Blinn-Brenham Theatre Arts Program offers a monster of a good time with 'Young Frankenstein'

Musical comedy will be staged Oct. 19-22 at Dr. W.W. O'Donnell Performing Arts Center

October 12, 2023

The Blinn College-Brenham Campus Theatre Arts Program will offer a monster of a good time when it opens its 2023-24 season with the rollicking musical “Young Frankenstein” Oct 19-22 at the Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts Center.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 19 and 20, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 21 and 22. Previews for area public schools will be Oct. 19 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and Oct. 20 at 10 a.m.

Tickets to each performance are $10 for adults and $5 for Blinn students and children. They are available online at www.blinn.edu/boxoffice, by calling 979-830-4024, or emailing [email protected].

“Young Frankenstein” will be Blinn’s 2023 Theatre Arts Faculty Showcase and its entry into the 2023 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACT). KCACT is a national play festival that allows universities, four-year schools, and community colleges the opportunity for a critique from a theatre professional as well as earning individual recognition.

The musical comedy is based on Mel Brooks’ 1974 film and centers on Fredrick Frankenstein, the grandson of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. When Fredrick inherits the family castle in Transylvania, he soon finds himself following in the footsteps of his grandfather.

“You do not want to miss this show,” said Blinn faculty member Jennifer Patrick, who will direct the show. “It’s a non-stop, crazy, laugh-out-loud musical. The students have worked so hard to bring these iconic film characters to life and they are doing a fantastic job on stage and behind the scenes.”

Theatre Arts Professor Brad Nies will play the monster. Technical direction will be by Technical Theatre Arts Professor Kevin Patrick. Musical direction is by Jill Stewart, Instrumental Music Coordinator and Clarinet Professor at Blinn.

Other cast members are students Jordan Murrell (Fredrick Frankenstein), Josiah Bartlett, (Igor), Aliana Hernandez (Inga), Lily Marrs (Elizabeth Benning), Bianca O’Neal (Frau Blucher), Steve Torres (Inspector Hans Kemp), and Steven Houlihan (The Hermit).

Madison Manchester will be stage manager, Maygen Meadows and Eric Cruz will be assistant stage managers, and Samantha Nolen will be assistant choreographer.

The production is rated PG-13 for adult language and situations.

Following the production of “Young Frankenstein,” the 2023-24 season will continue with “Tiny Tim’s Christmas Carol,” Nov. 30-Dec. 3; “Medea,” Feb. 22-25; and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” April 18-20. The theme of this year’s plays is “A Year of the Supernatural.”

Additionally, the program’s improvisation troupe “Slaphappy” will perform Nov. 2 and April 4, both at 7 p.m. at the O’Donnell Center. Blinn-Brenham also will host the top six Region III 3A and Region IV A high school one-act plays April 26 and 27 at the O’Donnell Center, with winners advancing to the State University Interscholastic League One-Act Play Championship.

Blinn’s Theatre Arts Program cultivates a quality educational foundation of study, application, and experience through a wide range of performance, technical, and production studies. Its Associate of Arts degree plan integrates artistic, technical, and academic disciplines of theatre from the classroom to the stage.

Students have an opportunity to audition for a variety of performances related to drama and theatre and are prepared to transfer to four-year colleges and universities. For more information, visit www.blinn.edu/theatre.