The Addams Family

For any society to perform The Addams Family in the week which includes Halloween must surely be a good thing, and here was no exception.

Marsden Parish Church Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society ensured this was a “Spooktacular” production and from the reactions of the almost full audience on the evening I was there everyone in the audience thoroughly enjoyed their efforts.

From the word go we were met with the family Addams which to say they were all weird is an understatement. Heading up the household was Robbie Pogson as Gomez whose superb singing and acting was perfect for this role, he brought everything out of it. Joining Robbie as his wife, Morticia was Holly Comber-Moccia who looked every bit the character we all know and love, but it wasn’t just her looks which ensured we were all entertained, it was also her fine singing and acting. I especially enjoyed her singing with Gomez of Live Before We Die and Just Around The Corner with the Ancestors both of these were brilliant.

Also, in the family are the children, Wednesday and Pugsley played by Sarah Thompson and Mia Bates respectively, here again both these were able to bring their characters to life especially in the number Pulled where Pugsley was on the rack enjoying being tortured by his sister.

In the role of Uncle Fester was Daren Wild who was exceptional and thrilled the audience each time he entered the stage, his song The Moon and Me was brilliant. Bringing up the rear of the family, in more sense than one, was Michelle Bates as Grandma, again a great performance. Of course, we must not forget the butler, Lurch who slunk in and out of the shadows, Al Muskett did a sterling job keeping in character all the way through the show.

As we all know Wednesday falls in love with a “normal” lad and wants to get married, the “normal” family was made up of father Mal Bieneke, mother Alice Bieneke and son Lucas Bieneke played by Malcolm Payne, Christine Millington and James Walshe respectively. All of these added to the hilarity of the piece especially in Full Disclosure which brought both families together to play “the game”, a sort of Truth or Dare which brought Alice Beinecke revealing more then she should have.

Sarah and James worked very well together especially in the scene when Wednesday attempts to shoot an apple form Lucas’ head with the help of some of the ancestors.

To complete the line up in this piece were the Ancestors all of whom were used to the full in the various scenes and songs and dances including some very intricate pointe work.

Congratulations must go to the production team of Dean, Carolynne and Richard as director, choreographer and MD respectively who all must be very pleased at the results. Praise must also go to the set design, sound, lighting and projections used all of which enhanced the enjoyment.

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