Gothic Revival

If you want to take the fake-blood spirit and extend Halloween into a mini-season, then Frankenweiner (The Piano Store) is for you. A spoof on Frankenstein, the musical finds inspiration in Pygmalion spiced with Medusa— imagine a kinkier, campier version of Mary Shelley's nightmare, with a dominatrix in the role of the monster. The four-member cast romps through the story you know by heart, "Master, it's alive!" and all. Only the supercool maestro, tinkling Beethoven and Chopin from above the stage, tempers the outrageousness. The Project 400 Theater Group, along with Ground Floor Theatre Lab, makes great use of the minuscule space, but at times you're so close to the action that Frankenweiner's ego-driven zeal rains down on you in spit. Anna Wilson's monster is a marvel of misguided science and lust. In a leather bustier, platform boots, and cherry-red fur panties, she upstages her creator more deliciously than any of her grunting, green, and towering predecessors.