The Addams Family

The Addams Family is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice.

The show is based on The Addams Family characters created by Charles Addams in his cartoons, which depict a ghoulish American family with an affinity for all things macabre. Although numerous film and television adaptations of Addams' cartoons exist, the musical is the first stage show based on the characters.  Set in the Addams Family Mansion in Central Park New York, the show features memorable songs and the opportunity for a large ensemble of ancestors to be included alongside the 10 lead actors, which seems to suit Tingdene Entertainers.

Director, Spencer Barlow, had his work cut out, to bring this complicated show to the stage, with the limited facilities at Star Hall, Finedon. Yet I feel that Spencer made the best of the space to achieve a fabulous show.  The hall was decorated throughout, with graves, spider webs, spooky trees and more, on varying sight levels and captured the essence of the show before the curtain went up. I especially enjoyed the audience’s reaction to Dave (a skeleton) sitting in the middle of row F. I received a warm welcome from June Johnson (Tingdene Entertainers Committee Chair), Spencer himself along with sound and lighting crew Dave and Flic Jones. The very professional front of house team were Sara McInally and other friends of the society.

I love it when the overture/prologue starts, whetting my appetite for what is to come, with Uncle Fester adding the familiar finger clicks with a ghoulish hand through the curtain.  The first song ‘When You’re an Addams’, sung by the whole cast was smashing. Set in the family graveyard for an annual gathering of all family members (living, dead, and undecided), included the familiar dark looks from Wednesday (Rebecca Haywood) and Pugsley (Charlie McMahon). The costumes for the lead characters looked exactly right, dark and sombre, setting the mood for the audience. The ancestors’ individual character costumes were great, the actors embellishing their roles with appropriate macabre mannerisms and movements. Uncle Fester stops the Ancestors' returning to their graves to enlist their help. He explains that Wednesday, under protest, has invited her new (normal) boyfriend, Lucas and his parents, to dinner and so the scene is set.

Morticia played by Jennifer McMahon, and Gomez, played by Nathan Gibson establish their romantic relationship and the secret that Gomez is keeping from Morticia. This part of act one was wonderful. Their acting and singing were very entertaining. Nathan played Gomez with flare, his swordsmanship, characterisation and chemistry with the other members of the family were really good. Jennifer played the sultry Morticia with verve and style, I loved her posing, mannerisms and stillness, which created a fully rounded character, with real heart. Their accents were really good and they kept the style, energy and accent throughout the whole show, well done.

Rebecca Haywood played the dark and weird side of Wednesday splendidly, a perfect role for this talented singer/actress. Her dark looks, her body language, her singing voice and American accent were excellent. I loved the chemistry between her and Lucas and the brother Pugsley, especially during ‘Pulled’ in the first act and ‘Crazier Than You’ in the second act. Her confident performance throughout, was a joy. Reece McCormack-Morgan looked exactly right for the role of Lucas Beineke, his schoolboy good looks and excellent acting meant he was believable as the love match to Wednesday, despite their age gap in real life.  Reece was confident and moved well and although his singing was slightly overpowered by more skilled singers, he made a good job of the harmonies and characterisation during the musical numbers.

Pugsley (Charlie McMahon) brought energy to the role. Pugsley is worried that Wednesday's love life means she won't torture him anymore and steals a truth serum from Grandma's cart, planning to slip it to Wednesday at dinner (‘What If?’) believing it will cause her to break up with Lucas. The solo was wonderful, his sweet voice contrasted with the theme of the song and the audience really appreciated the strength of his singing and acting.

Uncle Fester for me was a hit. Ian Hammond-Stark was confident, funny, sincere and he delighted us with his singing voice. ‘The Moon and Me’ was particularly lovely, but through the whole show, Ian created a repour with the audience and his acting choices were spot on. Grandma is the comic role that I would love to play. She is not the apple cheeked Grandma of most American stories, yet she is loving and supportive of her family, particularly her grandchildren. Julie Davenport relished the grungy, creepy role and brought humour and oomph to the character. Her lovely mannerisms, body language and accent were wonderful. The final member of the Addams household is Lurch. Sebastian Goss, excelled in the role. Tall, Frankenstein monster style acting, slow paced lurching and clever vocal work brought this familiar character to the stage with a huge helping of humour and excellent comic timing. His singing voice at the end of act 2 was superb.

