They’re creepy and kooky, but The Addams Family are more loveable than spooky in a musical comedy with something for everyone.
With a catchy score and plenty of deadpan humour, Andrew Lippa’s score is known to many musical theatre fans, aided by recent touring versions of the production, so it seems about time for it to receive the West End treatment. This production may advertise itself as a concert but is in fact a semi-staged version with costumes, choreography and a scenic backdrop including a moon gently shining throughout the proceedings.
The story centres on teenage Wednesday Addams and a predicament: that she’s "Being Pulled In a New Direction" by a boy, and a very normal, ordinary one at that. In the course of one evening, secrets are revealed and relationships are changed forever, with a little encouragement from Uncle Fester, a romantic at heart.
Iconic characters need approaching with care, and Ramin Karimloo is perfectly cast as Gomez Addams, suave, silly, grandiose but ultimately affectionate. He handles the score with ease, every inch a suited, swashbuckling leading man. He’s joined by Michelle Visage as Morticia Addams, who embodies the elegant but headstrong matriarch with excellent comic timing. Of all the characters, Morticia is perhaps the hardest to bring to life on such a big stage, and it must have taken some effort to appear to be underplaying such a famous role, particularly during the audience favourite song and dance number "Just Around The Corner". She looks every inch the part, but is unfortunately at times overshadowed by Karimloo’s star power and sheer stage experience.
In the central character of Wednesday, Chumisa Donford-May is both wilful and playful and given plenty of opportunity to show off her vocal range while stalking the stage with appropriate angst. Sam Buttery is also clearly having a ball as Uncle Fester, dipping in and out of the action to act as narrator and engage with the audience. Cousin It and Thing don’t, unfortunately, appear in this story, but we are treated to underwritten, but still fun, versions of Pugsley, Lurch and Grandma. Nicholas Mclean is a suitably cute and cheeky Pugsley and interacts brilliantly with Lesley Joseph as Grandma, whose accent travels considerably whilst stealing some scenes. Dickon Gough looms over the cast as an almost permanent reminder of their gothic-ness, a gentle and humorous Lurch.
Wednesday’s love interest comes from a very normal family—or does he? Dickon Gough and Ryan Kopel give great performances as father and son Mal and Lucas, but the best story arc is given to Lucas’s mother, Alice, brilliantly played by Kara Lane who absolutely sparkles.
The cast are supported by an ensemble of ancestors whose ghostly presence contributes to the spooky flavour of the piece, each representing a distinct time period and providing a chorus for the numerous numbers.
With elements of La Cage Aux Folles, a sprinkle of Rocky Horror and a tiny touch of Sondheim, The Addams Family is a great feel-good show, incorporating several musical styles and an unchallenging plot that wraps up neatly within two acts. It’s not nearly as dark as it could be, but the tone choice lies with the book and score rather than the production, which is staged with great energy and brought the house down. Judging from the audience reaction, it might be time for one of the world’s favourite families to find a more permanent London home.