Broadway At Music Circus Presents…The Addams Family??: A Review
We in northern California are very fortunate to have a world-class organization like Broadway Sacramento. Night after night, they routinely present first-rate productions of culturally-relevant, highbrow musical theatre that represent the best of what Broadway has to offer.
With “The Addams Family,” last night wasn’t one of those nights.
As I headed to my seat at the UC Davis Health Pavilion, I wondered whether presenters had finally reached the bottom of that proverbial barrel during their search for great shows. “The Addams Family” wasn’t even one of my favorite TV shows, as I’d always preferred “The Munsters,” “Bewitched,” or “I Dream Of Jeannie” as my go-to fantasy-genre television programs of choice. I wasn’t a big fan of Gomez, Morticia, and the rest of the crew.
But a gig’s a gig, right? And as long as it wasn’t “Cats,” I figured I’d be ok.
As it turns out, the trustees of Charles Addams’ estate weren’t crazy about that TV show, either. They opted to go back to the cartoonist’s 58 original drawings in The New Yorker for source material for this production, as that mediocre television show had done.
We’re all the better for that decision.
While “The Adams Family” is certainly no “Macbeth” it did more than what many productions do for me: it had me smiling throughout, from the opening strains of that ear worm TV theme song, and outright laughing more than a dozen times. The play’s dialogue, and especially the lyrics of many of the songs, are a hoot.
And with the state of the world today, can any of us ask for more than that? “The Addams Family” is a two hour diversion from the cares of the day that’s best taken in along with a generous bucket of world-class Music Circus popcorn.
While Sara Gettelringer and her “Moriticia” cleavage (wowza!), Jenna Lea Rosen and the singing voice she gave “Wednesday,” and Jeff Skowron’s “Gomez”’s hilarious, repeated breaking of the fourth wall were exceptional, it’s hard to identify a standout in this raucous production. The cast is a true ensemble. I smiled when I caught Gettelringer give Skowron a loving nod as they took their closing bow after last night’s opening performance.
Keep an eye on William Ryall’s “Lurch.” He has an ace or two up his petrified sleeve, and his prowess as a physical comedian rivals Marcel Marceau’s.
And oh, my God…when Uncle Fester decides to venture off to find the love of his life at the production’s end, you’ll join everyone else in the theatre in, again, laughing out loud!
This funny production may prompt you to revisit either the classic television series or the feature films. I’ll be doing just that this weekend.
Maybe, now that I’m closer to the grave that the Addams family reveres than I am to the crib, those TV episodes are better than I remember. And I’ve never seen either of the feature films, so I may give those a go, as well.
Get tickets for “The Addams Family,” and information on the balance of the Broadway At Music Circus season, at broadwaysacramento.com.
