Meet the 'Gay Bride of Frankenstein'

No, the Gay Bride of Frankenstein is not a new Boris Karloff movie. It is a brand new musical that will premiere in NYC on September 28, as a part of the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival. It has a musical score that is rock oriented and conceptually, it provides a mix between imagery and reality. The book was co-written by Dane Leeman and Billy Butler. The music and lyrics are also by Billy Butler.

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The New York Musical Theatre Festival website page for the show describes it as:

A graphic novel comes alive on stage when Edna, Chloe, Harry and Thad stumble in to a night of rock music that can raise the dead! Will the girl get the girl? Never has there been a Halloween love story like this with mystery, magic and a cartoon caper that will scare you silly.

Before it was a show, Gay Bride was an album. Leeman and Butler then decided to write a musical. It only took them about a year to get the basics of the story written. Together, they make a good team: Leeman with a designer, technical background and Butler with the musical background.

The first presentation of the show was at the Player’s Ring in New Hampshire on Oct. 17, 2008. All 13 shows of the run were sold out attracting a diverse audience. They recorded a soundtrack and decided to head to New York to see what they could do with their lovely lady of a show. They got picked up by the New York Musical Theatre Festival and are now preparing for that run.

The show has a fine message to it, but it’s also a lot of fun, too! Think of this: it was written for Halloween, that big, fun holiday when we can turn into what we want to be. Yes, we can get to be who we want to be, who we are – that’s what this show is about.

The graphic novel referred to in the description is a comic book format style. The show starts out with these comic book graphic images of a story.  After the comic book story is told, the live acting on stage begins where the audience meets ordinary characters in extraordinary circumstances.

The music is an important element of the show. A lot of it is upbeat. But there are songs that have a sadder note and this is necessary in order to compare it to the happy upbeat tempo.

In the next article, we’ll see what has been going on with the Gay Bride of Frankenstein as it prepares for the September premiere. In the meantime, take a look at the Gay Bride's  website and listen to some of the music. Downloads of the music are also available for purchase on the site.