NEW YORK (Reuters) – Mel Brooks may have created a monster in the expectations for "Young Frankenstein'', a musical comedy that opens tomorrow in his first return to Broadway since "The Producers''.

With "The Producers'', Brooks took a forgotten 1968 movie comedy and turned it into a surprise smash hit that ran for six years on Broadway until last April.

Now Brooks is using a similar formula with "Young Frankenstein'', an adaptation of the 1974 movie starring Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle that is one of the most beloved works in the funnyman's 58-year career in television and movies.

"Lightning rarely strikes twice in any business and certainly that's true on Broadway," said Michael Riedel, host of the "Theatre Talk" television show and theatre columnist for the New York Post.

Reserving judgment, some experts believe word-of-mouth will ultimately determine the success of the show, but they agree "Young Frankenstein" will be the most anticipated event of the fall season.

"Musicals either please the audience or they don't. They are not reliant on reviews. They are only to some extent reliant on stars, and this one doesn't have any big stars," said Seth Gelblum, who heads one of the top Broadway and commercial theater practices in New York at Loeb & Loeb.

"It will be completely reliant on how the audience reacts," he said.

Director Susan Stroman, who also directed "The Producers" on Broadway and in the subsequent remake of the film, said comparisons will be inevitable, but that she tried not to think about repeating that commercial success.

"When I start rehearsal I immerse myself in the material," Stroman told Reuters in a telephone interview. "I sort of dive into a swimming pool of talented artists and designers, and I don't come up for air until opening night. I feel like I've delivered, and I'll just have to take what comes."

The stage version revives gags from the movie but adds new material from Brooks, largely song-and-dance routines.