Young Frankenstein: Roger Bart is temporarily absent from the show due to back injury

Roger Bart, who stars as the mad Dr Frankenstein in the new Mel Brooks' musical comedy Young Frankenstein, is temporarily absent from the show due to back injury. He has not appeared in the musical, which is currently in previews, for the last few days.

There has been no official announcement as to when the star will return to the musical, but the producers of the show have said that he is responding well to treatment and is expected to return to the show shortly.

Bart's understudy, Ensemble member Matthew LaBanca, is currently making his Broadway debut in the role of Dr Frankenstein, which he will continue to play until Bart returns.

The musical, currently in previews at the Hilton Theatre, is to open on the 8 Nov 2007, and is booking through to 30 Mar 2008.

Young Frankenstein also stars Megan Mullally (Elizabeth), Sutton Foster (Inga), Shuler Hensley (The Monster), Andrea Martin (Frau Blucher), Fred Applegate (Kemp) and Christopher Fitzgerald (Igor).

Based on the Oscar-nominated 1974 film, Young Frankenstein tells the story of Frederick Frankenstein, a young neurosurgeon who inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. In the castle he finds a funny hunchback called Igor, a pretty lab assistant named Inga and the old housekeeper, frau Blucher. Young Frankenstein does not believe in the work of his grandfather, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he suddenly changes his mind...

Unfolding in the forbidding Castle Frankenstein and the foggy moors of Transylvania Heights, the show's score includes �We�re the Happiest Town in Town,� "There is Nothing Like The Brain," "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and the unforgettable treatment of Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On the Ritz."

Like Mel Brook's 12 times Tony Award winning show 'The Producers,' Young Frankenstein features music & lyrics by Mel Brooks, book by Mel Brooks & Tom Meehan, and is directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.

The production also features the same creative team as The Producers: Robin Wagner (Set Design), William Ivey Long (Costumes) and Peter Kaczorowski (lighting).