Mel Brooks on Young Frankenstein: I got lucky with my leading man

Mel Brooks has praised his British cast for breathing new life into his classic comedy Young Frankenstein after it opened in the West End.

The Hollywood icon, 91, said he felt lucky to have found Hadley Fraser, Ross Noble and Summer Strallen to play the roles made famous by Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman and Teri Garr in the 1974 film.

“We were so lucky to find Summer Strallen, who is just flat-out gorgeous [and] sings like a bird,” he said.

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Brooks was also full of praise for Fraser, who plays Frederick, the grandson of Victor Frankenstein, and comedian Noble, who stars as the hunchback Igor in the show, at the Garrick Theatre. He added: “I was surprised to find this guy Hadley — he turned out to be a handsome leading man, and funny! I got lucky with my leading man, and that’s half the show. And then we have this guy Ross, who has never acted before, he’s a stand-up — and a very good stand-up. But who knew he could play this character? Born to be Igor!” Brooks directed and co-wrote the Young Frankenstein movie, which he adapted for Broadway and now the West End.

He held up an Oyster card as he spoke about how he had adjusted to London life, saying: “By the way — that’s me! Everywhere I go. It’s not because I’m so plebeian and down with the masses... I don’t give a shit about the masses. But this is the only way to go in London. The streets were made for horses and you’ve got buses and traffic up the kazoo!

“Just get on the Bakerloo line and you’ll be in Charing Cross in five minutes — it’s so great! Every once in a while I have to take it from some guv, ‘What you doing down here with us, the poor people, you could be riding in a limousine!’ But it’s all great — I’m happy to sign autographs.”