Young Frankenstein

Today I'm talking to Jim Borstelmann, who made his Broadway debut as a swing in Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989.

Jim went on to appear on Broadway in Chicago, The Producers, Young Frankenstein, The Addams Family, Chaplin, Bullets Over Broadway, and most recently, New York, New York.

Jim was in the original cast of Chicago when it debuted at City Center in 1996, and he transferred with it to Broadway, where he originated the role of the judge.

Let's dive in and see what Jim has to say.

break a leg and then have Monday off and, you know, mend.

What did you learn from Annie working on that show that changed you as a performer after that in the work that you've done since?

For me, what I took from Annie to the producers and then to Young Frankenstein and the Addams Family and Chaplin, all these shows, Bullets Over Broadway was to keep it real and honest.

To not be so performy and fake that the audience does that backup thing.

I did the last seven or eight episodes in that s- series, which was amazing, but there was one episode where I had 14 pages of lines, and I normally am just grunting and groaning and err, doing monster things, but-

I, I was the monster in, in Young Frankenstein the Musical.

I, I, I get it, and I loved it, and I grunted my way through the show.

Yeah, I loved it.

But you're there.

You don't have many lines.

Now, I will say, and I'll go back to my monster in Young Frankenstein, make no mistake, you have to act with your face.

When you don't have lines, that doesn't, you're not off the hook.

[laughs]

And then, uh, back to California, and then Young Frankenstein came up, and that was just a straight offer to do Young Frankenstein.

Oh, wow.

And, uh, yeah.

Wow

... supportive beyond measure.

And, uh, moved to New York with Young Frankenstein, and that turned into, uh, a show at, uh, Lincoln Center called Happiness, again, with Susan Stroman.

Susan Stroman.

We're going to see that in November.

Young Frankenstein.

They're good, but they're just not.

They're derivative.

I would love to do that someday.

Young Frankenstein.

You can see my taste is all over the place.

Young Frankenstein is a masterpiece of a movie.

And the Broadway show, the musical is just a laugh a minute, like more laughs per second than any other show.

Yeah.

Big.

Steel Pier, Contact, the 2000 revival of The Music Man, The Producers, Thou Shalt Not, the 2002 revival of Oklahoma, The Frogs, Young Frankenstein, The Scottsboro Boys, Big Fish, POTUS, or Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, Left on 10th, and most recently on Broadway, Smash.

We have scenic design by Beowulf Borat, projection design by Christopher Ash and Beowulf Borat, lighting design, Ken Bellington, sound design, Kai Harada, and costume design by Donna Zakowska.

The original Broadway cast was as follows.

You won't find me tied down to some boozy old slob.

What a jerk.

P.S. Jim Borlstelman's Broadway credits, if you're curious, include his debut in Jerome Robbins' Broadway, for which he served as a replacement, as well as the producers, Young Frankenstein, The Addams Family, he was an understudy for Uncle Fester, You Sunk My Battleship, he was also in Chaplin, and the 1996 revival of Chicago.

I enjoyed you in this show, Jim.