal and laughed at all the right moments. They even gave us a standing ovation at the end. Surprisingly, Sunday was also a good one; not as good as Saturday, but certainly better than Friday. After the Sunay show, my mother and I were walking to dinner, and we came upon Kevin in the Sonoma Plaza. He had a friend there as well, Corrin, who happened to have been a member of the crew for Spamalot, which Kevin and I did together six months earlier. My mom invited them to join us, and we had a wonderful time. Good food and good company.

For the second weekend, we again had packed houses each night, though there were a few empty seats at each one. On Thursday we had a problem with the cart when we were taking it offstage. Phi and I bumped its legs into a two-by-four that was used to hold one of the swinging walls in place and it caused the legs to get tangled in each other. We couldn't do anything about it since we had to get ready for our next scene. Good thing we didn't need it again until the following night.

On Friday night (Friday the 13th, no less), the audience started out good with a few laughs, but it got progressively quieter as the night went on. On this night there were quite a few hiccups. Lines were said in the wrong places, Pat accidentally knocked over a set piece (to an audible offstage gasp from me), but the biggest one happened in the finale. In the "Finale Ultimo," in order, the music is reprises of "Deep Love," "Please Send Me Someone," Igor music, Dracula music, a reprise of "Join the Family Business," and a "Welcome to Transylvania" section, along with some spoken lines. A lot yes, but it was only three minutes. When it came to the Dracula music, we instead heard the "Welcome" music before it backtracked to Igor's music and then we heard the correct piece. Michael B. decided to just talk and not stop until he and the music were in sync again.

On the other hand, the set change with the cart worked much better this night. In fact, it was the smoothest it's ever run. Previously when the wall it was behind was opened, the bookcase would get in our way. On this night Larry rotated the wall so that we'd be moving past the flat side when we took it out and then rotated it back when he closed the wall.

The Saturday audience was also not a vocal one, which was surprising because a number of theatre people were there. On this night it was the first time we had a pre-recorded welcome announcement at the start of the show. Unfortunately, it played again during Bruce's lines in "Happiest Town." He responded by saying "You already talked!" I wish he had ignored it. I've gotten good over the years at not breaking onstage, employing a few tricks here and there to help me, but he almost, almost made me laugh. I found myself thinking of something bad to snap out of it: the memory of my mother telling me my father died. 

Big mistake. That day just happened to be the anniversary of the day he died. In order not to break onstage, I had forced myself to think of something I really did not want to think about. I made my way through the show but broke into tears on my way back to my car afterwards. My mood wasn't any brighter the next day either.

I was ready for the show to be over after the second weekend. I had done four shows that year, the last two of which had a small overlap with rehearsals and performances. By then, I was exhausted and ready for a break from performing. At least I would have four nights to get a good night's sleep until the final weekend.

There were full houses again each day of the final weekend. We were told that the one on Sunday was "Sold out." It was also on closing day that we filmed the show.

The Thursday audience was one of our better ones, maybe even the best one up to then. They laughed uproariously at many of the funny lines. They didn't give us a standing ovation though. Strange. The Friday audience was not quite as good; it took them a little time to warm up and enjoy themselves. I had a number of friends in the audience on Saturday night which was very nice. 

Sadly, for the final weekend, we lost John Gibbons. He had a detached retina in one eye, and the doctors told him he needed to have emergency surgery, or he would go blind in that eye. He made it to the Thursday show, albeit wearing glasses the entire performance, but for the rest of the weekend, he was gone. Larry stepped in for two of his roles and everything he had as a Transylvania villager was split among Phi, Addie and me. It also meant that he would not get to be in the filmed performance. Such a shame.

On the Friday night show, we had a mishap with the cart. Phi and I didn't set it up properly. The legs got caught in themselves again and in our haste, we untangled it, but didn't double check that it was on its spike marks. As a result, the piece Igor sat on was not far up enough and that left little room for Michael and Emma. Emma fell off it at the moment while she was upside down, but thankfully, wasn't hurt since she fell off the cart slowly since Michael was holding her. We watched it happen later because someone, either in the audience or one of the other actors, was filming it on their phone while watching it from the back of the house. I felt so bad. The following day, we did a pre-show set up to see how to improve it.

It was a fun show to do. While I didn't have as many of the good ensemble roles I had the first time, it was, in some ways better this time around. I felt a good rapport with the people in this cast. The last one...well, go read that post. It was also good to be back in that space, having not been there for over ten years. Hopefully, it would not be that long until the next time.

Was I sad when this one ended? Not really. It was a good run, but it did not stand out from other shows I've done. Would it ever go on my resume? Definitely not. Was it an overall positive experience? Of course.

And I never got to play the role of Igor. It would be something to think about if I ever had the chance to audition for the musical again.