If you click your fingers at the name you already know what to expect. Enjoy this dark new musical which is at Milton Keynes theatre this week.
The story is about Wednesday Addams who has fallen in love with a rather normal boy. The Addams family are not exactly normal. They embrace the dark, they like pain and they don’t play well with others. Wednesday wants to invite her boyfriend, Oliver and his parents, Mal and Alice Beineke for dinner and secretly tells her dad Gomez, that she and Oliver are engaged but he shouldn’t tell her mum. Gomez is torn as he loves his daughter but has never kept a secret from his wife. The dinner does indeed happen and they play THE GAME.
Samantha Womack (who will always be thought of with huge affection as Mandy from Game-On to me!) is outstanding in the role. Every movement, every look is absolutely Morticia. She looks amazing with dark hair and those cheekbones can own the stage. She epitomises Morticia and her singing, dancing and acting is everything you would expect and more. It’s her best role yet. Her on-stage husband is Gomez who is played by Cameron Blakely and boy is he talented! His accent and Spanish pronunciation along with his humour trying to keep everyone happy is just brilliant.
Wednesday is played by Carrie Hope Fletcher and she is a real star. Carrie gives Wednesday a crazy tinge of just being goth enough to do something unexpected. Her voice is simply breath-taking and she commands the stage even in plaits. Wednesday’s brother Pugsley is played by Grant McIntyre and he is certainly a mischief maker despite seeming the most normal looking of the family.
Uncle Fester was due to be played by Les Dennis but sadly he has been ill for some time so Scott Paige has risen to the occasion and he certainly gives it everything he can. He is absolutely phenomenal in the role and you instantly forget he is an understudy as he fits the role so well. It’s a big role and Scott is going to be a huge star!
Lurch played Dickon Gough deserves a mention as actually it’s really hard to walk slowly and grunt. But Dickon is not just in this role because of his height, that man has a voice that was so unexpected it got a round of applause from the audience.
Alice and Mal played by Charlotte Page and Dale Rapley respectively, reminded me fondly of what Brad and Janet may look like grown up (The Rocky Horror Picture Show). Charlotte has an amazing operatic voice and plays Alice as a bit manic as someone who is so unhappy in her relationship. It’s a great role and Charlotte does it justice.
The ensemble cast all had different characters and were all excellent in giving atmosphere and individual personalities to the cast. The sets were outstanding and really the whole show gives a high production value. Sadly, there was no visit from cousin It on this occasion but Thing made an appearance or two. The show could do with a touch more humour in the script. The whole raison d'être of The Addams Family is the juxtaposition between the dark goth mood and the humour. I did enjoy the goth irony yellow dress equating to normal (I am nearly always in black – what does that say about me?!) and the tango number in the second half was so superb that if I were a judge on strictly I would give it a 10!
This show is stylish, slick and full of character. They're creepy and they're kooky, Mysterious and spooky, They're altogether ooky, go and see The Addams Family.
