Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...But at Chicago's intimate Mercury Theater last Thursday night, the show sat far more easily as a fun, Halloween-season entertainment, directed by L. Walter Stearns with a budget and cast a mere fraction of the size of the original. It's still B-level material, but yuks abounded, thanks mostly to the two actors playing the roles with most of the comedy. Igor, played here by Ryan Stajmiger, turns in a knockout, Broadway-quality performance, and the Monster, essayed by Andrew MacNaughton, kills it during the show's funniest number, "Puttin' on the Ritz," charmingly staged by choreographer Brenda Didier and filled with amusements."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...Directed by L. Walter Stearns with music direction by Eugene Dizon, “Young Frankenstein” is a seasonally fitting giggle fest wrought with cheesy double-entendres and monstrous puns. The cast milks the jokes until the jug is bone-dry, but “Young Frankenstein” remains mindlessly enjoyable."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Grab your lab coat and walk this way to Mercury Theater Chicago for Young Frankenstein, the hilarious 2007 musical with music and lyrics by the legendary Mel Brooks, based on his beloved 1974 film of the same name. With a book written by Brooks and Thomas Meehan, it delivers on many of the same laughs of the film, staying faithful to the jokes, tone, and story, while adding a monster amount of music, humorous songs, dancing, and a few surprises."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews - Recommended
"...However, this two-act, 19 songs, 2 hours 30 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission production of Young Frankenstein, is another example of Mercury Theater's combination of choosing outstanding plays and an exceptional cast, making it a worthy Brooks comedy."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...Leave it to L. Walter Stearns to find a way to stage a big brassy musical like “Young Frankenstein” on the fairly small stage at The Mercury Theater. He has the ability to find the right talent to fill the crazy roles in Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan’s zany musical based on the film of the same name. The music and lyrics are by Brooks (no one could do it better). Stearns has had Bob Knuth design a set that uses every square inch of the stage to perfection, including the turning bookcase."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...This energetic, highly entertaining musical, with a clever and capable chorus of character actors, provides an enjoyable evening that’s especially perfect for audiences during the Halloween season. The show is made for the theatergoer who enjoys Mel Brooks’ adult humor and comes to this show knowing what to expect. It’s a production that, in every way, absolutely Puts On the Ritz!"
Buzznews.net - Highly Recommended
"..."Young Frankenstein," a live stage musical version of Mel Brooks hysterical 1974 comedy film, is an absolute hoot in its new production at Chicago's intimate Mercury Theatre on Southport."
Chicagoland Musical Theatre - Recommended
"...So what's changed? Scale is the big one. The would-be mega-musical can now comfortably fit in a music hall, and Mercury's hall is as intimate as any. It's apt, too-Young Frankenstein the film is not so much plotted as it is a vehicle for sketch comedy, so Young Frankenstein the musical is really less of a book musical and more like vaudeville, a two-hour parade of variety and shtick mixing dark stormy nights and Shelley with rolls in the hay and schwanzstuckers. Lots and lots of schwanzstuckers."
Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended
"...Mel Brooks is one of the great comic geniuses of our time and he has said that Young Frankenstein was his favorite film. From that comic lunacy came the musical Young Frankenstein with music and lyrics by Mel Brooks and the book co-written by Thomas Meehan. Mercury Theater's fantastic cast performed two hours of inspired lunacy beautifully directed by L. Walter Stearns. It is perfect to open the fun part of the Halloween season and boy did I need the laughs."
Chicago On Stage - Recommended
"...This time, the director is L. Walter Stearns (Mercury’s executive producer and multiple Jeff Award winner), fresh from his most recent Jeff nomination for last year’s Clue. Stearns may well secure another nom for this show, as he gets amazing performances from a well-chosen cast that breathes the same high-spirited life into the musical as its titular character does with his monstrous creation. He is aided by equally-awarded music director (and co-executive producer) Eugene Dizon, who always gets the best out of every voice in a cast."
PicksInSix - Highly Recommended
"...The brilliance of the 1974 film Young Frankenstein comes from the ability of Mel Brooks its director and screenwriter (with Gene Wilder) to alternately pay tribute to Hollywood’s past, while parodying scenes from great films. The stage musical version of “Young Frankenstein”—with music and lyrics by Brooks and book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan—now playing at the Mercury Theater Chicago under the direction of J. Walter Stearns and musical direction of Eugene Dizon, delivers a high-flying fun night with all of that same pathos and side-splitting comedy thanks to some spirited performances and a hard-working ensemble of endless invention."
Life and Times - Highly Recommended
"...Thankfully, impeccable talent is always on the menu at Mercury Theater, home to some of the most enjoyable musicals not only in Chicago, but in the entire region. From direction, to choreography, to set design, to the performers on stage, Mercury Theater knows how to deliver a hit."
Chicago Culture Authority - Recommended
"...That gaspingly funny scene and the one between the Monster and a lonely, bumbling blind hermit-played by a hilariously over-the-top understudy Callan Roberts on opening night (complete with a fake beard with the mouth hole pulled down over his chin)-who serves his new undead buddy a meal that includes a crotch-bound ladle full of "boiling hot soup" are alone worth the price of admission."