The Addams Family

The Addams Family – a musical performed by Dream Academy of Arts Youth Group at the Theatre Royal, Corporations Street, St Helens on Sunday 17th August 2025  

When you 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’s due to the TV Series of the same name. This musical interpretation … taken from a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice with music by Andrew Lippa 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 happy and willing to continue living that way, that is, until their dark, macabre, beloved daughter ‘Wednesday’, now turning eighteen, falls in love with an ‘ordinary boy’ … his name ‘Lucas Beineke’. To make matters worse, Wednesday has invited the entire ‘Beineke Family’ 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!

Production Team... the highly experienced team of Sophie Throw (Director), Harry Moore (Music & Sound Director), Grace Faulkner (Choreographer) were joined by Amy Hurst (Vocal Arrangements) and what a great job they made! I think I’m right in suggesting that this may well be the last time we see Sophie, Harry and Grace at the helm of a youth show here at the Theatre Royal, Harry is about to become a ‘dad’ for the first time and Sophie and Grace are spreading their wings... all I can say, on behalf of those Youth Members who’ve had the pleasure and experience of working under you guys ‘ Thanks for the memories’! You’ve given them such a great start to their lives on stage, be very proud! Back to the production... it’s not always easy to ‘put your mark’ on something created from a well-known TV series or film, people have expectations, but with a well-chosen cast and some great characters created, they created a slick show. Sophie and Harry obviously had a vision on how they wanted this to play out and with some creative choreo from Grace and some wonderful vocal work from Amy...  this was a production, if the applause throughout and at the finale, were anything to go by, a production enjoyed by everyone present!

CAST... OMG this was a ‘big cast’ ... forty-five strong, all of whom, as soon as those lights came up, gave us everything they had, all done with smiles on their faces... you could just tell they were having the time of their young lives! As with all my reviews, I’m always prepared to ‘stick my old neck out’ and suggest favourites... MY favourites, you’ll know doubt have your own, but these are mine... but before I do that, I’d like to make known all the cast members, starting with the ‘principals’ ... Max Whalley played ‘Gomez’, Jessica Forrester - ‘Morticia’; Katie Carlyon played ‘Wednesday’, Jacob Sayer, played ‘Fester’, Joshua Latham, Amy Johnson and Libby Wright played the ‘Beineke Family’, ‘Mal’, ‘Alice’ and ‘Lucas’ respectively  Kiera Bowles played ‘Pugsley’, Connie Reid played ‘Grandma Addams’, Jason Mercier played ‘Lurch’ and Zara Twiss played ‘Cousin IT’. They were supported ever so well by an ‘enthusiastic ensemble’ that included the following: Isobel Ford, Masie Evens-Smith, Bethany Hindley, Seth, Manchester, Noah Allender, Ewan Donoghue, Daisy Devlin, Ava Wall, Grace Halliwell, Lucy Hughes, Jessica Shearman, Poppy Mortimor, Ray Lee, Lizzie Lingard, Jensen Joseph-Nolan, Rowan Parry, Evie Roberts, Lily Leyland, Robyn Griffiths, Annabelle Bloor, Isabelle Pinder, Drew Taylor, Eloise Forrester, Nicole Robinson, Iris Wall, Alice Achilies, Beth Lee, Keira Forshaw, Bethany Addison, Mia Hurst, Zach May, Heidi Lee, Grace Wodsworth & Jamie McKenzie.  Favourites... always difficult when you know that everyone on stage had given their all...  
but MY ‘Show Stealer’ had to be Katie Carlyon’s portrayal of ‘Wednesday Addams’ and what a great character she created. Confident, great stage presence, suitably morbid, loved her mannerisms, facial expressions and the way she worked with Gomez, Morticia and Lucas. Blessed with a great singing voice, I loved her rendition with Pugsley of the song ‘Pulled’ – be proud, a joy to watch!  Not sure you should ever separate ‘Gomez and Morticia’ so I won’t... Max and Jessica provided us with another two wonderful characters who worked ever so well together and with all cast. Would have liked a little more intimacy between the two, but that’s me being very picky! Their vocal numbers were impressive ... loved their rendition of ‘Let’s Live Before We Die’... the humour and the vocals, so well delivered ... be proud you two! But, what can one say about ‘Grandma Addams’ played with great aplomb by Connie Reid.  Connie gave us a ‘masterclass’ in how to make the best out a cameo role!  Wacky, loud, infectious, quick witted, eerie, sarcastic, ... I never wanted her to leave the stage, right up my street ... it really is hard to stand out as a cameo role, but Connie showed us how!  Standing out as a cameo role is difficult, but to stand out when your part of a thirty-four strong ensemble, well that’s another level ... but
Graci Wodsworth, did just that!  I had to make enquiries to find out who it actually was ‘standing out’ under that mop of long floppy unkempt hair with this huge smile gleaming underneath, because I would never have guessed from the programme photographs.  Graci’s dancing was ever so impressive... every movement was effortless and expressed to its full potential. From her first entrance ... it was obvious that she was there to have the time of her life and enjoy every second on that stage ... be ever so proud Graci ... awesome!  To those not mentioned in my favourites, please be assured, that you were noticed... this was a great ‘team effort’ .... you all contributed, so be proud of what you all helped achieve!

Stage/Tech ... the big change from all the shows that I’ve seen here at the Theatre Royal over the last few years was the introduction of ‘projection’ to depict scenes and locations and ‘wow’ what a difference it made, in a good way!  The projected images were excellent and used ever so well which helped and allowed the musical to flow without interruption whilst creating great locations and wonderful visual effects. Not sure who was actually responsible or who created what...  but congrats to Mike Randolf (Stage Manager), Chris Novak (Lighting Design) ... (thought the lighting was creative and worked ever so well) ... and Conrad Kemp (Sound Engineer) ... (the sound was as good as I’ve known it here at the theatre, never overpowering the vocals always supporting) ... congrats to one and all!

Costume/Props ... costumes looked wonderful and in keeping with the era... provided by Royal Entertainment Ltd and overseen by Becci Quinn (Head of Wardrobe). Props were first class and used ever so well adding so much to the overall performance.

I’ve already mentioned the fact that Sophie, Harry and Grace will be leaving the company after fifteen years, but also leaving was our leading-lady Jessica Forrester. Can I take this opportunity on behalf of NODA and myself, to wish all four of you best for luck for your futures. 

Thanks for inviting me to your production and your hospitality throughout... thoroughly enjoy the production and already looking forward to returning to see you all again in the future!

Stay Safe, Keep well ...
Stronger Together
Jim Briscoe ...
NODA NW
District 6 Rep.

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