Sofa Snark: 'Addams Family' Dead as Doornail

James Sims is the Editor-in-Chief of TalkTVWorld.com and Senior Editor of BroadwayWorld.com. Sofa Snark is an ongoing critical blog focusing on all aspects of show business, from television entertainment to Broadway offerings and general pop culture.  This column also appears on the Huffington Post and SofaSnark.com.  Follow James on Twitter @simsjames for daily show business links, musings and a bit of snark.

'The Addams Family' is an entertainment legacy that deserves a splashy introduction to the Broadway community, yet with the small melodies by composer Andrew Lippa -- a soft attempt at quirky songs that never get quirky enough -- the musical comes off like an off-Broadway tuner with a dream of bigger digs.

The iconic Addams mansion is a treat on the stage, conjuring up thoughts of a Hitchcock mystery film. Unfortunately, the only whodunit question floating around the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is who cobbled this mediocre musical together. And of course, for those that read up on the out-of-town happenings of this musical, the creative team had a last minute shuffle before leaving Chicago for New York. Such a last minute effort to patch this musical up is clearly evident. The musical fails to reach a level of cohesiveness necessary to carry a big budget production like this.

Kudos to the cast for crafting characters unique from the well-known previous incarnations of the Addams clan, although some capture kooky magic more than others. Nathan Lane, as expected, plays Nathan Lane. Scenery beware, there is much chewing to be had throughout the night. Lane's shtick has grown tiresome over the years, and it is becoming a lazy act on behalf of Broadway's show creators to continue casting Lane in roles that require actual depth.

Formerly of Broadway's 'In the Heights,' Krysta Rodriguez has the most to work with in this musical adaptation, as the primary plot centers on the eldest Addams child's lust for love. While her wanting to be "normal" reminded more of that other spooky family, 'The Munsters,' some of the gags involving the Addams' attempts to play straight get the audience clapping. The gags remind of vaudeville humor, with actors entertaining, and even speaking directly to the audience, while standing in front of a lush red curtain.

However, when visual gags are the best part of the production, such as a scene involving Uncle Fester floating through the night sky while serenading the glowing moon or the giant red curtain playing a role with its constant movement and clever framing of various scenes, the show is in trouble.

At times the choreography matches the kooky nature of the Addams Family the world has come to know and love since it splashed onto television screens and later the silver screen, with jerks and jolts driving the actors' movement, but the inevitable tango scene involving Gomez and Morticia lacks any sense of lust or romance, rather it comes off as a slow paced exercise featuring two tired Broadway heavyweights. Bebe Neuwirth's dancing days are long behind her, although unlike Lane, she can blame it on a titanium hip.

Better billed as the 'Wednesday Addams Show,' all but Rodriguez's character are mostly one dimensional, essentially there to provide the audience with recognizable anchors to latch onto as they sit through two and a half hours of a show that has a plot more suited for a half hour television episode.

Broadway's resident character actress Jackie Hoffman as Grandma fares the best amongst her fellow one-note characters, as she is at least given a handful of zingers to play around with, and her ability to ring laughs out of even the blandest jokes proves essential to keeping the pace moving along.

When the loudest applause comes from a nearly split second cameo by a floating hand, Thing, and a ball of hair, Cousin It, logic has it that something is foul in the graveyard. After the reported hefty advance sales run dry, it would suit the Broadway community to dispense of 'The Addams Family' as fast as it did that other clunky deadly musical, 'Young Frankenstein,' and free up the theatre for something more suited for musical comedy, like 'Munsters: the Musical.'