THE ADDAMS FAMILY
THE ADDAMS FAMILY, Capitol Theatre, 23 March-9 June 2013. Photos by Jeff Busby: l-r Blake Hurford, Meredith O'Reilly, Chloe Dallimore, John Waters, Ben Hudson, Teagan Wouters and Russell Dykstra; right: Russell Dykstra and the Moon.
By BRYCE HALLETT
The Australian production of The Addams Family is far more entertaining and a whole lot sharper than its Broadway predecessor, which isn’t to say that the musical is perfect by any means. In New York not even the pairing of Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth in the leading roles could rescue the thinly-plotted, lopsided work, especially when Lane was still doing a version of Max Bialystock from The Producers and Neuwirth’s Morticia was so remote that she almost vanished from the stage.
In Sydney, The Addams Family has been brilliantly cast, so electrifyingly good as to shine a light in the gloom. John Waters, a vastly-experienced actor and singer, delights as the gentlemanly go-between Gomez while Chloe Dallimore is a picture of slinky decorum, her deadpan expressions an essential part of her fatalistic armour and charm.
The book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice is more serviceable than inspired but it is witty in parts and, on the whole, suits the tenor of most of the characters. The writers did a far better job with Jersey Boys, a work which amply demonstrated that truth is larger than fiction whereas the whimsy and exoticism of The Addams Family seldom rises beyond being agreeably creepy and/or likably kooky.
One of the best lines involves the herb-dispensing Grandma and her tenuous relationship with the family, or when Gomez makes the throwaway remark, “What I lack in depth I make up for in shallowness”. In its best moments combining Broadway verve, comic hijinks and passionate singing, The Addams Family is spirited and a great deal of fun.
The girl-meets-boy-meets-parents story is almost threadbare and, surprisingly the writers don’t make the most of opportunities for visual or dramatic irony, nor do they create enough fully-developed scenes between songs to enable greater and more purposeful interaction between the characters.
Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party) has written an uneven score that’s light and bright, tender and appealing, brash and insistent. The opening song-and-dance graveyard scene deploys the company, ghosts, ghouls and all the gang, It is stunningly lit and looks a storybook treat amid the sumptuous red curtains which deftly frame the action. The production values are superb, and conductor Luke Hunter ensures a bright tone and lively pace.
Whatever the show’s weaknesses, the cast does wonders to elevate the material and to interpret and belt out the songs, not least Teagan Wouters as the strong-willed Wednesday. Wouters, who was superb as Sharpay in High School Musical a few years ago, is ideal as the uncompromising girl/woman whose idea of family values is founded on sacrifice and remaining unscathed after being hit by an arrow. Her rendering of the songs Pulled and Crazier Than You is high in pitch and equally high in emotion.
One of the show’s highlights is the endearing performance of Russell Dykstra as Uncle Fester. He assumes the role of pseudo narrator and helps propel the bittersweet tale in moments when some of Lippa’s songs fail to do just that. He sings But Love and The Moon and Me from the heart, and with an appealing eccentricity and childlike abandon.
Ben Hudson, too, is terrifically engaging as Lurch even when he blends into the scenery while Blake Hurford (given opening night honours as Pugsley) brought a winning measure of mischief and mirth to a character who unwittingly unites the old and new, the earthly and alien.
In the role of the "normal" mom, Mrs Beineke, Katrina Retallick dazzles in a transformative performance which fully discloses her star power. Retallick is a consistently excellent performer and gives one of the best performances of her career in this show.
Tim Maddren is equally engaging as the lovestruck Lucas Beineke but the role is so lacking in depth that clearly shallowness will prevail. He sings like an angel but is given scant opportunity to show what he is capable of. His character desperately needs a song of its own in Act Two.
Weaknesses aside, the energy, skill and commitment of the cast lifts a musical which, given how formulaic the story is, puts one foot precariously close to the grave. The writers themselves, of course, don’t have lofty ambitions or goals, as evidenced by their note in the program: “For this deceptively simple tale of young love traduced and restored - told with music at once so tender and stirring, so droll and gentle that it moves the very gods to tears - lies, if not the hope of mankind, certainly a reasonable way to kill of couple of hours.”
On that score they succeed nicely.
