WCBS-TV:

"It's a hit! I loved it! Catch it if you can! It's a lot of fun."

"Hunter Foster is wonderful!"

ASSOCIATED PRESS:

"...brings the classic story thrillingly to life"

"(Hunter Foster) is completely captivating in his portrayal of the tortured scientist whose creation brings not acclaim, but despair."

"Complementing Foster's performance as Frankenstein is the equally strong (Christiane) Noll as his fiancee, Elizabeth. She is the perfect mix of strength and vulnerability with a soprano so rich and enveloping that you wonder how Victor could ever leave her side."

"Commanding the stage, however, is Steve Blanchard, as the "Creature." No green face paint, neck bolts, or platform shoes -- just a recently hanged man whose body is claimed by Frankenstein and who is reanimated into a monster clearly in excruciating pain, both physical and mental. The depth of his despair is always apparent -- especially in songs such as "The Walking Nightmare" and the agonizing "These Hands." Blanchard, perhaps best known for playing the Beast in Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast," is completely emotionally unmasked and stripped bare."

"No green giant, but you will not miss him."

BLOOMBERG RADIO:

"Riveting! Totally Exciting! I hated to see it end!"

GANNETT NEWSPAPERS:

This 'Frankenstein' is more man than monster

"...an elegant production... dark but consistently engaging. It concerns itself with the emotions of real human beings, including the creature who has been executed for murder, rather than a standard blood-and-guts adventure.

The almost sung-through musical has a score by Mark Baron, which will put you in mind of 'Les Miserables.'

This is not an intimate score with soft little ballads. It's written as a large musical in a contemporary Broadway style, with lots of choral numbers. Even songs that deliver what is essentially dialogue for two people have the singers singing full-blast into each other's faces.

The approach does not dim the show's considerable entertainment value."

"Director Bill Fennelly maintains a remarkably consistent tone for the piece, on a sleek black set by Kevin Judge that is enhanced by the stately real-life projections of Michael Clark, and the dazzling lighting of Thom Weaver.

As Frankenstein -- who is, of course, the scientist and not his creature -- Foster conveys the tortures of guilt at what he has done."

"Frankenstein is no mad scientist, but one who has taken science into new and uncharted territory that is rife with ethical problems... Yet the show ends on a note of surprising tenderness."

"What is amazing about this show is how much fun it turns out to be, while it presents a front of supreme seriousness in its faithful adherence to the novel."

WOR-TV:

"If you head off-Broadway, you can find a better bang for your buck with another 'Frankenstein'"

"A new musical with a classical touch."

BACKSTAGE:

"...the theater ricochets with chills and emotions"

"Slick and serious... Roaring thunder, eye-splitting lightning, ominous projections, and jolting strobes make for a game stab at the famous tome. Beginning and ending in the frozen north, as does the novel, the emphasis here is not on the making of the monster. Instead, the show melds the pluses and minuses of science with a more personal tale of a family torn apart by unleashed and misunderstood forces.

Indeed, one of the two most affecting moments has to do with a final, symbiotic, tender father-son embrace of creator and creature. The other poignant moment involves Justine, governess to Victor Frankenstein's brother. Hanged for a murder she did not commit, she is reanimated by Victor as a bride for the creature. As gustily played by Mandy Bruno, Justine comes to life with the most piteous moans and cries. Suddenly the theatre ricochets with chills and emotions.

As Victor, Hunter Foster's innocent face and clarion voice work well, evoking both sympathy and obsession."

"The imposing Steve Blanchard invests the lumbering yet articulate creature with a soul.

"Bill Fennelly's direction is sharp and quite beautiful..."

CURTAIN UP:

"...grand-looking, impressively-conceived production"

"Unlike Mel Brooks' musical parody that is about to open on Broadway this is a commendably faithful adaptation (of Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein')."

"As smartly directed by Bill Fennelly, the story unfolds with clarity and, except for the occasional but obligatory crashes of thunder and bolts of blinding lighting, without a lot of gimmickry. Don't expect to see a cluttered laboratory with countless bottles bubbling away or sparks of electrical currents shooting out from gadgets into the creature's brain. You may be impressed, as I was, by the simplicity of the staging and how effective it is as much by implication as by its musically distilled narrative. This grand looking, impressively conceived production relies on a unit set... as designed by Kevin Judge."

"...some fine visual effects... particularly serve as a showcase for the lighting designer Thom Weaver whose work is especially notable."

"The casting of Hunter Foster, as the brilliant but highly unorthodox scientist Victor Frankenstein is an unusual choice, but not because he lacks either dramatic or musical ability. Notwithstanding his exuberant performances as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors and as Bobby Strong in Urinetown... he sings the preponderance of his angst-driven arias with gusto. Steve Blanchard is an imposing Creature standing as he should head and shoulders above his creator... he is able to express the anger and unhappiness of this more complexly characterized creature. He gets our sympathy in the scene in which he eagerly awaits his mate's first breath of life."

" As Elizabeth, the attractive Christiane Noll has a lustrous soprano voice. She encourages our empathy in a number of arias, but most beautifully with the plaintive 'The Workings of the Heart,' as sung with Victor. She looks lovely in the purple and white gowns designed by Emily Pepper."

"There is no denying that the collaborators have fulfilled their objective to honor Shelly's horrific masterpiece."

"...we have a creature that is not only alive but speaks with a literate acumen and sings some heavy duty arias with a resounding brio. However, " It's alive" is graciously allowed to be part of the sparse spoken recitative in the mainly sung-through score by Mark Baron (music) and Jeffrey Jackson (book & lyrics)."

"The score is certainly the driving force behind this musical... Credit can go to Jackson's earnest lyrics for their unwavering commitment to the story and their success in complimenting the music. An example from Victor's aria: ' The Coming of the Dawn': Having Strayed So Far From Home/ I Deserve To Stand Alone/For While I Chased The Secrets Of The Night/ I Never Saw The Beauty In The Light."

HX MAGAZINE:

"...has that Wildhorn way of engineering goosebumps with beautiful power ballads and stunning choral numbers"

"Writer/lyricist Jeffrey Jackson takes the story very seriously, going back to the original Mary Shelley text to make the monster a thinking... creature who kills because of the wrongs done to him."

"Christiane Noll is glorious, as per her usual, as Elizabeth, the doctor's childhood sweetheart and Mandy Bruno is very strong as Justine, the governess of Frankenstein's young brother William (an impressive Struan Erlenborn).

Mark Baron's music has that Wildhorn way of engineering goosebumps with beautiful power ballads and stunning choral numbers..."

"...on the whole this show is terrifyingly electric."