‘Young Frankenstein’ Dancer, -Actor Is Hankering to Meet a Southern Boy
Stephen Carrasco comes to Houston
by Donalevan Maines
“I’m a gay man. I know I never have a problem letting go!” That’s actor Stephen Carrasco explaining why he thinks gays in the audience love the Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein, which will play May 25–June 6 at the Hobby Center.
“It’s dirty, it’s naughty, it’s not afraid to go there,” he explains. “It’s Mel Brooks–that’s where he lives. He’s brilliant with double entendres and innuendo. He’s not afraid to go one step further. You can just sit back and laugh, and not have a care in the world!”
Carrasco is a dancer in the ensemble, and he also plays the telegraph boy, Bob the astrologer, and one of the Transylvanian quartet. Young Frankenstein is his first national tour, and he’s “having a blast.”
“It’s truly been a dream come true, to experience life in these cities,” he says. “And in February, I got to play my hometown, Lansing, Michigan, so that was very special.”
Carrasco “was raised really well” in Okemos, a suburb of the state capital and nearby Michigan State University. But Carrasco opted to go to Vanessa Williams’ alma mater, Syracuse University, a private school that’s one-fourth the size of Michigan State. “It’s one of the schools where I auditioned, and when I visited the campus, I fell in love with the place,” he explains. “I’m also a very cold-weather kind of guy, so the University of Miami was not an option for me.”
Following graduation, Carrasco moved to “the city”—that’s New York City—which will be his home for four years come September. Carrasco made his Broadway debut in 2008 in the chorus of White Christmas. Last year, he performed in Encores! Music in the Air starring Kristin Chenoweth and other Broadway luminaries. Carrasco says, “Half the reason I took this show is to get to work with Susan Stroman,” the famed director and choreographer, winner of five Tony Awards, including two for Mel Brooks’ musical The Producers. “Her show Crazy for You was on PBS’s Great Performances, and I wore out the tape I bought,” says Carrasco. “She was with us for four weeks the whole time in Providence, Rhode Island,” where the tour rehearsed. “She is so amazing, and so smart, and so good at what she does!”
Tony Award-winner Roger Bart headlines the national tour of Young Frankenstein, which Carrasco says is notable in that “a good 80 percent of the cast has been on Broadway. You will see wonderful dancing, wonderful costumes by William Ivey Long, wonderful lighting, wonderful scenery—it takes seven semis to carry the set alone!”
Carrasco adds, “I’m very excited about coming to Houston and checking out the bars. Who doesn’t want to meet a Southern boy!”
Donalevan Maines is a regular contributor to OutSmart magazine.
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