“Have you heard about the mania?”

One month ago, the mania was de Toledo’s extremely impressive performance of Young Frankenstein, a lively show filled with drama, love, and comedy, executed beautifully by Diane Feldman and this year’s cast.

Dr. Frankenstein (it’s pronounced Fronk-en-steen), the grandson of the infamous Victor Frankenstein from Transylvania who was successful in bringing a dead body to life, is sent to Transylvania for his grandfather’s funeral. After parting with his fiance Elizabeth, who is tightly wound and not a fan of being touched, he meets accomplices Igor and Inga. When he arrives at his grandfather’s estate, they meet the housekeeper Frau Blücher (neeeiiigghh), and their adventures begin.

They end up creating a monster, but they work together to teach the monster to be a good member of society. Of course, things don’t go as planned, and Dr. Frankenstein and the monster transfer intellect. By the end of the show, Dr. Frankenstein gets together with Inga, Frau Blücher (neeeiiigghh) gets together with the blind hermit, and Elizabeth gets together with the monster. All in all, this show is brilliantly comical and keeps the audience on the edges of their seats the entire performance.

Senior Alex Kaplan shared that this years performance was “the best musical I have seen at deToledo so far.”

Diane Feldman, the director of de Toledo’s Young Frankenstein, chose the cast of this years show perfectly.

Junior Brennen Klitzner portrayed Dr. Frankenstein with grace and humor. He wowed the crowd, and night after night he stole the show. Especially his exclamation, “I’ll block the bookcase with my body!”

Senior Miller Friedman and junior Zoe Wernik were double cast for the part of Frau Blücher (neeeiiigghh). They managed to scare the crowd and keep them constantly laughing. Their performance of the song “He Vas my Boyfriend” will go down in de Toledo History.

Seniors Rachel Stubington and Emma Aaronson shared the role of Inga. Although Emma was only able to perform once at the matinee on the second Sunday (after being ill for weeks), she was able to perform and astonish the audience. Every night Rachel captured the audience with her humor, singing, and acting, and it is clear to see that she has a big future ahead of her. Rachel and Emma brought so much talent to this performance.

“It’s alive!” Senior Dylan Russo completely killed the role of the monster and Dr. Frankenstein’s grandfather. With only using grunts to communicate, Dylan was capable of bringing the audience to their feet and had them basically rolling on the floor from laughter.

Junior Jordi Kligman, who played Igor, was the funniest member of the cast. He was made for this part, and the crowd absolutely loved him. Even in scenes where the focus was not directly on Jordi, he continued to make everyone laugh. 

Playing the role of Elizabeth, sophomore Tessa Fleetwood and senior Rylee Singer left the audience in awe. I personally loved their performance of “Please Don’t Touch me.”

Also, we can’t forget about senior Adi Wasserberg’s performance of Inspector Kemp. Although this is originally a man’s part, Adi added a feminine spin and executed her performance incredibly.

Don’t think I forgot about the rest of the cast. Everyone who participated in the show this year was extremely dedicated, and their hard work definitely paid off. By and large, Young Frankenstein will go down in de Toledo history as one of the best shows ever performed by this high school.

Simona Vishnevsky explained, “the show made me feel proud to be a Jaguar. I’m honored to go to the same school as these talented students.”

One other factor that made this show unbelievable was the stage and set. Stagecraft worked endless hours to create Transylvania. The second you stepped into the auditorium you felt transported to a different world. With each set change came another surprise for the audience. I also have to point out the painting of Dylan Russo by Rebecca Kaplan. I was speechless. 

To conclude, there are so many things to praise about this show. The singing was astonishing. The acting was unreal. The dancing was extraordinary. The set was astounding. Young Frankenstein was incredible.

I can’t wait to see what Diane Feldman has in store for de Toledo next year.

“The moon will always shine on Young Frankenstein.”