A ‘Frankenstein’ Created From Unequal Parts

The process of creation often goes awry. Look at what happened to Dr. Frankenstein’s effort to formulate life. Or, closer to home, examine Carol Weiss’ attempt to create a musical based on “Frankenstein,” as part of the International City Theatre series at Long Beach’s Center Theater.

Like the monster created by Dr. Frankenstein, this musical needs an extensive make-over.

Weiss’ inspiration, apart from the Mary Shelley original, appears to be the recent “Jekyll and Hyde” musical. Her score is a heavy-breathing, grandiose affair, with plenty of would-be climaxes. The title song alone has five reprises, yet the melody is written in such a way that most of the lyrics, other than the one word “Frankenstein,” are sometimes difficult to discern and almost impossible to remember.

This kind of music requires a lush sound. Here, Darryl Archibald’s unseen five-piece band sounds synthetic, and the overweening gestures of the score sound hollow.

Weiss’ lyrics add very little lyricism. After Dr. Frankenstein (Joseph McNally) and his friend Henry (Dean Regan) arrive at college, Henry counsels his pal to take it easy in a song called “Moderation” that begins with the line “Learn to make friends” and closes with this sentiment: “Don’t count your chickens till the fat lady sings/Moderation--in all things.”

Weiss is probably trying to be whimsical with that last mixed metaphor, but whimsy and humor are not her strong points. Two numbers in the first act waste time and momentum by exploring the adventures of Mrs. Chesterton, Frankenstein’s landlady, as she tries to pawn off her unappealing daughters on eligible male college students. The aren’t-we-funny overacting allowed by directors Shashin Desai and caryn morse desai in these scenes is excruciatingly unfunny.

But then most of the first act is a chore, lacking the mystery and excitement that you expect from a supposedly serious treatment of this story. The act begins with a framing device, in which Mary Shelley is goaded into telling her new story to her husband, Percy Shelley, and two friends. Then, as we enter the main narrative, the same actor (McNally) who plays Percy Shelley also takes the role of Dr. Frankenstein, while the actress (Kelli Maguire) playing Mary Shelley now plays Frankenstein’s supposed girlfriend, Elizabeth.

The main problem is that Dr. Frankenstein is written and played as unremittingly smug, so it’s difficult to share his purported sense of intellectual adventure. His arrogance carries no weight. At least McNally has a voice that can handle the score--more so than Maguire’s soprano.

By the time the monster arrives, he’s a welcome relief--which isn’t precisely the right emotion to feel upon encountering this character. In fact, John Michael Morgan’s monster, though made up with facial cuts and darkened eyebrows, isn’t particularly scary. We should be momentarily chilled by him before we begin sympathizing with his plight.

At least Morgan brings an element of gravity to a show that had threatened to completely dissipate in silliness. When he starts singing after intermission, Morgan has trouble maintaining his high notes, but in a way this seems appropriate; a newly formed monster should have a lot of rough edges.

The second act is better than the first. An encounter between a blind woman (Linda Kerns) and the monster fully hits its marks, while the monster’s strangling of young William (Josh Breslow) is almost as successful, dramatically speaking. It’s still difficult to take the show as seriously as Weiss intends, but at least the second act offers glimmers of hope. The final scene, in which we return to the Shelleys, features a clever little narrative twist that ends the show on a relatively high note.

Bradley Kaye’s all-purpose set looks low-budget. Paulie Jenkins’ lighting adds sparks of interest but also looks a bit restrained, considering the subject matter. “Frankenstein” is the first new work presented in this company’s series at the mid-sized Center Theater; it looks as if the obviously limited resources should have gone to a better script that required fewer production elements.

*

* “Frankenstein,” Center Theatre, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends March 7. $28-$32. (562) 938-4128. Running time: 2 hours, 25 minutes.