The technical wizard behind Broadway's new extravaganza, Young Frankenstein
Sam Ellis oversees the creation of smoke, fog, lightning, thunder, and 3 million volts of electricity.
from the November 8, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Now that musicals have to compete with the original movies on which they're based, the job of technical supervisor has become more demanding. Ellis must translate the visions of the set, sound, lighting, costume, makeup, and special-effects designers into stage "reality." He choreographs where everything goes and the split-second timing to make it function seamlessly.
His job, as he sees it, "is to create the palette on which the actors do their art." Since the musical is based on Brooks's 1974 cult film, "Young Frankenstein," a spoof of 1930s mad-scientist movies, "the audience comes with expectations of grand, over-the-top special effects," Ellis says. When the monster is transformed from a corpse to a lurching green giant, he adds, "People expect some big trick akin to what they saw in all those movies."
At a recent preview, the audience wasn't disappointed. When Roger Bart, as brain scientist Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, gives the order, "Generator on!," a Tessler coil emits 3 million volts of electricity in the form of spiraling red light. Sparks explode and neon lights flash like a circus arcade. Smoke swirls and lightning crackles as the seven-foot monster, played by Shuler Hensley, stirs. "It's alive! It's alive! It's alive!" the audience bellows along with Frederick, erupting in frenzied applause.
Ever since the success of "The Producers," the Broadway musical, as Ellis says, "has become kind of a hybrid." Instead of original fare, the trend has been to "repurpose" movies, converting them into staged musical productions. Disney has reaped a bonanza by adapting animated films like "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King," although "Tarzan" bombed and advance reviews have been mixed for the upcoming "Little Mermaid." (Other recent musicals derived from movies include "Legally Blond," "Hairspray," "The Color Purple," "Xanadu," and Monty Python's "Spamalot.")
To mount the show and make it more zowie! than the original, producing partners Brooks and Robert F.X. Sillerman ponied up a rumored $16 million to $20 million, nearly twice what most big Broadway musicals cost. "In scale and scope, scenically and technically, it's one of your larger productions," says Ellis.
The number of elements he oversees dance through his head: 400 lights, a dozen different set locations, 18 pieces of scenery that fly on and off stage, and props like automated trees that zip in and out on a motorized chassis. Rack after rolling rack of costumes and 125 wigs and whiskers must be accessible for quick changes.
The huge undertaking also includes: fog and smoke machines, lightning bolts and thunder, a 24-foot-tall puppet that assembles itself from huge fiberglass body parts, 2 elevators, 9 winches, and 12 stories of steps. A 23-piece orchestra and 21 actors complete the ensemble. "I feel like I'm juggling croquet balls," says Ellis, "which hurt when they hit you in the head."
For all the focus on the play's pyrotechnics, Ellis knows there's one element that's more important – the actors. They're who "everyone's here to see," he says. "Nobody ever went out of the theater humming the scenery."
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