The Addams Family - A New Musical Comedy

The Addams Family is a show that isn’t often done, but one that I love, so it was a delight to watch Harlequin’s production on a very fitting cold and windy Wednesday night. The curtained opened to reveal a fixed set which was very eery in style and used well by the cast as they changed through the various scenes and levels. The movement of the smaller pieces of scenery by cast and stage crew in spooky costumes worked well and kept a quick pace to the story. With the basis of the story focusing on the Addams Family and the Beineke Family meeting for the first time due to the romantic union of Wednesday and Lucas, these ten characters feature prominently throughout the show, but the clever use of a larger ensemble to tackle the Family Ancestors allowed the full talent at Harlequin to be showcased. Each ancestor with a different character, from Air Hostess to Suffragette, kept their own characterisation exceptionally well in each scene. The vocals of the full ensemble numbers were powerful and impressive, mixed with effective choreography fitting of the music style and characters. The costumes and make-up were excellent and well tied together to create a full look. In particular the white ghost face with black outline was very effective and creative.

The main characters were all well cast and gave their all to their characters. Matthew Ralph’s Gomez is one of the best portrayals I have seen of this character including professional productions. Each of his words, gestures and looks were controlled and the humour he brought out of the character was extraordinary. Contrasting Gomez’s more flamboyant Spanish character was Sophia Laurie as a poised, sophisticated and classy Morticia. She again brought a lot of humour to the roll and her solo singing featured in the number “Death is Just Around the Corner” was a highlight. The scenes with Gomez and Morticia really showcased both characters and showed their relationship to be believably close, impressive to see in a Youth Society. Melody Nehme brought the balance of the crazy Wednesday and softer side to life excellently. Her facial expressions were a joy and the physicality she brought to the character superb. Cara Stewart and Kirstin West used their comic abilities to tell Pugsley and Grandma’s stories and the scenes with them together were hilarious. Paul Cameron’s Uncle Fester was just perfect. His costume, make-up, accent and singing vocals allowed this character to narrate the story and keep the audience engaged. His song “The Moon and Me” was the ideal way to capture all these attributes. Last in the Addams Family line up was Matthew King as Lurch. The comedy of having strange noises as his only communication was great, especially when talking to the Beinekes on their arrival, and then changing to a great singing voice at the end had the audience laughing and impressed.

The Beineke Family headed by Mal and Alice provided a sharp contrast to the mysterious Addams characters and this was achieved well by Mark McLaughlin and Kirsty Dougall. Both used humour again to make these characters likable and when both have their moment of self-realisation, they used grand acting skills to display this contrast. James Lawson played their son Lucas and used his strong stage presence and singing vocals to work well with his fellow Beinekes and Melody’s Wednesday. The song “Crazier Than You” was excellent and again their was a strong connection between Lucas and Wednesday, which is key as the story mainly follows their relationship.

I think the key word in the show is relationships and how all the characters interact with each other. This cast were excellent at letting their characters change when needed in different scenes. Stand out scenes in particular were Gomez and Wednesday during “Happy / Sad”, Gomez and Mal having the guy chat and Grandma and Pugsley discussing potions.

A great show with great characters throughout the cast is certainly a triumph for the production team of Julie, Ronnie, Nathan, Linda, Ruth and Rebecca. Well done to all. 

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