Review: Ocean State Theatre Kicks Off Season with Frightfully Disappointing THE ADDAMS FAMILY

There are certainly no perfect formulas for creating the perfect musical. Lately, it seems that many new shows are following one of two "tried and true" formulas for success, both of which can actually lead to pretty epic failure. One is trying to turn something like a movie, television show, cartoon or comic book into a musical. The second is trying to create a musical that has something for everyone, a show that tries to please every audience member with a little bit of everything. The Addams Family, which kicks off the new season at Ocean State Theatre Company, is an example of how both of those formulas sometimes fall very, very flat.

While there have been, of course, the wildly popular television series and two hit movies, the musical takes as its source material the original cartoons by Charles Addams. In this version of the Addams' story, Wednesday Addams has fallen in love with a "normal" boy who she wants to marry. First, though, she needs her parents to meet his parents, which is easier said than done, considering just how "not normal" her family is. The entire musical takes place during the evening of the big meeting, prior to, during and after dinner, as truths and secrets are revealed, love is lost and won again, and numerous strange and spooky happenings occur.

The fault for the show's failure lies not with Ocean State Theatre Company, but rather with the musical itself, its book, music and lyrics. For any fan of the Addams Family, in any of its iterations, the musical can only been seen as frustrating, disappointing, or both, due largely to the fact that it's just so boring. More than just boring, it's also filled with clichés and moments that have been seen and done a million times before. The show's creators have managed to take one of the most interesting, eccentric, entertaining and unusual families ever created and make them just another stereotypical family going through the same old stereotypical problems. If you take the Addams' out of this show and insert any other family, it would be exactly the same. Even the strange, spooky and kooky happenings are kept to a minimum.

Additionally, the creators have removed some of what makes the Addams' special and instructive. In this version, they are often insecure and self-conscious, with moments such as Pugsley worrying that he might become "just another weird fat kid." It's likely an attempt to make them more relatable to today's audiences, which is just not necessary. Part of the joy of the Addams Family is that they don't think they are weird or strange or anything. They think they're just fine the way they are and they love themselves, and each other, just the way they are, which is a great lesson which unfortunately isn't to be found in this version of their story.

Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice wrote the book for the musical, which uses the aforementioned formula of trying to please everyone. The show seems to have an identity crisis. It wants to be everything to everyone, and as usually happens, very little of it actually works. There are huge tonal shifts throughout the show, for example, going from campy fun one moment to deadly serious the next. The show starts out with a sense of cartoonish fun, which seems great at first, until it vanishes in favor of something else, which then get thrown out and replaced. Along the way, there is a mishmash of everything from bawdy adult humor to family-friendly fun to current-event-related jokes about texting, universal health care and political swing states, all of which fall flat with a resounding thud.

Along with the show's book is music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. While the songs aren't necessarily boring, they are often extremely repetitive. There are at least two or three times when they go on for far too long, refusing to end when they should. Still, there are a couple of highlights, all of which happen to be sung by female characters, especially Morticia and Wednesday, but more on that in a moment. For the most part, the music is forgettable and has an almost lazy feel to it, exemplified by one of the worst and most interminable musical numbers to ever end the first act of a musical.

Given all of this, Ocean State does a mostly solid job with what they have to work with. Director and Choreographer Amiee Turner has assembled, for the most part, a fine cast. She keeps things moving as best she can, although the first act does seem to last forever, and she stages some really great individual moments. On the other hand, in the show's first half, the choreography is surprisingly dull and uninspired. It would have been nice to see something a little more unique or different, not the same old thing. Even jazz hands make an appearance. Luckily, in act two, Turner brings her A-game and stages a fantastic dance number when Morticia and Gomez share a climactic tango.

There are also some things to rave about in Ocean State's production, and their names are Morticia, Wednesday and Alice. No telling if the show's creators did it intentionally or not, but the three female leads get all the best songs, lines, jokes and moments. And Turner has given the roles to three actresses who are magnificently talented and a pleasure to watch on stage.

Leading the way is Katie Anne Clark who is nothing less than perfect as Morticia Addams. She absolutely nails the part in a performance that may be worth the price of admission. It's not necessarily the Morticia that everyone might be familiar with, it's a little less sexy sultriness and a bit more campy fun. It actually feels a bit like Morticia by way of a similar cult-favorite-character, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (and Clark actually looks a bit like Elvira in the costume and makeup). That's not to say Clark doesn't have the sexy, sultry side of Morticia, she does, but she adds a heavy dose of campy, darkly funny humor to the part. Clark is an absolute triple threat who gets to show off her impressive singing and fantastic dance moves on more than a few occasions ("Secrets," "Just Around the Corner" and "Tango de Amor"). She also gets to show off her fantastic facial expressions and astonishing ability to keep a completely serious face as all kinds of insanity breaks out around her.

