Rock ‘n’ Droll : Universal Tour Re-Creates Monsters for the MTV Generation

Monsters made Universal Studios famous.

Frankenstein and Dracula were among the studio’s first leading men. Director Erich von Stroheim may have been turning out classics, but it was Bela Lugosi who turned the turnstiles.

Now, Universal Studios Hollywood is hoping to scare up more tourist business by reincarnating its ghastly creatures. This time around, the movie monsters have been cast in a musical stage show and imbued with what studios executives call an “MTV-Janet Jackson” appeal.

Honest.

Frankenstein comes out looking like Bruce Springsteen and the new Wolfman bears resemblance to Axl Rose. During the “Beetlejuice Graveyard Revue”--the title character joins as emcee--merry monsters sing and dance their way through rock ‘n’ roll favorites, including the Bride of Frankenstein’s rendition of “Natural Woman.”

“The Phantom of the Opera has been playing great organ for years, he just never had a chance to show it,” said Terry Winnick, the theme park’s general manager, in a disarmingly sincere tone. “When he plays ‘Great Balls of Fire,’ the organ literally explodes.”

Keeping with this nostalgic theme, the tour is also adding a stage version of “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.” Costumed characters and puppets will play all the roles--including the dastardly Boris and Natasha--from the early ‘60s cartoon series.

The new stage productions, which open March 28, are part of Universal Studios’ effort to shed its image as simply a tram ride through a movie lot. Last year, the hillside theme park shortened its tram circuit to 45 minutes and added more walk-through attractions, including the $40-million “E.T. Adventure.” The crown jewel of this tourist season will be the high-tech, flame-engulfed “Backdraft,” based on the 1991 Ron Howard film.

With an average of 30,000 guests entering the park each day, it’s possible that over the next 10 years more people will see the attraction than saw the movie.

But “Backdraft” won’t open until June, well after Disney debuts its “Fantasmic!” attraction and Magic Mountain starts up its new roller coaster, “Flashback.”

In the meantime, Universal Studios visitors will get monsters and a moose.

Bullwinkle and his diminutive sidekick haven’t changed much in their transformation to live action. The actors wear costumes and masks. Midgets have been hired to play the parts of Rocky and Boris. The theme park even hired June Foray, one of the show’s original voices, to do the taped voice-overs.

“We got the original scripts to capture the pacing and the kinds of set-ups they would do,” said Phil Hettema, who oversaw the production. “Of course, we grew up on this stuff. Some of us remember the shows by heart.”

Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties shows up on stage. Mr. Peabody and Sherman make an appearance.