Inland Valley Repertory Theatre has a big-stage, big-talent hit on their hands with Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, a tuneful, double entendre-packed, laugh-filled treat for Brooks fans and classic horror buffs alike.

Like Brooks’ 1974 hit movie follow-up to Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein The Musical recounts the tale of renowned brain surgeon Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (John Shartzer), who, upon receiving news that he has inherited his mad scientist grandfather’s estate, leaves his prestigious position as Dean Of Anatomy at New York’s Johns, Miriam and Anthony Hopkins School of Medicine to travel to mysterious Eastern Europe.

Though sad to leave his untouchable fiancée Elizabeth (Kylie Molnar), Dr. “Fronkensteen” (that’s how he pronounces it) heads off to Transylvania Heights where he is greeted by a hunchback named Igor pronounced Eye-gore (Marcel Almirantearena), a nubile blonde lab assistant named Inga (Cassidy Rae Love), and the sinister Frau Blücher (Debbie Prutsman), whose very name inspires fear in the hearts of men and horses, but particularly of horses.

Despite his initial reservations, Frederick soon makes a life-changing decision—to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and reanimate the dead, the result of which is the return to life of a humongous green-faced creature known only as The Monster (Patrick McMahon).

Broadway’s Young Frankenstein recreates the movie’s most memorable sequences, including The Monster’s ill-fated encounter with a blind hermit named Harold (Jackson Marcy in a role inspired by the original 1931 Boris Karloff flick), the classic “Put… the candle… back!” scene, and the top-hat-and-tails musical extravaganza of Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ On The Ritz.”

Brooks’ own dozen and a half original songs make for a tuneful, catchy, lyrically clever bunch, and this being Mel, audiences can expect plenty of double entendres (or simply downright dirty jokes) along the way. (When was the last Broadway show in which you heard a chorus of female voices harmonizing to “Don’t dare to touch our tits!” Or heard lines like: “Victor won the three-legged race … all by himself.” Or heard a woman declaring in song, “Now I will keep love deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper forever inside!”)

An all-around fabulous IVRT cast put their own spiffy spins on characters made iconic by the likes of Gene Wilder, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, and Gene Hackman while adding delightful tweaks of their own under Frank Minano’s assured direction.

Not only that, but Young Frankenstein guarantees bouncy production numbers aplenty choreographed with abundant zest by Anthony Tuason, including the show-opening “The Happiest Town” (which has the residents of Transylvania Heights celebrating Grandpa Frankenstein’s demise), “Please Don’t Touch Me” (featuring some hilarious ballroom dancing sans body contact), “Join The Family Business” (with Frederick cavorting with his dead ancestors), and the wild and wacky “Transylvania Mania.” (And that’s just Act One.)

 Shartzer steps into Gene Wilder’s shoes to deliver a comedically delightful, deliciously unhinged Dr. Frankenstein, and though McMahon’s hulking Monster doesn’t appear till Act Two, when he does, Young Frankenstein takes off to even greater heights of hilarity, and never more so than when he joins Shartzer, Love, Almirantearena, Prutsman, and the rest of the cast in the toe-tapping show-stopper that is Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ On The Ritz.”

Southland treasure Prutsman is a deadpan Teutonic treat as Frau Blücher and never more so than in her Marlene Dietrich-esque “He Vas My Boyfriend.”

Molnar is a major standout as “me” girl Elizabeth, and when she digs deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper into the double entendrerffic “Deep Love,” you just might just find yourself dying of laughter.

The luscious, leggy Love makes for an sizzlinlgy saucy and delectably ditzy Inga, Liam Bradford scores a big bunch of laughs as the artificially-limbed Inspector Kemp, Tylor Scott Jenkins could not be more dimwittedly adorable as Ziggy, Steven Didrick doubles entertainingly as Viktor and a last-minute visitor from Transylvania, and Footloose bad boy Jackson Marcy vanishes to hilarious effect into the blind Hermit, whose prayer to “Please Send Me Someone” gets answered in hilariously unexpected ways.

Last but not least is breakout Footloose star Almirantearena, hysterically hilarious as Frederick’s bright-and-bug-eyed, ever faithful Igor, stealing scenes left, right, and center (to parallel the movement of his hump).

Mary Desmond, Lissette Garrido, dance captain Jenkins, Marcy, Amory Martin, Andreas Pantazis, Sydné Paiatek, and Joseph Rosales master the the song-and-dance challenges of their ensemble tracks; Kim Knight, Mark MacKenzie, Marcy, and Pantazis deliver tight four-part harmonies as the village Quartet; and Briana Bonilla and Tiffany Berg McMahon round out the cast as assorted villagers and more.

Ronda Rubio once again scores top marks as both music director and keyboardist/conductor of the 11-piece Young Frankenstein orchestra.

Lastly, IVRT gives bigger-budget regionals a run for their money with an all-around topnotch production design, from Mark Gamez’s colorful costumes to Gavan Wyrick’s vibrant lighting to Andrew Nagy’s scene-setting 1930s-movie-style projections to Jessa Orr’s scenic artistry, and Nagy’s sound design is every bit as expert.

Hope Kaufman is assistant director. Deb and Tom Ritrovano are props coordinators, Kirklyn Robinson is wig and hair designer, and V. Michelle Griffiths is makeup designer. Hannah Schramm is stage manager.

Like The Addams Family before it, Young Frankenstein makes it crystal clear that IVRT and Rancho Cucamonga’s Lewis Family Playhouse are a match made in musical theater heaven. I have a feeling the 100-year-old Mel Brooks would agree.

Lewis Family Playhouse, Victoria Gardens Cultural Center, 12505 Cultural Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga. Through October 25. Friday at 7:30. Saturday at 2:00 and 7:30. Sunday at 2:00.
www.IVRT.org

–Steven Stanley
October 18, 2026
Photos: DawnEllen Ferry

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: Inland Empire Theater Review, Inland Valley Repertory Theatre, Lewis Family Playhouse, Mel Brooks