The Addams Family

When I was asked to visit St John Rigby College (SJR) to see the Addams family I remembered that I had seen this show at SJR previously which at the time was an excellent production, so I was worried that I would not enjoy this one as much. However, I did not need to worry as this was a very entertaining production in its own right made all the more enjoyable by the fact that the students had been responsible for all aspects of bringing the show to the stage even giving up their lunchtimes to rehearse three times a week. They directed, choreographed, stage managed, musically directed, operated the sound and the lighting and played the music - it was an all-round team effort. The Addams family has music and lyrics written by Andrew Lipper from a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and is based on characters created by Charles Addams seen in the well-known television series and films of the same name.

The Addams family are a strange and ghoulish lot, so when daughter Wednesday falls in love with a “normal” boy who has asked her to marry him it is a huge shock for the family and their ghostly ancestor, they are in disbelief. Wednesday invites her fiancé and his parents for dinner so that the families can get to know each other, all she asks is that her family act normal for one night but in true Addams Style nothing goes to plan, resulting in lots of comic mayhem.

This production was full of enthusiasm and energy throughout with Anna Meredith and Riv Mudzingwa stepping up to be both Directors and Musical Directors. David Wall was the Producer and Conductor while Lucy Edwards was SJR Concert Band Coordinator with Lyla Waterworth Sharp as Choreographer. Their talented cast entertained us with very enjoyable portrayals of the well-known characters. Aidan Kane gave us a very likeable portrayal of Gomez Addams the patriarch and head of the family who is at the centre of the action, he had good comic timing with really entertaining facial expressions while producing a very fair Latin American accent, Riv Mudzingwa was suitably composed, graceful and gothic as his wife and matriarch Morticia, they made a good central couple. Anna Meredith got to the heart of Wednesday Addams character, producing a strong performance and singing well, she was excellently complimented by a very good performance from Lewis Murphy in the role of Wednesday’s fiancé Lucas Beineke. There was an outstanding comedic performance from James Daley as Uncle Fester, James appeared to be enjoying every minute of playing this character, he also had an excellent rapport with the audience. Lucas's bewildered and perturbed parents were played by Marcus Iannone as Mal Beineke with Ava Boon as Alice Beineke who both jelled well together producing, some very nice comedy and were very believable as a couple. Another enjoyable performance came from Jack Bentley as Wednesday’s brother Pugsley Addams, and Felix Crompton was entertaining as oddball Grandma Addams, Jack Meaden as Lurch was suitably stoic and slow moving, he made the audience laugh by just opening the door. The principal cast were very well supported by the chorus of ancestors who performed confidently with loads of energy, each one was a different person from the list of Addams Ancestors, they managed to keep in character all the way through the performance which was probably hard as they were on stage most of the time gracing the balcony at the back of the set and could have been distracting for the audience. The action and pace of the show was just right, and on the whole diction and clarity of words were generally good.

The majority of the band were students who were conducted by David Wall, they played excellently making a great sound and supported the cast on stage expertly. Choreography was by Lyla Waterworth Sharp was suitable for the show and the space the stage area allowed, it was performed by the cast with energy and proficiency.

Just a constructive observation about some the singing by the principles as there was a tendency for some of the cast to go off key at times, notably when trying to sing louder.  I think they were pushing the voice without support resulting in the loss of control and may need to listen to the notes the accompaniment is playing, but this did not affect my enjoyment of the show and I am sure this is something that will improve over time with experience and learning.

There was one very impressive set built in-house and designed by Mark Lane which made very good and efficient use of the stage area, Mark also designed the lighting and sound plot, which was important for the atmosphere and feel of the performance, once again with input from the students, the set was also enhanced by some very well thought out props as were the costumes and makeup which were just right for characters.  Congratulations to Stage Managers Millie Burgan and Niamh Fanning and all backstage workers, there must have been a great deal of hard work and teamwork put into getting everything just right.

Well done to everyone involved in bringing this very enjoyable production to the stage and thank you for making my friend and I so welcome we had a lovely evening.

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