Robert F.X. Sillerman and Mel Brooks present The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, a new musical comedy from the creative team of the 12-time Tony Award winning smash The Producers. With music and lyrics by three-time Tony Award winner Mel Brooks, book by Brooks and three-time Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan, Young Frankenstein is directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman.

Young Frankenstein will play Seattle’s Paramount Theatre August 4th – September 1st.

Based on the smash hit 1974 film, Young Frankenstein is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. When Frederick Frankenstein, an esteemed New York brain surgeon and professor, inherits a castle and laboratory in Transylvania from his grandfather, deranged genius Victor van Frankenstein, he faces a dilemma. Does he continue to run from his family’s tortured past or does he stay in Transylvania to carry on his grandfather’s mad experiments reanimating the dead and, in the process, fall in love with his sexy lab assistant Inga?

Released in 1974 to unanimous critical acclaim, the film received two Academy Award nominations, including one for Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder’s script, also nominated for a Writer’s Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Young Frankenstein was also the recipient of the two highest honors accorded films of science fiction: winning The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and The Nebula Award, given by The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, for Best Dramatic Writing. Since its release, the film has become part of the national consciousness: in 2000, it was selected as #13 on AFI’s 100 Funniest American Movies of All Time and in 2003, Young Frankenstein was chosen for preservation in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.

The Broadway schedule and casting for Young Frankenstein will be announced at a later date.

The design team includes three Tony Award winning veterans of The Producers: three time Tony Award winning set designer Robin Wagner, four time Tony Award winning costume designer William Ivey Long and Tony Award winning lighting designer Peter Kaczorowski.

Current season ticket holders to Fred Meyer Broadway Across America – Seattle have the first opportunity to purchase tickets to Young Frankenstein. Ticket order forms will be sent to all Season Ticket Holder households, and can also be ordered via phone and online through the series customer service center.

Corporate and Group clients can also purchase tickets at this time. A minimum of 20 tickets is required and available by calling 888. 214.6856. Individual tickets for the shows will go on sale at a later date. For future information about the on-sale date for Young Frankenstein, sign up for the e-newsletter from Seattle Theatre Group at www.theparamount.com.

Young Frankenstein has been added to the current 2006-2007 Broadway season at The Paramount Theatre. The series is transitioning into a calendar season, and beginning with 2008, the season will follow a calendar year. A season of shows for 2008 will be announced in late 2007.

Young Frankenstein is an offering of Fred Meyer Broadway Across America – Seattle, which is presented with Seattle Theatre Group, and is coordinated by Broadway Across America – Seattle. Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue is the official hotel of Broadway Across America – Seattle. Wells Fargo is the official bank, American Airlines is the official airline, and Oceanaire is the official restaurant.

Biographies

MEL BROOKS (Book, Composer & Lyricist, Producer). Director, producer, writer and actor, Mel Brooks is the recipient of three 2001 Tony Awards (Best Score, Best Book of a Musical, Best Musical) and two Grammy Awards (Best Musical Show Album and Best Long Form Music Video) for The Producers. Mr. Brooks began his distinguished career during television’s Golden Age as a writer for Sid Caesar on “Your Show of Shows” in 1951. In 1955 and in 1957, Brooks received Emmy Award nominations (with others) for best comedy writing for “Caesar’s Hour,” and in 1956 he was nominated (with others) for best writing for a variety or situation comedy. In 1952, Brooks wrote sketches for Leonard Sillman’s Broadway smash-hit revue, New Faces of 1952, and in 1957, together with Joe Darion, he wrote the book for the Broadway musical Shinbone Alley, which starred Eartha Kitt. In 1962, he wrote the book for the Broadway musical All-American, starring Ray Bolger. In the 60s, Brooks teamed up with Carl Reiner to write and perform “The 2000 Year Old Man” albums, which became immediate bestsellers. In 1960 and 1961, Brooks and Reiner received Grammy Award nominations for the best spoken word comedy for “2000 Years” and for best comedy performance for “2000 and One Years,” respectively. In 1997, Brooks and Reiner teamed up again for “The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000.” Both a book and CD were released, the CD winning a Grammy Award in 1998 for the best spoken word album: comedy. Brooks wrote and narrated The Critic, a short satire on avant-garde art films, which received the Academy Award for best animated short subject in 1964. In 1965, he teamed up with Buck Henry and created “Get Smart,” the long-running television show starring Don Adams as Agent 86. Brooks, along with others, received an Emmy Award for outstanding writing achievement in a comedy-variety in 1967 for “The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special.” In 1968, he wrote and directed his first feature film, The Producers, starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, which earned him an Academy Award for the best original screenplay written directly for the screen. He then went on to create a remarkable string of hit comedies: 1970, wrote, directed and acted in The Twelve Chairs; 1974, co-wrote, directed and acted in Blazing Saddles, and was nominated, along with John Morris, for best title song, “Blazing Saddles;” 1974, co-wrote and directed Young Frankenstein; 1976, co-wrote, directed and starred in Silent Movie; 1977, co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in High Anxiety; 1981, wrote, directed, produced and starred in History of the World, Part I; 1983, produced and starred in To Be or Not to Be; 1987, cowrote, directed, produced and starred in the hit sci-fi spoof, Spaceballs; 1991, co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in Life Stinks; 1993, co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in Robin Hood: Men in Tights; 1995, co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in Dracula: Dead and Loving It; 2005, co-wrote and produced The Producers, the film version of his Tony award winning 2001 Broadway musical and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, “There’s Nothing Like a Show on Broadway.” For three successive seasons, Brooks won the Emmy Award for his role as Uncle Phil on the hit comedy show, “Mad About You.” His visionary film company, Brooksfilms Limited, founded in 1980, has produced some of America s most distinguished films, among them: David Lynch’s The Elephant Man, David Cronenberg’s The Fly, Frances, Richard Benjamin’s My Favorite Year and 84 Charing Cross Road, starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft.

