Addams Family

“The Addams Family” the 1960s sitcom, which was famous for being spooky and altogether crazy. The Broadway musical, based on the sitcom, never professionally  produced on the stage here in the UK. I can now understand why it hasn’t; the story is trite, silly and not at all funny. BUT the Three towns Theatre Company took a good stab at making it likeable. The ensemble consists of a clump of Addams family, pulled from the crypt. One might suspect they are standard British-manor house ghosts in rags — (and excellent rags they were too, along with makeup to match!!). Congrats go out to wardrobe and makeup for this. Once out of the crypt, they spend the evening adding ghostly, mirthless and unnecessary accents to a very loose story, this not being the fault of Three Towns Theatre Company. The plot involves Gomez and Morticia’s (Tony Harold and Gwyneth Loft) very compliantly played with comic attempts to prevent their crossbow-wielding Wednesday (Victoria Pemble) from marrying befuddled Lucas Beineke (Richard McBride).  Lucas’s mother, Alice, (Debbie Davis) ends up drinking a potion administered by Pugsey the youngest son (excellently played, both in acting and diction by Sam Loft) intended for Wednesday, and Uncle Fester (Paul Smith) falls in love with the moon, set to good ghostly choreography by Katy Leman.  Victoria Pemble and Richard McBride as the lovers brighten the stage when given the chance. Geoff Coote Lurches through the affair as the half-dead family butler and Christine Jarrett, as the eccentric Grandma, seems to be out on her own, so to speak.  Samantha Grace once again directing for TTT Company took this production and brought some degree of her flare and attention to detail to it. Martyn Clements orchestra once again superb although too loud (mainly due to it being on the same level as the audience).  I enjoyed the slick set changes by the cast (its the way to go nowadays), well done Louise Parrott as Stage Manager.
Thank you TTTC for inviting me and my guest along with the NODA SE councilor Kay Rowan.

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