The Addams Family

There is a line at the beginning of 'The Addams Family' - 'if you're an Addams, you do what Addams do or die' - well, I can assure you, nobody 'died' in this excellent production presented by LIDOS. Once again, this hardworking and talented group have pulled off a performance as worthy as a professional company. The musical, based on the television series, is a revelation - quirky, oddball and extremely funny in a rather 'black' way. The musical never made it to the West End from Broadway - so we were denied the pleasure of seeing it until now; as it has been licensed to the Amateur stage for an indefinite time, we've been able to catch up with this fast-moving show, written by Andrew Lippa, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice.

The Director, Bryan Craven, asisted by Carolyn Craven, have gathered together a perfectly cast group of principals, who play their parts to perfection and with a true sense of comedy. In particular, the Dinner scene, bringing Act 1 to a close, was pure farce and the audience appreciated the attention to detail throughout by the company. A chorus of 'Ancestors' supported the production extremely well, in fact, you could say, they were also princiopals in their own way, on stage for most of the show, listening in and reacting to the action - a clever piece of direction!

The production's attention to detail must be applauded - the costumes, make-up, wigs, sets and props were all well thought through as always, with good lighting effects.

I must congratulate George Strickland as Musical Director - the control of the singing and orchestra were superb - and from one so young! (I have shoes in my wardrobe older than him!) As Choreographer, Donna Wells gave the cast some great moves (I loved the tap dancing!) - altogether, a very talented production team.

LIDOS have had a very busy and extremely successful year and I am very proud of their achievements - this show has certainly been one of their best and I am sure they will go from strength to strength in the future.

A lot of people have asked me if the famous 'Hand' from the TV series makes an appearance - I am pleased to say it does!  That really was the 'black' icing on the cake!

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