The Addams Family musical tours the UK until 4 November. Tim Farr reviews the feel-good comedy musical
One of the great things about going to see something new with characters you are already familiar with is that you don’t need time to get to know them.
There is the fear that it won’t be good enough, and your memory of these cherished friends will be ruined. But that’s not the case with the new musical tour of The Addams Family: It’s like spending a couple of hours with a freaky family who used to live opposite you.
We find the family have been living in their own little bubble of macabre for quite some time and very happy they are in it, when teenage daughter Wednesday meets a boy out one day while killing something for dinner. One thing leads to another and the inevitable meeting of the couple’s families must occur, but when the Beinekes come round to the Addamses’ for dinner, one normal night is not on the menu!
This is the closest to adult panto that musical theatre gets, full of silly jokes, daft humour and nice tunes.
Les Dennis is surprisingly impressive as Fester, the bald, round uncle of the family who is in love with the moon. A hilarious portrayal of the father Gomez by Cameron Blakely would steal the show if it wasn’t for Wednesday; Carrie Hope Fletcher belts every note of her tricky songs perfectly, and keeps her teenage goth character throughout.
The contrasting score by Andrew Lippa moves from dark to uplifting, pop to tango. It complements the rise and fall of the show by being ridiculous one minute, and moving the next.
This big daft bash of a show may not have the strongest of storylines, but the music and jokes will keep any fun-loving group happy.
- For tour dates and venues, visit theaddamsfamily.co.uk/tour
