Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Mel Brooks: Working on “Blazing Saddles” Musical for Broadway, and “Young Frankenstein” to London

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The great Mel Brooks told me last night at his AFI tribute that he still has lots of plans for stage shows. Brooks said first of all that “Blazing Saddles” may yet make it to Broadway.

It’s not quite a linear movie like “The Producers” or “Young Frankenstein,” so it’s taking a bit longer to figure out. But my guess is we’ll see “Blazing Saddles” by 2015 at the latest, and probably earlier.

And Mel is hoping to bring “Young Frankenstein” to the West End in London. He’s in talks now. I loved “Young Frankenstein” as a musical. It got mixed reviews in New York — mostly because everyone wanted “The Producers” part two.

Brooks is very busy, very funny and still on top of his game. Also, his son Max wrote the book upon which “World War Z” is based. Really, Mel should be making a parody of “‘WWZ” after the blockbuster runs its course this summer. Cloris Leachman as a zombie leader? Absolutely!

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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