The Addams Family The Musical - NODA Review
“Humour and farce set against the dark morbid backdrop of the family we all know and love.”
The Addams Family, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice is a modern musical ironically full of humour and farce set against the dark morbid backdrop of the family we all know and love.
There were really no weak links in this truly talented cast, all tasked with portraying iconic characters they each lived up to the expectation and exceeded it with their own flare. Darren Cullen as Gomez, caught between his wife and his daughter portrayed the struggle of the family man whilst remaining hilarious and eccentric matched by the truly wonderful Samantha Roberton playing Morticia. Her vocals, her acting and her dancing were all mesmerising and her glare was fantastically frightful.
Leanne Hardy was a true standout of the show, her performance of ‘Pulled’ was a highlight of mine. She was confident and strong throughout.
Both Pugsley, Alex Charilaou, and Grandma, Louise Blakey, were truly hilarious throughout, making the most of every moment and stealing many a scene.
Jakes Broster as Uncle Fester lead the ensemble and provided an aside the main plot with his zany character, another comic talent!
The chorus were all strong, the ensemble singing in particular was of an exceptional standard! The hard work and effort of both the director and chorus members themselves to each be clear and individual in their own characters was noticed and provided a lot of different places for the audience to focus on, I only wish I could have seen it again and see the journey of different chorus members. High praise must be given to both Will Sherwood and Courtney Lauren Jones who both stole my attention frequently. Will provided many laughs with his facial expressions alone whilst Courtney was unmissable in any dance moment.
Ewan Stanely was charming in his portrayal of Lucas and showed the development of his character clearly throughout the piece. Chris Ifill was strong and believable as Mal and Mariah Young was another scene stealer along with her beautiful voice.
The orchestra, under the strong direction of Diana Whybrow, played effectively on stage, complimenting where they could easily take over in a small theatre. It is lovely to see when groups get this balance right as it really enhances the feel of the show.
Paul Tracy’s choreography was effective and interesting utilising the little space available. The tango in particular was a favourite moment of mine.
Last but not least I have to praise the talent of director Cheryl Mumford. For a show that has comedy written strongly into it she managed to find moments of light and shade to enhance the comedy even more and keep the audience engaged. No detail was missed in the set, costumes and casting. I can only imagine the rest of the run got better and better!
Rob Gore
NODA Rep – District 6