SUSAN STROMAN (Director /Choreographer) directed and choreographed The Producers, winner of a record-making 12 Tony Awards including Best Direction and Best Choreography. Most recently she directed and choreographed The Producers: The Movie Musical, nominated for four Golden Globes. She co-created, directed and choreographed the groundbreaking musical Contact for Lincoln Center Theater, winning the 2000 Tony Award for Best Choreography as well as Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards and a 2003 Emmy Award for “Live at Lincoln Center.” Other Broadway credits include The Frogs, Oklahoma! (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Olivier Awards), Thou Shalt Not, The Music Man (Outer Critics Circle Award), Steel Pier, Big, Show Boat (Tony, Outer Critics Circle Awards), Picnic and Crazy for You (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Olivier Awards). Off-Broadway productions include And the World Goes ’Round (Outer Critics Circle Award) and Flora, the Red Menace. For ten years she choreographed Madison Square Garden’s annual spectacular event A Christmas Carol (Outer Critics Circle Award), directed by Mike Ockrent. For New York City Opera: A Little Night Music, 110 in the Shade and Don Giovanni. Ms. Stroman created Double Feature, a full-length ballet for New York City Ballet featuring the music of Irving Berlin and Walter Donaldson. She has created the ballets Blossom Got Kissed for New York City Ballet’s 50th anniversary season and But Not for Me for the Martha Graham Company. Her choreography received an Emmy nomination for the HBO presentation “Liza – Stepping Out at Radio City Music Hall,” starring Liza Minnelli. Other TV credits include co-conceiver/choreographer for PBS’s “Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall” and “An Evening with the Boston Pops: A Tribute to Leonard Bernstein.” She received the American Choreography Award for her work in Columbia Pictures feature film Center Stage. Ms. Stroman is the recipient of the George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Theatre and the winner of a record four Astaire Awards.

THOMAS MEEHAN (Book) received the Tony Award for co-writing the book for The Producers in 2001 and in 2003 for co-writing the book for Hairspray. He received his first Tony Award in 1977 for writing the book of Annie, which was his first Broadway show, and has since written the books for the musicals I Remember Mama, Ain’t Broadway Grand and Annie Warbucks. In addition, he is a long-time contributor of humor to The New Yorker, an Emmy-Award winning writer of television comedy, and a collaborator on a number of screenplays, including Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs and To Be or Not to Be. He and his wife, Carolyn, divide their time between a home in Nantucket and an apartment in Greenwich Village, near which, on Hudson Street, she owns and presides over the long-running and near-legendary children’s store, Peanut Butter & Jane. Mr. Meehan is a member of the Council of the Dramatists Guild.

ROBERT F.X. SILLERMAN (Producer) is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CKx, Inc., a company engaged in the ownership, development and commercial utilization of entertainment content. CKx owns multiple globally recognized iconic brands, including the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley and the operations of Graceland, the name, image and likeness of Muhammad Ali and the IDOLS television brand, including American Idol and local adaptations of the format which, collectively, air in over 100 countries around the world. CKx also partners with David and Victoria Beckham in the development and ownership of Beckham-branded products and projects on a global basis.