The Beineke’s played by Spencer Barlow (Mal), Johanna Beech (Alice) arrive, and they are instructed by Lucas and Wednesday to act normal so they can all enjoy a simple dinner ("One Normal Night"). This was a super song, with lovely harmonies which were performed very well by all. The chemistry between Spencer and Johanna was delightful. The Beineke’s marriage is not as stable as it could be and tonight everything was to come to a head.  The tension of this and of course the dramatic outpouring over dinner by Alice, allowed these actors to demonstrate a wide range of skills.  Not least the lovely harmonious singing and slick dancing. But the highlight of the show is the end of act 1 when Johanna sings ‘Waiting’. Hilarious, passionate, and accomplished, she had the audience in fits of laughter, excellent. Alice declares her marriage to Mal a loveless mess revealing her misery and woe in front of everyone.

The Ancestors were played by Lizzie Corrigan, Patsy Coles, Roger and Anita Osborne, Janet Wicks, Janet Butterworth, Kerry Anne McCormack-Morgan, Katerina Downham, Louise Fenwick, Charlene Clarke, Alison Thomas, Kath Geeves, Lauren, Millie, and Grace McCormack-Morgan. (Although one of the dancers named above was missing the night I viewed, due to ill health.) There were some lovely performances, strong characters, and enjoyable dance numbers. The singing was sometimes a challenge to hear, as they were not amplified, yet this did not distract from the show. (I could put this down to first-night nerves, perhaps with more confidence you can push your volume up a little more for the rest of the run.)  Costumes and make-up helped bring the characters to life, but mannerisms and body language were very cleverly performed by many of you.  For instance, the ancestor in the bandages, when she was holding the apple, there was a tilt of the head and blank stare out over the audience which added so much to the scene.  You all seemed to be enjoying yourselves and this made the audience feel confident in your storytelling, so well done.  I don't know who to credit for the make-up, but it was all very good.

The choreography by Christy Wilson was interesting and entertaining, everyone seemed to know their steps well. The tango between Nathan and Jennifer was brilliant and I loved the ‘No Disclosure’ routine and ‘The Moon and Me’ sequence.  Everything looked right for the show and it was very polished throughout. Costumes by Diane Betts, Patsy Coles and June Johnson were very good. A cohesive look across the whole cast and the ancestors particularly had many embellishments which takes a lot of time and effort to get right.

The set was very interesting with lots of different elements.  Despite the small area and tight passageways backstage, you all made the best of every inch of staging. The 2 high platforms either side, were utilised well as part of the park and the Pugsley and Wednesday's torture chamber. I loved the wallpaper used for the Mansion, a bargain I heard, but intricate and bold enough to bring the set to life. Trees and bushes, the moon and other scenery were manipulated by the cast and crew. The bedroom scenes had just enough furniture (essentially a bed with black curtains!) to set the scene, a challenge to get on, off and stored backstage, yet well worth the effort. Stunt Fester was a whimsical touch!

The lighting and sound were created by Flic and Dave Jones. There were a few late cues, but as it was the first night, I can forgive this, I’m sure it will tighten up as the run goes on.  Some lovely effects like the lightning strike and the difference between the exterior and interior worked very well. The sound was well-balanced and the music director Jonathan Ellson managed the tracks and kept the show moving along at the right pace. A well-run team backstage, Frankie Letts, Riley Kemp, Grace Wilson and June Johnson (with David Wicks – prompt), worked extremely hard to change the scene as there were hardly any pauses at all. Thanks also to the chaperones (not listed in the programme) for the young people on stage. I feel offering young people the chance to get on the stage is so important and would not be possible without your essential input.

The programme and poster – a small criticism from me here. Although I did enjoy reading about the show, the cartoon drawings, the black and white photography, and a little about your company and past shows, I noted that some essential information was missing. The musical creators, lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, are not mentioned. TRW should have been on the front of the programme, I may be wrong here, but it is essential that the terms of the performance rights are adhered to and usually you must add ‘an amateur performance with kind permission’ on all your promotional material. Please, whoever creates your next programme, ensure they have a copy of the contract.  Sadly I can’t put your programme into the NODA competition because you have not included the wording of the NODA information which is on our website, inside the programme.  Check out https://www.noda.org.uk/_assets/ckfinder_library/files/PosterComp/Programme%20and%20Poster%20Criteria%2022-24_30680.pdf on the NODA  website for this year’s rules.

All in all, a tremendous amount of effort from all concerned, I really enjoyed meeting you all after the show and thought you were all fabulous. Thank you.

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