The Addams Family

The Addams Family – a musical comedy, staged by St Ambrose Players, at St Ambrose Halls for All, Moss Lane, Leyland on Friday 9th May, 2025.

Hear those ‘opening notes’ and that ‘double finger snap’ .... you just know, why, because ‘They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, they're all together kooky it’s The Addams Family’!  The Addams Family became hugely popular in the early 1960 due to a TV Series of the same name. This musical interpretation is taken from a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice with music by Andrew Lippa and tells the tale of the upside-down world of the Addams Family, where its ‘sad is to be happy, to feel pain is to feel joy, death and suffering are the stuff that dreams are made of’! Having lived by their unique values for hundreds of years… Gomez and Morticia, the ‘patriarch and matriarch’ of the clan, would be only too willing to continue living that way, that is, until their dark, macabre, beloved daughter ‘Wednesday’, turning eighteen, falls in love with an ‘ordinary person’ … his name ‘Lucas Beineke’. To make matters worse, Wednesday has invited the entire ‘Beineke Family’ to their home for dinner! During that fateful night, secrets are disclosed, relationships tested, and The Addams’s must face up to what they’ve avoided for generations: CHANGE!

The Production Team... chosen to lead us through this ‘spooky tale’ we had Jennie Barnes and Ryan Scott (Co-Directors). In their programme notes Jennie and Ryan tell us that they’ve been ‘nudging people’ since 2018 to let them ‘get their hands’ on this musical... and, having finally got their wish, there was little or no doubt they knew exactly what they wanted and how to achieve it! Supported ever so well by Katy Bradley, Musical Director, Kerry Chippendale and Megan Torkington, Choreographers along with Alisha Power (Guest Choreographer) ... they’d gathered together an enthusiastic cast who looked well-rehearsed and as soon as those curtains parted, gave us their all. Katy and her orchestra did a fabulous job supporting the singers during all the musical numbers and congrats to Kerry, Megan and Alisha for some simple yet effective choreo!

The Cast ... we had a cast of twenty-eight made up of ten principals, four ‘Dancestors’ and fourteen ‘Ancestors’, who from the start looked happy and engaged.  This is one of those musicals, where casting is vital ... it’s not always easy to play ‘weird and funny’ at the same time, but I’m going to say that everyone did, they also looked the part did great with their respective characterisations.  Before I ‘stick the old neck out’ and start selecting ‘favourites’... MY favourites, let me just list the cast and their characters...  Kieran Smith and Beth Wharton took on the lead roles of ‘Gomez and Morticia Addams’ respectively. The family included Beth Moss playing ‘Wednesday Addams’; Gabi Moss playing ‘Pugsley Addams’; Louise Taylor playing ‘Grandma Addams’; Jack Vardy playing ‘Uncle Fester’; Jonathan Holmes playing ‘Lurch’. The Beineke Family... ‘Mal, Alice and Lucas Beineke’ were played by Adam G Smith, Libbie Cowburn, and Adam Cruikshank respectively. The principals were supported ever so well by the ‘Dancestors’ Kimberley Barker, Samantha Fogg, Olivia Foster and Luciana Guerrero and the ‘Ancestors’ being played by Thea Baxter, Fraser Bruce, Kath Green, Alison Griffith-Barnes, Molly Houghton, Olivia Mellin, Iain Mossley, Tabitha Mossley, Will Perrin, Phil Quinn, Tony Stevens, Chloe Swinglehurst, Sonya Thompson, Sam Torkington.   As you know by now, I’m never one to sit on the fence when selecting MY favourite performances, and MY ‘Show Stealing Performance’, which came from Kieran Smith and his take on the ‘patriarch’ of the family ‘Gomez Addams’.  Kieran did a fabulous job with the characterisation of Gomez.  Wonderful accent, that was sustained throughout, even during his musical renditions. Great mannerisms, facial expressions and comedic timing and his chemistry with both Morticia and Wednesday in particular, but with all the cast was a delight, be very proud Kieran, great job!  Jack Vardy gave us an authentic ‘Uncle Fester’.  When I heard St Ambrose were doing The Addams Family, I had Jack as my ‘Fester’, he didn’t disappoint! Another with great ‘comic timing’ which is essential when creating this totally quirky, sweet, cartoonish character... loved his rendition of ‘The Moon and Me’... and when he ran past me to the back of the hall ... I really did hope he was going to somehow ‘fly’ back to stage... not even the Award winning ‘Wizards’ could achieve that!  Well done, Jack.  Beth Wharton and Beth Moss provided us with two great characters ‘Morticia’ and ‘Wednesday’ respectively, plus we had a great family trio created in the form of ‘The Beineke’s’ ... ‘Mal, Alice and Lucas’ played by Adam G Smith, Libbie Cowburn and Adam Cruikshank respectively... they all did great jobs in particular Libbie... loved the transformation from neglected, sweet, fed up housewife to ’wild child’ after she drinks the ‘truth serum’ meant for Wednesday... well done everyone, you all contributed to a great show! Just before closing MY favourites... I have to mention the scene wrapped around ‘FULL DISCLOSURE’ which was impressive and memorable... just loved it, be proud one and all!

Stage/Set/Tech ... once again the ‘wizards’ from St Ambrose had come up ‘trumps’ with staging and set, only to be expected really.... congrats to Debbie Sheehan and Graham Forrest (Stage Managers and their Set Building/Painting Team of Paul Gregson, Steven Barnes, Martin Dempsey and Gordon Manley and Paul Gregson on ‘brush and roller’. 
Sound and Lighting are never easy here at St Ambrose, but the sound was as good as I’ve heard it, no overpowering from band ... and the lighting was effective throughout... congrats to Stephen Porter, Steven Barnes, Karry Chippendale and Micky Coleman.  

Band... thought the sound emanating from the ‘pit’ was excellent.  Never overpowering the cast, always supporting whilst allowing us to hear every lyric for every song ... congrats to Katy Bradley (Musical Director)

Costumes were fabulous, especially the ‘ancestors’ costumes which were authentic and enhanced the production ever so much.  Keeping an eye on all the wardrobe needs were Jennie Barnes, Sam Torkington and the cast themselves. 
Props... authentic, appropriate, used well and again enhanced the production... all under the watchful eye of Sarah White.

Children in Theatre... the future of, not only amateur theatre, but theatre in general, is all about Youth, and when you have a young person(s) in your cast then you need those devoted soles who turn up to ensure that our ‘young people’ have the opportunity to perform, whilst keeping them safe in a secure and friendly environment...   Chaperones ... Megan Torkington, Julie Moss, Janet Kipping and Carol Eccles... thank you so much for your dedication... appreciated!

Thank you so much for inviting my wife and I... we thoroughly enjoyed the production, already looking for to the Railway Children.

Stay safe and keep well….
“Stronger Together”
Jim Briscoe
NODA North West
District 6 Rep

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