The Addams Family UK Tour
The Addams Family UK Tour
The Lowry, Salford
05/09/17
The Addams Family musical comedy first made an appearance on Broadway in 2010 and 7 years later made its way over to the UK for its first professional production. Andrew Lippa's well written musical follows the story of The Addams Family we all know and love, focussing on Wednesday Addams who is now 18 years old and has fallen in love with a 'normal' boy from Ohio. In an attempt to make the families get along, Wednesday organises a dinner between the two families which doesn't go as planned. In a fateful, hilarious night, secrets are disclosed, relationships are tested and it turns out The Addams Family aren't the only kooky family in town.
Diego Pitatch's set design works amazingly and the gothic theme is achieved extremely well. The well designed, elaborate costumes and makeup were very effective and the lighting and sound effects worked really well alongside.
The incredible ensemble were vital to the show demonstrating excellent dance and vocal skills and provided solid support with movement and visuals as a distraction during scene changes.
The score provided great musicality and frequent tango rhythms in songs like 'Trapped', 'Secrets' and 'Not Today' and the visual impact of the dance number during 'Tango De Amour' made this an irresistible highlight. The choreography was a strong element within the show in numbers like 'When You're An Addams' and 'The Moon and Me' incorporating a variety of dance styles including line dancing, ballroom and ballet.
A stand out of the show was the Act 1 finale 'Full Disclousure' which the cast performed extremely well with its difficult score. This number showed off Cameron Blakely's incredible talent for comedy which had the entire audience and even cast laughing and his hilarious words.
Cameron Blakely took on the role of Gomez perfectly and was energetic and passionate throughout his performance. He had excellent stage presence paired with his constant humour whilst still providing emotional moments in songs like 'Happy Sad'.
Samantha Womack's portrayal of Morticia was suitably dark and mysterious whilst elegant and comedic. She gave a very confident performance, capturing the dry wit of Morticia whilst proving to be an excellent dancer in numbers like 'Just Around Corner'.
Carrie Hope Fletcher is perfect for the role of Wednesday capturing the characters kookiness whilst being sharp and witty. Her voice is outstanding with her amazing belting skills and perfect diction. Carrie’s performance was faultless and her clear and beautiful vocals are captivating and provide an outstanding vocal prowess and stage presence.
Oliver Ormson gives another very strong performance as Wednesday's love interest Lucas Beineke with his charm and comedy. The natural chemistry between himself and Carrie makes for a performance that's so easy to watch and so believable.
Scott Paige gave an outstanding performance as Uncle Fester and presented a strangly terrific performance as his character sang about his love for the moon!
Dickon Gough as overly tall groaning Lurch plays the character for every moment ultimately getting the last laugh though. I look forward to hearing more of him in future shows.
Highlights of the show for me were Carrie's interpretation of 'Pulled', and her duet with Oliver - 'Crazier Than You' left a huge number of the audience around me grinning from ear to ear.
This show is FULL of those moments, alongside some sharp comedy and brilliant dancing. It's a funny, touching, powerful - and pretty gory in some respects - continuation of the Addams tales we know and love and it completely deserves a West End run.
