The cast of The Addams Family – A New Musical, performed by third-year BA Musical Theatre students from the Guildford School of Acting. Picture: Mark Dean
The Addams Family – A New Musical was performed by third-year BA Musical Theatre students from the Guildford School of Acting at the Ivy Arts Centre, Guildford.
The Addams Family has enjoyed several incarnations subsequent to Charles Addams’ original cartoons for The New Yorker: Gomez, Morticia, and their kinsfolk have been the subjects of ABC’s cult 1960s sitcom, a later television remake, two animated series, three feature films in the nineties, and ultimately, in 2010, a Broadway musical.
This latest version, with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, sees Wednesday Addams bring her ostensibly normal boyfriend Lucas and his respectable parents home to have dinner with her family. While that alone sounds like a recipe for disaster, matters become truly complicated when Wednesday confides in her father that she and Lucas plan to announce that they are getting married, Lucas’ mother admits to Morticia that the sparkle has gone from her lacklustre marriage, and Uncle Fester confesses to having fallen in love with the Moon.
Guildford School of Acting’s fine production of The Addams Family – A New Musical successfully navigates its sophisticated plot, slapstick humour, and serious overtones. Backed by an array of special effects, Steven Dexter’s intricate direction sees a series of custom-built coffins being carefully manoeuvred around the well-designed set, while the wide-ranging choreography by Richard Jones encompasses tango, tap, and even a routine featuring rapiers.
The result is a theatrical spectacular right from the opening number, which introduces the chorus of deceased Ancestors alongside the Addams family themselves. Lippa’s music, flawlessly executed by a seven-piece band led by musical director Tom Turner, incorporates various references to Vic Mizzy’s iconic theme tune to the television series, which evidently went unnoticed by few in the audience. The strains of Debussy’s ‘Clair de lune’ that are similarly secreted within the show’s score, although perhaps less readily recognised, are no less witty.
Grant McConvey as Gomez and Danny Lane as Uncle Fester seem to take it in turns to steal the show, presenting, respectively, a patriarch with an unwavering faux-Spanish accent and a loveable lunar-obsessed lunatic. Martine Knight makes a suitably sultry matriarch as Morticia, quickly establishing herself as one to watch, while Samantha Thomas’ commanding performance as Wednesday is likewise impressive.
Of the various supporting roles, all commendable in their own way, Sally Cheng deserves special mention for her quirky and surprisingly credible turn as Grandma; but the evening’s final laughs are reserved for Samuel Gray’s brilliantly deadpan portrayal of Lurch the butler.
Guildford School of Acting’s extremely entertaining production exemplifies consistently professional standards of performance, breathing new life into Charles Addams’ macabre family in a show that calls into question the very bounds of normality.
Christopher Wiley
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