The Addams Family

Addams Family - 18th October 2019

My very first trip to the Isle of Man and my first Official trip as Noda Rep was to see Centre Stage Productions’ performance of The Addams Family.  

I'm going to start this review by making a statement - I believe that amateur theatre theatre and professional theatre are very closely linked with the only difference being money exchanging hands for the performance. 

As far as I'm concerned there are performers throughout our association members (NODA) that are able to give professional level performances and it is this reason that I enjoy visiting the societies and groups in my district.

The Gaiety Theatre in Douglas was the setting for the show and was beautifully presented and well decorated in keeping with the show with effective lighting and cobwebs, etc.  I'm going to kick off the review by commenting on the performances of some of the main characters. My first mention is for David Dawson who played Gomez Addams. David gave a truly professional level performance with an exceptionally strong character, impeccable singing and some impressive moves to boot! Projection of his script and singing in character was full and had every member of the audience with him all the way through the show, laughing and even crying at times, earning him a standing ovation in the bows.  Playing opposite David was Kate Stobart who played Morticia Addams. This part is a very difficult part to characterise as it calls for the actress to show very little emotion throughout the whole piece and to show no feeling, which Kate managed to pull off whilst at the same time filling her performance with character with believable expression. We had a fantastic performance from Shay Marsden as Wednesday Addams.  The story is all about her growing up and actually finding love with a “normal” boy.  Shay’s performance was outstanding with strong vocals and a lovable, but at times, scary character and expert use of a crossbow!  This show was run over a full week and, due to this reason, the younger cast was split into two teams. On the evening that we saw the show we had the delight of Rio Osborne playing Pugsley Addams. Rio did really well with such a big role and such a large character. He has some difficult vocals in his solo number “What If” and some fantastic supporting performances with Wednesday and he supported well with all the family group numbers.  I had to take a double look at Gary Corkhill who played Uncle Fester.  As a childhood favourite of mine, this story is well fixed in my mind and I could've sworn he was (Christopher Lloyd), the original Uncle Fester from the TV show . Grandma Addams, played by Jude Fullarton was eccentric, loud, lovable, scary and a little bit insane!  As far as I'm concerned, fits the role perfectly and was great. There was amazing chemistry between all the performers of the family and hats off to every single one of them for keeping this well loved “family” story alive.  Supporting performances of Lurch by Mark Britton were hilarious and he played the role beautifully and he wore those impressive wedges well.  Love interest to Wednesday Addams, Lucas Beineke played by Lewis Poultney was strong and the character had many levels performed with professionalism and care. The vocals displayed by Lewis throughout the whole show were spot on - well done.  Mum and Dad to Lucas,  Alice and Mal Beineke played by Jessica McManus and Neil King respectively were handled beautifully, creating their own characters that fit well with the eccentric Addams family.  These roles are new to the storyline and Jessica's betrayal of Alice actually “finding herself”, even though through a strange potion from Grandma was first class and a really impressive presentation of character acting.  Neil King had some difficult scenes with a change of character base from up tight, straight thinking business man to a bit of a rocker - Well played.  I would just like to say that the lead and supporting actors in this performance really did put on a tremendous show. 

Not to be outdone, the supporting cast of dancers, ancestors and other children throughout the show was absolutely fantastic. There wasn't a single weak link in this cast and I was amazed at the level of professionalism that was shown throughout this whole performance.  

The costumes and make-up were absolutely on point with no misplaced shoes or jewellery anywhere.  Care had obviously been taken with the details and everything was as should be and Val Cowley who is the society Chairman and also Director for this show did a phenomenal job to make sure that all the small intricacies and details were polished.  Following the show I spoke to Val and she insists that it was definitely a team effort and I can understand her statement fully.  With such a big show, her trust in Hannah Taylor as Choreographer, Gem Last as Assistant Choreographer and Claire Temple as Musical Director was well-placed.  Hannah and Gem’s choreography was West End ready and you wouldn't be feeling shortchanged if you'd have paid professional prices for the show. Claire Temple had perfect control of her 11 piece band.  Good rhythm and tight playing for the band in the pit meant the cast could flourish. Well done to the musicians.  With this production being so technically heavy my hat is bowed to the wardrobe team of Nora Lean and Breeshey Webb as well as the props team of Sam Faragher, Barbara Livesey and Charlotte Faragher. The hair and makeup team were extensive and of course, I can’t mention everyone but well done to Jude Fullerton and her team. 

The sound and lighting for the show where of a professional quality with absolutely no error whatsoever throughout the whole performance. Microphones where in place at every entry point and muted at every exit. The lights split the stage beautifully and were designed extremely well. The ability to create a scene within a scene with stage lighting is something that few people are able to get 100% right but Jack Weir of Weir Lighting Company nailed it. The production was backed by a very impressive and full-size video wall, provided by Justin McMullin of ELS Ltd and I have to say it took the production from fantastic to truly amazing, creating slick scene changes and helping take the audience on a trip from scene to scene by filling in any background story that was needed with the video and image projections.

I greatly enjoyed my time in the Isle of Man. I had heard of the productions on the island being of a high-quality, but until watching this performance, I didn't realise how good they really were.  Well done to the whole team at Centre Stage Productions and Manx G&S Society for a fantastic performance, I’m sure you're extremely proud as well you should be. Thank you very much for your hospitality and I'm very much looking forward to seeing your next production.

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