Review: THE ADDAMS FAMILY-A NEW MUSICAL COMEDY at Rochester Opera House

Featuring one of the strangest and most eccentric families of all times, Andrew Lippa’s musical, “The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy,” comes to the stage, produced by the Rochester Opera House under the direction of Jenry Towle.

The result is a perfectly fun evening of entertainment.

First introduced in the New Yorker magazine back in the 1930s by cartoonist, Charles Addams, the ghoulish Addams family is well known for their graveyard humor which eventually became an iconic TV series and hit movie. With a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, the musical depicts an American family with an affinity for all things macabre.

As the story unfolds, the family patriarch, Gomez (Kevin Mahaney), finds himself caught between his wife and sadistic teenage daughter, Wednesday (Michelle Faria). It seems she’s caught in the throes of romance with Lucas (Samuel Tolley) – a sweet beau, as they face the ritual of every courtship, the meeting of the parents with his being strictly suburban and Wednesday’s being anything but. Wednesday also confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother that they plan to marry. Gomez is trapped (the appropriate name of one of his musical numbers) to keep the secret from his wife, Morticia (Amanda Dane).

Chaos ensues as the Addams family hosts the fateful dinner that includes table settings for their son, Pugsley (Michael Mone), Uncle Fester (Chris Bradley), the butler, Lurch (James Pates) and Grandma (Erica Skoglund), so old and decrepit, they sometimes forget whose mother she really is. They all sit opposite the Beineke family from Ohio (“A red state,” Gomez notes) rounded out by Mal (Robert Prue), a rigid fatherly type and his wife, Alice (Katie Gall), a mid-western housewife, saccharin sweet who for some reason speaks everything in rhyme.

There’s also a full cast of Addams family ancestors who have awakened from the dead and can’t go back to their graves until the romance dilemma is resolved. Seen only to the Addams clan, they include Melissa Hanley, Alexis Voce, Melanie Mowbray, Jordan Raymond, Danielle Erwin, Ben Hanley, Sven Wiberg, Alex Brown and Lee Diamond. This is a great group of singers and dancers who add fun elements to the show.

There is no shortage of talent in this cast that provides a rollicking evening of big production numbers like “When You’re an Addams,” “One Normal Night” and “Full Disclosure,” the latter an after-dinner game that would spice up any family gathering. Solo ventures include Uncle Festers whimsical, “The Moon and Me,” and Gomez lamenting ordeals of parenthood with “Happy Sad,” and frustrations of marriage in “Not Today.”

The supporting cast hits a home run with sheer perfection in their roles.

Bradley is a perfect child-like imp as the enthusiastic Fester lights up the stage with an innocence that sparkles. Skoglund exudes pure fun as a 102-year-old, a bit wacky with a few sagging body parts. Pates, as the ever-lurching Lurch, is nicely expressionless with his occasional moans and groans.

Faria and Mone are extraordinary as the sibling rivals of the family. Faria is charged with an intense attitude and a vocal powerhouse that dominates the stage. (That much sound comes from such a small lady!). Mone is a seasoned performer at his very young age. There was a collective gasp from the audience when he started to sing with a flurry of folks whispering, “what a voice.” The twosome is brilliant in their shared number, “Pulled.”

Tolley is delightful as the boy next door hopelessly in love. As his father, Prue makes a wonderful transition from his stoic self to a more tolerant father as he takes on elements of the former rock guitar player he once was. Thanks to the after-dinner game, Full Disclosure, Gall plays some of the best moments of the show as she goes from neglected and unhappy wife to a wild and wacky vixen in the number, “Waiting,” where she ends the song fully prone on the dining room table.

It is Dane and Mahaney that make this show ghoulishly magical.

Dane’s Morticia is statuesque, sassy and sexy in her own deadpan sort of way. Her show stopping number, “Just Around the Corner,” a subtle homage to coroners, displays Dane’s intense vocal power, dancing prowess, and her ability to sell a number. Dane and Mahaney work perfectly together in their love song duet, “Live Before We Die” that explodes into a Flamenco-style tango, “Tango De Amor.”

Mahaney brings his own unique twist to the character of Gomez that is distinctly different from the stereotypical ones. He is unabashedly funny with witty repartee, silly banter, and exquisite comic timing. You intrinsically identify with what he is feeling in his solos, “Trapped” and “What If,” sung with Broadway style vocal perfection. It is pure delight to watch him perform as the hen-pecked yet totally devoted head of the family.

Set design by Dane Leeman uses every inch of the massive Rochester Opera House stage with simple stagings offset by ever changing backdrops enhanced by a vibrant lighting design by Christian Arnold. Choreographer, Jo Meallo uses every opportunity to showcase her work particularly in the numbers with the arisen from the dead ancestors. Costume designer, Lesley Neilson-Bowman had her work cut out to costume the undead cast as well.

Musical accompaniment is provided by a recorded musical track which is a bit different for live theater. While it works fine, I would suggest a bit of work in balancing the music with the vocals. It gets a bit out of whack especially with individual voices in group numbers.

Jenry Towle’s direction is flawless with a perfectly cast show. Scenes move remarkably well for a production that runs two and a half hours with intermission.

This was my first visit to the Rochester Opera House where I was impressed with the unique design of the performing space and auditorium. Put simply, they just don’t make theaters like this anymore. (It first opened its doors in 1908.) It is a bit odd having the concession stand and bar within the auditorium, but it seems to work for them. The Sunday matinee audience seemed to sort out drink orders just fine and the smell of buttered popcorn simply added to a wonderfully entertaining experience. Audiences members dressed as their character favorites simply added to the festivities.

Don’t miss the remaining performances of the show which runs through November 4. 

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