Tuesday, April 24, 2012 (Memphis TN)—Tuesday night, I saw the touring company production of the 2010 Broadway musical version of The Addams Family at the Orpheum Theater in Memphis. Notes about that production below, following a little background on the 65-year history of the Addams Family.

Meet Charles Addams’ Family

As a kid, I loved The Addams Family.

I even drew my own Cousin Itt comic magazine, complete with an advice column written in Itt’s gibberish.

I first met the macabre crew via the TV series, which originally ran for two seasons, from September 1964 to April 1966. (I probably knew the Addamses from reruns, since I was still in kindergarten when the show’s run ended.)

(I watched The Munsters with less enthusiasm. The show seemed like a pallid imitation of the Addamses, but both shows debuted and wrapped within a few days of each other.)

A few years later, I discovered Charles Addams’ single-panel cartoons, published between 1938 and 1988, that inspired the TV series. Not all of those featured the creepy characters that eventually became the Family, but they generally featured a unifying dark sense of humor.

When the cartoons were transformed into the TV series, Addams was involved in developing more carefully-defined personalities (and giving them names for the first time). Gomez’s manic enthusiasm or Morticia’s cool reserve (for example) never came across in the comics, but they were part of Addams’ oddball genius. (Charles Addams was, by all accounts, every bit as strange as his characters.)

In the years following the original series, the Addams Family returned to TV in two Saturday morning animated series, plus several television re-launches (both animated and live-action), and two popular theatrical films.

As each version of The Addams Family rises from the grave, they have generally adhered to the blueprint Addams developed for the TV series.

The Addamses are a traditional, multigenerational family that just happens to have rather strange proclivities (such as enjoying recreational torture, picnics in the graveyard, and vacations in an insane asylum). They are generally harmless in their intent, and view themselves as a perfectly normal family, and find the rest of the world to be full of weirdos.

However, the original cartoons depicted even darker characters.

One well-known panel shows the family gathered on the roof of their mansion, ready to pour boiling oil over a cheerful group of Christmas carolers at the front door below.

This more menacing vision of the Addamses appears occasionally in the musical, such as a scene in which Gomez sings about why he loves his daughter Wednesday and he casually mentions the day she set fire to the Jehovah’s Witness.

The Family on Stage

The stage musical version of The Addams Family follows the usual trope of having “normal” people enter the Addams mansion so they can be freaked out, frightened or repulsed by the family’s behavior.

But this play deviates from the original vision by presenting a family that is quite aware that they are strange, and speak with distaste about those who are “normal”.

The plot kicks in after an introductory number in which we meet the Addamses at the family graveyard for an annual dance with the spirits of the family ancestors.

Uncle Fester, who is just as genial and romantic in the play as he was in the TV series, locks the spirits out of their crypt so they can help him unite two young lovers: Wednesday Addams, and her normal boyfriend, Lucas Beineke.

Shortly thereafter, Wednesday confides in her father that she is engaged to Lucas, who is bringing his parents to dinner that night. She begs Gomez to keep her secret from her mother until they can announce their engagement to both families at dinner. Gomez agrees, setting up a ticking time bomb in his marriage to Morticia.

The Beinekes are more than just a “normal” couple, they seem to have just stepped out of the 1960s, living in a relationship that felt as dated as the one between Archie and Edith Bunker. Along with Wednesday and Lucas, the Beinekes complete the trio of couples that must overcome their differences before the end of the night.

Overall, the story is engaging and the jokes come quickly. I was a little disappointed in the portrayals of Morticia and Wednesday, both of whom come across as more “goth” than truly strange. (A one-off line about Morticia’s family implies she comes from a “normal” family in the south.) However, the other characters are true to their origins.

The staging is imaginative. A heavy red drape is constantly in motion (it almost feels alive)  to reveal vignettes in different parts of the stage, allowing the story to move along via short scenes that occur in different parts of the mansion.

It also uses puppetry to bring creatures to life (a dragon under the bed and a wayward curtain tassel were memorable) and to stage a sweet fantasy scene in which Fester goes for a swim in the night sky, cavorting with his love, the Moon.

The musical numbers were not particularly memorable. There’s the big opening number that introduces the family and a similar big number at the end. Each of the characters gets a song, and there’s a big scene in the middle (that closes the first act) in which everyone plays a game called “Full Disclosure” where they must tell a secret about themselves.

Gomez and Morticia have a dance number towards the end that was well done, and Morticia has a funny song about how she is always cheered up by remembering the death is “Just Around the Corner”.

Disappointingly, the TV theme song gets brief treatment, and as an instrumental without the familiar lyrics.

Among the cast, Douglas Sills is a standout as Gomez. He has a great voice and has more stage time than anyone else. Blake Hammond was perfect as Uncle Fester. Tom Corbeil’s role as Lurch was hilarious, despite having few lines. He played Lurch as more like a zombie than TV’s version.

Sara Gettelfinger felt a little too “normal” as Morticia, but she looked the part. Her dress was cut almost to her navel, and I was amazed how she was able to sing and dance without having a “wardrobe malfunction”.

On the other end of the scale, I felt 12-year-old Patrick Kennedy (as Pugsly) was a little weak as an actor and singer, even allowing for his youth.

I would recommend seeing this play with the national touring company. For information about the play’s cast and tour schedule, see theaddamsfamilymusicaltour.com.

Full Disclosure!

I was originally supposed to see this play with my Mom (who passed away before we were able to go.) I was disappointed she was not able to see it, since the wry and dark humor of The Addams Family was definitely her thing. Also, she loved live theater at all levels, and had some experience as an amateur actress.

Mom would have particularly liked Morticia’s “Just Around The Corner” number in which she sings about how quickly death can unexpectedly occur and gives several examples of sudden deaths.

Even so, one line in the song hit a little too close to home. Morticia sings, “Death is just around the corner / no one’s ever been immune. / Turning off a respirator / with a simple click / strenuously quick.” I didn’t find that so very funny, given the circumstances, but there’s a good chance my Mom would have.

In the “spirit” of the Addams’ “Full Disclosure” game, I’ll admit that I picked up my Mom’s cremated remains after work the day of the show, and took them downtown with me for the play. My mom would have told me that being dead was no reason she should have been left home while I was at the play. (I did leave her in the car, however…she did not actually come into the theater with me.)

Sadly, this will probably be the last thing we do “together”.