The Addams Family – The Musical Comedy.

I’ve been curious about The Addams Family tour for many months now. It took me until the last stop at the Orchard Theatre to finally see it….but I’m glad I made it and on Halloween of all nights.

The Addams Family musical follows the famous family as daughter Wednesday gets her first boyfriend Lucas. Lucas and his parents are due for dinner but desert ends up being full of revelations.

The show itself has a fun story and the script itself was humorous in places although no great work of art. There are a couple of catchy songs such as ‘Pulled,’ ‘Crazier Than You’ and ‘When You’re An Addams,’ however the remainder of the songs I would struggle to sing to you now.

Luckily the Addams Family franchise itself has a strong concept and this is tied together nicely in the show. The ensemble are a group of Addams Family ancestors, all costumed from iconic historical periods but with added deathliness to them. The choreography they all perform is well suited to the show….some may even say ‘kooky.’

Whilst Samantha Womack and Les Dennis (off the night I was watching) are the ‘star’ names in the show for many musical theatre fans it is Carrie Hope Fletcher as Wednesday Addams who is one of the major pulls of the show. Carrie encompasses Wednesday nicely, with vulnerability yet the traditional Addams Family edge. She sings the audition fodder song ‘Pulled’ and from this number alone you can easily understand why she has played so many iconic roles despite her young age.

As I mentioned Les Dennis was off on the night I was in and Uncle Fester was played by Scott Paige. Scott practically stole the show, managing to get the whole audience rooting for his love for the moon. I know many are disappointed when the understudy is on but this role was in very safe hands with Scott. I hope Scott gets many more opportunities like this in the future.

Samantha Womack was a disdainful Morticia, resulting in complete understanding why Gomez (Cameron Blakely) was so besotted by her. She did however struggle in ‘Tango De Amor’ which was a dance number. Womack looked out of the depth, especially compared to some of the ensemble dancers supporting that number.

Whilst the show doesn’t have the strongest score or book it’s great fun. There are high production values and a kooky, quirky concept that makes it easy to see why it has gone down a storm with the audiences whilst on tour.

Whilst the tour has now finished you can find out more about the cast and see some of the latest news on their website. 

If you like this review you may also like my review of Legally Blonde, Flashdance and Son of A Preacher Man.