Young Frankenstein is a musical with a book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan and music and lyrics by Brooks. It is based on the 1974 comedy film of the same name written by Brooks and Gene Wilder and directed by Brooks, who has described it as his best film.[1] It is a parody of the horror film genre, especially the 1931 Universal Pictures adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Brooks and Meehan began work on the project in April 2006. An October 2006 reading of the first draft of the script directed by Susan Stroman[2] featured Brian D'Arcy James as Dr. Frankenstein, Kristin Chenoweth as Elizabeth, Sutton Foster as Inga, Roger Bart as Igor, Marc Kudisch as Inspector Kemp, and Shuler Hensley as the Monster. Cloris Leachman, reprising her film role as Frau Blücher, also attended the table read, and at the time it was widely reported she would be offered the role of Blücher for the stage show. [3] However, gossip maven Liz Smith reported in her January 12, 2007 New York Post column that Leachman was sent a letter informing her she would not be considered for the Broadway production because the producers wanted to keep the film and stage properties separate.