The Addams Family

The Addams Family Musical is a delightfully macabre and entertaining musical that brings everyone's favourite creepy and kooky family to life on stage.

The story revolves around the impending visit of Wednesday Addams' "normal" boyfriend, Lucas Beineke, and his conservative parents, Alice and Mal, to the Addams family mansion. Wednesday is apprehensive about the meeting, fearing that their unusual lifestyle will scare off the Beinekes and ruin her chances for happiness. To complicate matters further, Wednesday has confided in her father Gomez that she and Lucas plan to marry, which leads Gomez into a state of secrecy, that eventually threatens to unravel the harmony of his marriage to his wife Morticia and the entire Addams household.

From the moment the audience sat down we were drawn into the character of the musical. The open stage displayed an excellent atmospheric set with an equally moody pre light. We were looking at the outside of the Addams family home with its iron gates and family crypt set in the middle of Central Park.

During the opening number “When You’re An Addams”, the Addams Family are introduced and you begin to get a flavour for their individual characters. Then, out of the crypt, the ancestors are revealed. All the characters were from different time periods and all used their individual characters to great effect throughout the show. Unfortunately I can’t single out each performance but. I can say that you had each created your own character and everyone was certainly putting everything into their performances and you all looked splendid in your various spooky costumes and wonderful make-up. Special mention must go to the three male ancestors who portrayed statue busts throughout. They arrived on stage ten minutes before each act and maintained their characters throughout every scene and song. When everyone else got to have a drink or toilet stop, these didn’t and I was incredibly impressed. It added an extra layer of spookiness to the set too. Well Done

Playing Gomez Addams, the suave sophisticated patriarch of the Addams family wad Paul Forsberg. It was clear that he had put in a considerable amount of work perfecting his character and this showed in his performance which was well delivered and performed. I was particularly impressed that he held his accent throughout script and songs and he handled his difficult songs with ease. Gomez is a man torn between loyalty to his wife and loyalty to his daughter and Paul demonstrated a natural rapport with both of the ladies playing these roles. Playing Morticia, his “Mi Amor”, was Eleanor Aldous who gave a very strong performance and seemed to move around the stage effortlessly. In the role of Wednesday Addams was Wendy Westmoreland who had clearly studied the moodiness of the character as she never lost her dead pan, unsmiling exterior throughout. Pugsley Addams, her younger brother, who fears he is losing his sister was played by a newcomer to musical theatre, Bobby Cook. He gave a fine performance and impressed with his acting and vocal skills. Alex Bush, playing an unfamiliar gender role as Uncle Fester did very well with good timing, great facial expressions and a sweet singing voice. Completing the Addams’ household were the faithful servant Lurch, Phil Clarkson, who grunted and groaned his way through with gusto and Sue Shappard who was suitably nutty as Grandma,

The Beineke family, the Addams ‘normal’ guests, need to make their own mark on the show when they arrive at The Addam’s house. Lucas Beineke, Wednesday’s love interest, was well-played by Toby Hall, who also sang extremely well and I enjoyed his performance very much. Lucas’ mother Alice, played by Amy-Lewise Spurgeon-Hill brought a big, gorgeous voice to the dinner party, in sharp contrast to Richard Goodall as her judgemental and boring husband Mal until he got his rock star mojo back!  Though I would personally have liked a little more rapport between Alice and Mal their relationship did actually work and the Beineke‘s certainly held their own.

Andy Lunn’s direction was nice and pacy, with Bev Maher’s choreography suiting both the show’s mood and the abilities of its performers. Technically the show from a sound and lighting point of view was equally well done. I am a huge fan of a live band, and, under the direction of Ken Gilroy this one was well balanced. The songs were sung at a good tempo and it was clear that the principals and ensemble were well-rehearsed and confident. If I have a small criticism, it would be that the balance between principal voices and the band was good but some more microphones would have added depth and warmth to the ensemble numbers, especially in the numbers that have gorgeous harmony lines.

Overall, a great evening’s entertainment and congratulations to all involved.

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