Brooks and Gene Wilder’s classic horror film parody, which was recast as a Broadway musical in 2007, opens Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Massey Hall auditorium. The all-student cast, backed by a seven-piece live orchestra, will perform three consecutive nights and conclude with a Sunday afternoon matinee. The Colonial Theatre performances are based on the show’s snappier, tighter West End version of 2017.

“Mel Brooks’s brand of comedy always translates very well to the stage. We learned that with ‘The Producers’,” says director Quinn Shannon. “The cast is having a blast and it really shows.”

Shannon has directed musicals for Pittsburgh CLO Academy and Pittsburgh Musical Theater and taken the stage for numerous roles, including Nicely-Nicely Johnson in “Guys and Dolls” at the Pittsburgh Public Theater in 2016. This will be his first directing credit at Colonial Theatre.

Freshman Trey Reichenfeld of Mt. Lebanon performs in his first lead role as the titular Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced “Fronkensteen”). “I think audiences are going to love ‘Young Frankenstein’ for its energetic style and raunchy humor they wouldn't see in other musicals,” says Reichenfeld, an actuarial science major who was the lead understudy for last year’s Colonial Theatre production of “Xanadu.”

Honors student Addy Hildebrand, a sophomore public relations major from Derry Area, returns to the Colonial Theatre stage as Elizabeth Benning, Frankenstein’s socialite fiancée. “This show is a fantastic telling of a classic story that will make everyone laugh,” says Hildebrand.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at www.rmu.edu/theatre or at the door.