Based on the 1818 novel by Mary Shelly, the musical Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein and the monster he created. Produced in Korea, Frankenstein was put on stage for the first time last year and they are now in their second year. The musical is much like that monster in that it is pieced together from various unattractive parts. Take for instance Frankenstein’s compulsiveness and isolation while he creates the monster alone in the lab or the scene where the servant girl is raped in the pit or Eva’s hysteric behavior—these moments don’t necessarily piece together “a beautiful musical.”
All of the songs end in an incredibly high pitch, making it difficult to listen to and the gaudy stage sets make things difficult to focus on. If all of this weren’t excessive enough, there is no buffer from one tragic and intense moment to another that allows the audience to reflect on what’s happened. Each moment, in and of itself, has power and it’s likely that that this power has contributed to the musical’s popularity. However, perhaps the musical would have been better served if it had taken note from the novel, which shows that the monster is also capable of tenderness, instead of honing in solely on the violence, since it is rage contrasted against love that makes the story of Frankenstein a classic.