[NEohioPAL] Berko review: THE ADDAMS FAMILY @ PALACE THEATER

[Roy Berko]

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*ADDAMS FAMILY at Playhouse Square generally entertaining*

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Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)



I saw the first preview performance of THE ADAMS FAMILY A NEW MUSICAL
COMEDY in Chicago.  The production was long, extremely long.  Many in the
audience left at intermission, most had left when the final curtain fell.



I understand there was a great deal of rewriting before the show opened on
Broadway.  In spite of a cast featuring Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe
Neuwirth as Morticia, when the 2010 Great White Way production opened, the
critics reacted with attacks on the music, the script and the cast.



Fortunately, the touring production , now on stage at the Palace Theatre,
while not the greatest evening of theatre, is humorous in parts, has lost
lots of its unnecessary bulk, is a reasonable length, and is generally
entertaining.  Most importantly, the cast is quite good and though there
was some fleeing at intermission, much of the audience came back and gave
the show a standing ovation.  But, let’s be honest, it was a Cleveland
automatic standing O that is mandatory for everything from a kindergarten
show in which the scenery falls down to an amazing production like last
season’s NEXT TO NORMAL.



THE ADDAMS FAMILY, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by
Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, who were responsible for THE JERSEY BOYS,
is based on the cartoon characters of Charles Addams.  Yes, it depicts the
ghoulish, eccentric, macabre family chronicled in the single-panel epics
that were darkly humorous and had unbelievably strange characters.  These
were the same persons who were in the two season-television show, several
animated cartoons, and three motion pictures.



The show’s North American tour began in September of 2011.  Before it went
on the road, more rewriting took place.  It appears that those adjustments
helped make the show more entertaining.



What goes on in this off-beat take on 19th Century Gothic?  Wednesday, the
family’s ghoulish daughter has fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man
from a respectable family.  Of course, no good can come from this, as we
watch family ghosts come out of the cemetery to join Uncle Fester, Grandma,
Pugsley and Lurch, bedazzle and confound us.



The music, none of which has hit song potential, helps develop the moods,
especially the theme song which had the audience clapping on cue.  Not
being a well-integrated musical, some of the song and dance numbers could
be cut with no loss of story line continuity.  *One Normal Night* was
clever, *But Love* was cute, and Uncle Fester (Blake Hammond) stopped the
show with *The Moon and Me*.



This is a full-scale production.  The sets are complex, the large pit
orchestra  excellent, the costumes well-conceived.  Floating people and a
moon landing, special effects, and puppets help create the fun.



Douglas Sills gave a Gomez interpretation that stuck with the original
concept of Charles Addams, rather than making the role into a series of
shticks, which was the case with Nathan Lane.  Blake Hammond was a total
delight as Uncle Fester, as was Pippa Pearthree as Grandma.  Cortney
Wolfson was acceptable as Wednesday.  Clevelander Patrick Kennedy, who many
in the audience may have seen in such productions as SECRET GARDEN at Near
West Theatre, has a nice singing voice and made for a cute Pugsley, the kid
who loves to be tortured.  Tom Corbeil could have been a little stiffer and
more exaggerated as Lurch, but displayed a nice singing voice.  Crista
Moore was a hoot as Alice, Wednesday’s boyfriend’s mother.  The only real
cast disappointment was Sara Gettelfinger as Morticia.  Maybe it’s the way
the role is written because Bebe Neuwirth didn’t do much with the part
either.



*CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  Don’t go to see THE ADDAMS FAMILY expecting to see
great theatre, it isn’t, but, based on the response of the opening night
audience, most people should enjoy themselves.*



Tickets for THE ADDAMS FAMILY, which runs through April 22 at the Palace
Theater, can be ordered by calling 216-241-6000 or going to
www.playhousesquare.org.

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