Coming in a very close second in the "greatest facial expressions ever" department is Kayla Tomas as Wednesday Addams. Tomas is brilliant in the role, making Wednesday creepy and lovable, frightening and sympathetic, all at the same time. She's got this fantastic way of tilting her head slightly and glaring at you with crazy eyes but then suddenly breaking into a stunning smile. She seems like she might kill someone, or kiss them, at any moment, which is pretty much exactly how Wednesday Addams should behave. Tomas, like Clark, also has a great singing voice and one of the show's biggest highlights is her solo number, "Pulled." This being Tomas' Ocean State debut, hopefully we'll get to see more of this extremely talented actress in the near future.

In the third standout role is Jennifer Mischley, who was so great in Gypsy, this past summer at Ocean State. She returns here to play Alice Beineke, the mother of the boy Wednesday is in love with. Mischley is a show stopping scene-stealer who seems to be making a nice niche for herself, playing these great character roles. That's not to say she can't or shouldn't play a leading role, I have no doubt that she can and should. In this particular production, she absolutely takes over during her big moment towards the end of act one and knocks it out of the park. Even during the quieter, smaller moments, she is always focused, committed and fun to watch.

Most of the remaining Addams family members are given little to do, except for Gomez, the patriarch, who we'll get to in a moment. As Uncle Fester, Fred Frabotta is very good but given nothing good to do. Fester acts as a narrator, a device which seems completely unnecessary and out of place in this show. There's also a storyline about him falling in love with the moon, which ranks as one of the lamest and most useless subplots ever. Connie Anderson is hilarious as Grandma during the few occasions when she's given a funny line or moment, which she at least takes full advantage of. Alexander Leblanc is fine as Pugsley but again, the show's creators have given Pugsley nothing new, different or interesting to do. When Pugsley gets a solo number, Leblanc does a nice job singing it but the moment is really unsettling and cringe-worthy and may have been more successful if it had been played as tounge-in-cheek or darkly funny. As Lurch, Joseph Torello gets some of the best moments and he nails them. He's got a talent for physical comedy and a fabulous singing voice which surprises everyone.

The weakest link in the Addams chain is Gomez, played here by Steve Gagliastro. It's hard to put a finger on one reason why the performance doesn't work but it never feels right. Gone is the suave and debonair aura that Gomez has had in the past, which is fine, it's a choice. But, in its place is a Gomez that is sometimes slick and weaselly and always loud, obnoxious and over the top. It's as if Gagliastro is playing Gomez as played by one of the Three Stooges. And his accent comes across as if a non-Spanish person is trying really, really hard to create an over-the-top Spanish accent (although kudos to him for keeping it consistent throughout, even while singing). Gagliastro does have a couple of nice moments, particularly one scene in act two between him and Wednesday, but he really would have benefitted from dialing everything way down.

There are two other members of he Beineke family, Alice's husband, Mal, and their son, Lucas, who is in love with Wednesday. Jason Loete as Mal and Brody Karn as Lucas are both just fine. The problem is that the two roles are shockingly shallow, stereotypical and clichéd. There really is nothing for either actor to sink their teeth into, they're nothing more than "the husband" and "the boyfriend." Rounding out the cast is a group of actors playing "the Addams Ancestors," who come back to life in ghostly form and help to tell the story, as sort of an undead Greek chorus. All of the performers do a great job and they are actually the best part of a scene more than a few times. At one point, when Fester tells them, "let's talk about love," they all groan, as if to say "oh no, not this same old story AGAIN!" The audience, discovering the missed opportunity of this show and the disappointing, boring path it takes, may feel the same way.

The Addams Family: The Musical will be presented at Ocean State Theatre from September 30 - October 25. Performances will be held Wednesday (except October 7), Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm, with matinees on Thursdays (except October 15 & 22), Saturdays at 2:00 pm (except October 3, 10 & 24) and Sundays at 2:00 pm. The theatre is located at 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick, RI. Tickets are $39 for preview performances and $39-$59 for all other performances. Discount rates for groups of 20 or more are available by calling (401) 921-1777 x112. $30 "Rush" tickets are available on a limited basis one hour prior to curtain on the day of the performance. Tickets are on sale at the box office Monday through Friday from 12 noon - 6:00 pm, Saturdays from 12 noon - 4:00 pm, and from 12 noon until curtain time on performance days. Tickets are also available online 24 hours a day at www.OceanStateTheatre.org and via telephone during normal box office hours by calling (401) 921-6800.

Pictured: (front row from left) Alexander LeBlanc, Kayla Tomas, Connie Anderson. (back row from left) Fred Frabotta, Katie Anne Clark, Steve Gagliastro Gomez and Joseph Torello. Photo by Mark Turek.

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