The Addams Family

Fresh from their brilliant production of Joseph in 2018, Mid Cheshire Youth Theatre have come back with a smash hit of a show this week to round off their 2019 season.  The Addams Family musical is a ‘traditional’ tale of love across the barricades between a ‘normal’ family and The Addams Family.  The clever and funny script was brilliantly at the forefront of this production and the storyline was clear for the audience to hear.  This production was brilliant from start to finish.  If you’re going to do this the week before Halloween, then you have to go all guns blazing and thanks to Jenna Finnigan’s wonderful vision, this musical hit the mark.  The production values with the costumes, lights and set were high and each one worked to establish location and enhance the tone of each scene.  The diction and storytelling from the whole cast were brilliant and each actor had their own characteristics that made them stand out, even down to the ancestors who were milling around the set.  The clever idea of using the ancestors helped dress the set, helped with scene changes and smoothed the transitions from scene to scene.  There are lots of other ways that I could talk about the vision for this show but let me just say that it was visually beautiful and the audience, including myself, were thoroughly entertained throughout.  The only negative from the performance was the once scene change to set up the long dinner table which was very noisy and distracting from the Grandma scene; despite the table looking fabulous when the curtain was opened.

The choreography was often more like stylised movement rather than full on dance routines, but it suited the piece very much.  I’m also glad that there were no rip off ‘Thriller’ moves but that the movement was used to enhance the scene and the storytelling through song.  The female Tango dancers were great to watch and showcased their brilliant ability!

The musical director for this production was Ian Sherwood.  The band were very strong and sounded brilliant throughout.  I particularly loved the violin and the clarinet sections.  For me, the band were far too loud at times which meant that it was hard to hear the singing from the cast.  Being slightly sung through, this meant that vital pieces of the storyline could’ve been missed with audience members that haven’t seen the show before.  The drummer was particularly loud.  Perhaps an electric drumkit could be used in future productions in a venue this size so that the levels could be controlled more?  Despite this, the drummer was still fab in her job!  The wall of sound from the cast and the stunning harmonies in group numbers was outstanding!

The set was very good and used very well throughout.  It enabled a multiuse of entrances and exits which added to the overall pace of transitions as we weren’t waiting for chorus members to go offstage (one of my pet peeves).  I also loved the cloths that were used.  They looked very authentic, especially the Graveyard one!  The costumes were exceptionally very good and aided character – as did the fabulous make-up.  Well done to all involved. 

The lighting design was brilliant.  I loved the various gobo’s and lights used but it was the colours that gave everything a lift.  I also loved the use of shadows and darkness, especially in the graveyard scenes which only enhanced the tone.

Sound was generally good.  There were a few slight issues with popping and levels of some of the cast, but I fear this may have been down to the cast moving their head-mic rather than the levels from the desk.  As I mentioned above, the band were far too loud in parts which distracted from the singing.

Gomez Addams was brilliantly played by Sean Foster.  Sean’s accent was brilliant, and he kept it up the whole way through.  He had a brilliant rapport with his wife Morticia but more importantly, he had a brilliant rapport with the audience.  He showed great comic timing and was brilliantly cast in this role – I loved him!

Morticia Addams is a hard part to play as she’s a little dry and underplayed against the others but I thought that Daisy Dorsch did a fab job to portray this character.  Daisy was very watchable and looked brilliant as the family matriarch.  She had a lovely singing voice too.  Well done Daisy for a great performance.

The star of the show for me was undoubtedly Phoebe Robinson as the love induced Wednesday Addams!  Phoebe commanded the stage with energy, commitment to character and had a brilliant singing voice to boot.  A VERY strong performance from someone who has what it takes to go far in this business.

I was a little underwhelmed with Albie Gatiss’ Pugsley Addams.  Albie was suitably funny, and the audience laughed in all of the right places but for me, it was underplayed and too naturalistic at times.  Albie certainly looked the part and he had a lovely rapport with others onstage.  He also showed great comic timing.

Jess Luty’s Grandma Addams was funny and played well. It was hard to hear her at times, particularly during her song due to the noisy scene change and I really felt for her.  Despite this, Jess showed good comic timing and brilliant storytelling!

Uncle Fester – the showman, was played by Max Houghton.  Max played this in a campish way which suited the line ‘What could a …. person of no specific gender know about love’?  His costume was great, and Max did well to show a different side to Uncle Fester from the norm.

Lurch, played by Josh Freestone was very watchable on stage.  I found myself being drawn to Josh throughout and he stayed in character at all times.  He showed a fantastic physicality to this role and was very entertaining.  Possibly not the best singer in the world, but Josh looked like he was having the time of his life onstage so who cares?

The Beineke’s Family were made up of Noah Petts (Lucas), Jemma Iveson (Alice) and Ben Mather-Dodd (Mal).  Each were well cast and entertaining to watch.  Noah was particularly strong and had a fantastic stage presence.  He showed great acting and singing skills also, as well as having a fantastic American accent.  Jemma was able to showcase her brilliant singing voice and showed the different sides to her character between drinking the potion.  I found having her hair down for most of Act 2 a little distracting.  Perhaps it could’ve been tied back a little so we could see her facial expressions?  Ben did well to portray the Dad, despite being a teenager.  He had a great rapport with all others.

Overall, this musical was very entertaining.  The best bits were when the cast were standing still and just belting out the amazing harmonies.  ‘When You’re an Addams’ and ‘Full Disclosure’ were excellent examples of this.  The excellent wall of sound was great to listen to.  I loved some of the ensemble cast of ancestors that were dotted around the stage.  Some of them were great to watch and it was great to see them interacting with each other as well as listening to the main cast.  If this is the standard of the youth in Mid Cheshire, then the adult societies have nothing to worry about.  I look forward to MCYT’s next production of ‘We Will Rock You’ next year as I know what a great singing society they are!  I thank MYCT for their wonderful hospitality and wish them all the very best for their 2020 season.

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