For Cory English, acting is a family affair. As he tours the United States playing Dr. Frankenstein’s sidekick Igor, he’s accompanied by wife, actress Eva Alexander, and three-year-old son Sammy, who’s seen Young Frankenstein several times.
“He came up to me the other day and asked, ‘Dad, what are your favorite words in the show?’ English says. “I said, ‘I don’t know … Transylvania mania?’ He said, ‘Mine’s Coke and Bacardi,’ which is a line I sing. And I thought, ‘I can’t wait to see what he picks up on when he’s five or six.'”
During a six-week stop in Chicago, Alexander and English signed Sammy up for ballet lessons at the Joffrey. “But I don’t care if he becomes an actor or a dancer,” English says. “I’m just glad he stands in line and goes across the floor when he’s supposed to.”
London has been their home for the past eight years, but like many acting families, English says they go wherever the work is. “[This show] is going to be in L.A. for six weeks, so she’s going to have some auditions and I’ll have some auditions. If we get some work there, we’ll stick around. If not, we’ll go back to London after the tour ends.” He says they have been very lucky so far. “For the most part, since we’ve been married, we go back and forth: She’s been working, then I’ve been working. When I got this tour, she stopped working for a little while to come with me. If she didn’t want to come, I probably wouldn’t have taken the job, because I wouldn’t have wanted to spend that much time away from my family.”
Happily, Sammy loves to fly. “He’s got a Thomas the Tank Engine suitcase that he loves packing,” English says. But they typically rent a car to get from city to city, if they’re close enough. That’s the biggest challenge of the job, he says, getting to the next town — standing up and getting laughs every night is the easy part.
“One of my favorite things to do is to stand outside of the stage door as long as possible before the show starts — to feel that in different towns is a wonderful thing,” English says. “I love seeing people who are late from having their dinner running to the theater. Seeing that excitement and … taking that onstage gives you a little boost to perform. … But just getting to say Mel Brooks’ lines are fun. I did The Producers in London and it was such a joy. The audience knows what they’re coming to see, they’re ready for it and you laugh all night long.”
Most people coming to see Young Frankenstein are fans of the Mel Brooks movie, so they know what to expect, too. “But we surprise them,” English says. “We heighten and extend [the laughs], so they see their favorite bits, but there’s more laughs on top — it’s a bonus.”
His favorite moments are when things go wrong — like when a set piece is left onstage or an elevator lift malfunctions. “Roger Bart and I, who plays Dr. Frankenstein, like to riff against each other in ad libs, just to remind the audience (and us) that it is a live show, and they’re not watching TV or a movie where everything is always the same.”
During one Broadway performance, the entire ensemble was trapped beneath the stage and couldn’t get on in time for their big number. “Nobody’s onstage and the orchestra’s just playing and I looked at Roger Bart and said, ‘Someone’s got to do something!” and he said, ‘I’m not going out there,'” English remembers. “So I went out there and had a two to three-minute dance solo. Then I ran out of dance moves, so I started doing a little breakdancing. I don’t know if the audience had any idea of what was going on, but anything like that I love.”
And what’s Sammy’s favorite thing about Young Frankenstein? “He says the thunder,” English laughs. “There’s some nice thunder at the top of the show.”
Young Frankenstein storms into the Fox Jan. 26-31.
