The Addams Family

Who doesn’t love The Addams Family, back in 1938, an American cartoonist Charles Addams developed The Addams Family as an impression of the ideal American family who were eccentric, affluent, who revelled in the macabre and lived a mysterious life completely oblivious to the fact that they looked strange to everyone else outside of their own bubble. The musical was developed from the original comic strip characters created by Charles Addams who collaborated with Andrew Lippa to composed the music and lyrics to tell the tale of one of the weirdness of families living in the middle of Central Park.

The story is featured around love, family, honesty and growing up- so what’s so strange about that, well nothing if you’re not an Addams. It tells the tale of Wednesday Addams the ultimate princess of darkness, the daughter of Gomez and Morticia who has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet young man from a respectable family, Wednesday has confided in her father of her love and proposal of marriage to Lucas and has asked him to keep this a secret from her mother Morticia, something he has never done before. Everything is about to change for both families on the fateful night they hoist a dinner party to meet Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.

From the moment the music started the atmosphere in the theatre changed as “Thing” came through the curtains clicking to the sound of the overture. When the curtains opened, we were outside the Addams family home with its gates and family crypt bang in the middle of Central Park, as the Adams family appeared to the musical number “When You’re an Addams” and the story began.

Joan Oldfield worked her magic to produce such a well drilled and slick production, and I loved the way she choreographed the dance routines and movement working alongside Stacey Duggan as dance captain. The set looked great and authentic and both the sound and lighting by Terry Caine created and enhanced the ambiance as the cast moved from scene to scene in a well-orchestrated and seamless manner.  Well done to both wardrobe and make up, the cast looked great even the ancestors looked dead in a personified way.

The six-piece band was under the baton of John Hudson as Musical Director who ensured that the vocal score was well delivered, balanced and enjoyed by the audience. The songs were all well sung and delivered at a good pace and the principles and ensemble numbers were well rehearsed and delivered with confidence. A special mention to Gareth Stones as stage manager and the backstage crew for the swift and seamless transition between scenes, these were hardly noticeable and didn’t distract, neither was there any awkward blackouts that distracted your attention from the production.

When it comes to the principals these were all well cast and immersed themselves into their characters, playing the role of Gomez Adams was Gareth Lilley who delivered the suave Spanish character to perfection, his statue never faulted, great stage presence and he held his accent throughout the show. He delivered Gomaz with great passion and comic timing and I was very much impressed with his Tango routine with Morticia. Vocally he delivered his difficult musical numbers with ease especially “Happy/ Sad”. Morticia Adams was played by Lindsey Kellegher, who is a veteran of the stage, she has the natural ability and confidence to play any role she has been cast into and delivers these roles with confidence and ease and the role of Morticia was no different. Her performance was excellent she delivered the role of Morticia with great elegance and poise and the chemistry between her and Gamez was believable, her musical numbers were delivered to a high standard, and I loved her interpretation of “Just around the Corner” with the ancestors.  

 Uncle Fester was superbly played by Ian Mordue what a performance by this talented actor I love this character and Ian made it his own demonstrating an array of emotions, excellent stage presence and the interaction with the ancestors was brilliant. There wasn’t a sound in the audience as he delivered his musical number “The Moon and Me” what a performance Ian well done.

Wednesday Addams was played by Rubee Mellon, her morbid and emotionally reserved appearance certainly came through, throughout her performance, vocally she delivered her musical numbers well and I particularly liked the number with Lucas “Crazier Than You” which was well sang by both young actors. Playing her younger brother Pugsley Addams was Willian Hudson who delivered a confident, stand out performance he looked at ease on the stage and interacted well with the other principles, there were some great acting moments with his sister and I loved the scene with his Grandma, musically he delivered “Pulled” with Wednesday really well and his solo number “What If” was confident and well delivered, a young man to watch out for in the future.

The role of the grandma (or was she) was played by Barbara Waugh, this part could have been written for Barbara, what a performance, excellent stage presence from this incontinent 100-year-old lady who is residing in the attic. Mark Nichol played the part of Lurch; he portrayed his character with sobriety his facial expressions and grunts were amazing, and it was great to hear his voice at the end.

Playing the roles of the Beineke family were Corey Clarke as Lucas, a solid performance from this young man, good acting ability and confident interaction with Wednesday. His father Mal was played by Peter Johnson, I loved the visible change from his conservative lifestyle until the dinner party when he remembered how he was in his younger days when he was a follower of the grungy dark band. Alice Beineke was played by Andrea Riley the under the thumb wife of Mal, her annoying rhyming couplets tripping off her tongue and the love of yellow certainly annoyed Mal and the new to be in laws. But I loved the transition of Alice following taking a drink from the chalice in the game full disclosure causing her to tell the truth, what a performance as she crawled across the dining table to tell her tale, great performance and a great delivery of your musical number “Waiting”.

Congratulations to the ancestors all of whom looked great, all dressed individual in white costumes representing different deceased ancestors and characters. For me the ancestors play a vital role in this production as they help tell the storey and keep the pace of the production moving. Well done to Charlotte Bainbridge, Rebecca Bainbridge, Lisa Barnes, Rachael Carr, Samantha Coxon, Stacey Duggan, Michael Costelloe- Feguson, Lisa Hopper, Erin Kellegher, Helen McKenry, Laurence Scott, Izzy Simpson, Brittany Tilling, and Leanne Wrightson

This was a wonderful production, which I thoroughly enjoyed the whole company should feel very proud, of their achievements I know the audience did. Well done to Caprian Theatre Company.

 

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