Young Frankenstein: Andrea Martin to play Frau Blucher

Andrea Martin joins the cast of The New Mel Brooks Musical Comedy Young Frankenstein, opening at the Hilton Theatre on 8 Nov 2007, following previews from 11 Oct 2007.

Martin will create the role of Frau Blucher, housekeeper at the Frankenstein Castle and the woman who keeps the secrets of the Castle's past.

Brooks' had revealed in an interview in May 2007, with Steve Friess on TheStripPodcast, that Martin had been offered the part and was favorite for playing the role

Martin made her Broadway debut as Alice Miller in 'My Favorite Year' (1992) for which she won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, she was last seen on Broadway as Golde in 'Fiddle on the Roof' (2004 revival). Her other Broadway credits are 'Candide' (1997 revival) and 'Oklahoma!' (2002 revival).

Her film work includes: 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' and 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch'. she is known to many for her TV work in the Canadian sketch comedy television series, SCTV, in which she impersonated Barbra Streisand, Indira Gandhi and Mother Teresa.

Martin joins the previously announced Roger Bart (Dr. Frederick Frankenstein), Megan Mullally (Elizabeth), Sutton Foster (Inga), Shuler Hensley (The Monster), Fred Applegate (Kemp) and Christopher Fitzgerald (Igor).

Based on the Oscar-nominated 1974 film, Young Frankenstein tells the story of Frederick Frankenstein, a young neurosurgeon who inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback called Igor, a pretty lab assistant named Inga and the old housekeeper, frau Blucher. Young Frankenstein does not believe in the work of his grandfather, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind...

Unfolding in the forbidding Castle Frankenstein and the foggy moors of Transylvania Heights, the show's score includes �We�re the Happiest Town in Town,� "There is Nothing Like The Brain," "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and the unforgettable treatment of Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On the Ritz."

In the same interview with Steve Friess on TheStripPodcast, Brooks said that he has written 17 new songs for the musical, and is now working on the 18th.

Like Mel Brook's 12 times Tony Award winning show The Producers, Young Frankenstein will feature music & lyrics by Mel Brooks, book by Mel Brooks & Tom Meehan, and will be directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.

The production also features the same creative team as The producers: Robin Wagner(Set Design), William Ivey Long (Costumes) and Peter Kaczorowski (lighting).

Young Frankenstein will play its pre-Broadway engagement at Seattle's Paramount Theatre from 7 Aug - 1 Sep 2007.

Tickets for Broadway will go on sale on 15 Jul 2007.