Aragon Drama performed this year’s fall musical, Young Frankenstein, from Nov. 21 to 24. The musical revolves around Dr. Frankenstein’s grandchild, Frederick Frankenstein, and his life after being forced to travel to his inherited castle in Transylvania.
“At first, he was unwilling to accept the ideas of his grandfather,” said sophomore and ensemble member Stephanus Yang. “But as he meets new friends and learns more about his family history, he begins to change his mind.”
Sophomore Dylan Hansen enjoyed Young Frankenstein for its clever humor and enjoyable performance.
“My favorite part was definitely some of the jokes — they were just clean enough for a school musical, and that was part of the beauty of it because everyone got it,” Hansen said. “I think the characters were very relatable as well — how they behaved was really understandable and that meant the whole musical was really fun to watch.”
Drama director Shane Smuin believes Young Frankenstein is different than Aragon Drama’s previous productions.
“I would say it’s unique because one, it’s Mel Brooks, and two … we’re true to the original movie,” Smuin said. “We have also [made] our own [changes to the musical].”
Junior Alex Bloom, who plays Ziggy, feels the changes to the original script made the musical more engaging.
“It’s fun to recreate our own version of the story,” Bloom said. “Some of the lines [were] actually changed. When Igor says he threw his brain into the orchestra pit, that was a line that was added in because we thought that it would connect with the audience more.”
For some, the production was an exciting dive into the world of drama.
“Young Frankenstein was an amazing experience,” said freshman ensemble member Eddie Georgievski. “I got to meet so many new people in the Ara-gon community and it made me feel accepted. My favorite part of Young Frankenstein was [being] backstage and getting along with the other members of the crew and cast, because, they are really funny–not just on stage–and they are also very caring.”
Freshman violinist and pit orchestra member Carissa Yang thoroughly enjoyed performing in Young Frankenstein.
“Young Frankenstein was the funniest show I’ve ever done,” Yang said. “It’s my first high school show and my first with Rick Reynolds, who is a great director.”
Bloom believes that dramas like Young Frankenstein are important for Aragon.
“Not many people have the experience [seeing a] live show, because usually you have to drive to a very far place,” Bloom said. “Bringing a production here to Aragon can show students how much of a different art form this is because not many people are interested. But it’s really important to know how the arts can affect people in some ways, whether the show is a comedy or a tragedy. ”
During the Friday performance, senior Joey Williams, who played Frederick Frankenstein, had a table fall on him on-stage due to a prop failure. The accident ended the show.
“Everyone was in shock,” Bloom said. “Thankfully, he is okay, and he is back in action. Overall, I’ve never seen a cast so passionate to keep doing the show, because our director was worried about continuing the show after Friday night, and I am really grateful for our cast because they had the strength and the courage to continue doing the show.”
Senior Jonathan Trimble, who played Igor and was also on stage during the accident, recounts his experience following the Friday performance.
“Joey said he wanted to keep on going for the show but I was like, no, we shouldn’t be doing that,” Trimble said. “When I heard we were doing it on Saturday, it was really hard for everyone to get back into the mindset, but we had to help pull each other together to make [Saturday] one of the best nights that we performed.”
After the show, Smuin commended the cast and crew for their perseverance.
“We received a note from Smuin saying that, ‘I have been in the performing arts nearly my entire life, and there is not a single night I can think of that I have witnessed that was as heroic as this one,’” Trimble said. “‘I’m absolutely blown away by your bravery, talent, sense of humor, and love for each other.’”
Aragon Drama will perform a play, Shakespeare In Love, in spring 2020.
