Post by santtu on Jun 26, 2010 8:55:52 GMT -5
I really wanted to see this show, since I loved the movie with Raul Julia & Anjelica Huston and I kind of like "black" humor and these characters are just legendary.
Before the show I was happy to see that both Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth would be performing though it was a wednesday evening show.
In short, the story of the musical is about the somewhat strange family Addams. The 18-year-old daughter Wednesday has fallen in love with a 'normal' boy from Ohio, Lucas, and has invited his family to meet hers. And she's asking her family to act normal for one evening. And the events of that evening (and following night) is what the show is mostly about.
Though the cast included some big Broadway names no one really was 'starring' the show performance-wise. Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth scored huge applauds when taking the limelight for the first time in the opening number. But unfortunately neither really nailed their characters. Lane had a lot of comic moments and scored huge laughs but as a character, Gomez wasn't much to shout about. His Spanish accent was everything but Spanish! He sounded more Eastern European to me. Lane did adlib a bit during the show, particularly during "Full Disclosure" where he got his co-stars giggling (even the queen of adlibbing, Jackie Hoffman, was struggling not to laugh!) and had the audience - yes, even me - roaring with laughter but that doesn't make a character. His more tender moments, like "Happy/Sad" didn't really suit the character anymore at that point. Neuwirth as Morticia was wonderfully stone-faced and Neuwirth's "dry delivery" was spot-on, but the character was just underwritten. The script had lots of moments where the character of Morticia could have really taken off, but the moments went unused. Carolee Carmello as Alice was good in her role, but her voice... She has a wonderful range, but the vibrato of her voice was just terrible!! Just painful to listen. Terrence Mann, yet another Broadway legend, was musically very underused here. His part didn't include much singing, which was a bit surprising considering the parts Mann has played in the past! He played Mal Beineke very well, in my book his performance was the best of the evening. The two lovers, Wednesday and Lucas, played by Krysta Rodriguez and Wesley Taylor respectively, were nothing special. Rodriguez did the usual 'young-rebelling-woman-coming-of-age', but the character just fell flat, very one-dimensional. The same goes with Taylor's All-American-boy-next-door Lucas. Not much to work with there. I was the most disappointed with the Grandma. Jackie Hoffman has an amazing sense of comedy but she just didn't get a moment to shine here. Her two scenes with the potion cart (first with Pugsley and second with Morticia) could have both been her big moments and the first one was close of succeeding, but both times something was missing. Both scenes were more or less uninspired - though in the first Hoffman did get huge applauds with her line to Pugsley: "How about texting a little less and picking up a book every now and then?!". But in the end, the character just left a lot to hope for.
The Andrew Lippa's score was a huge disappointment!! It reminded me a bit of the score of THE PRODUCERS, a lot of upbeat numbers and not a single memorable tune. Some numbers had a lot of effort and promise, but just didn't deliver (like "One normal night"). Some of the numbers were totally in the category "where have I heard this melody before?!" which was disgraceful! Gomez's solo "Morticia" was one of them that left me wondering where the melody was actually taken from, it sounded so familiar (and the overall sound of the song was very Italian, which was strange considering Gomez's ancestors are Spanish...). And the arrangements of some songs were a bit odd, like "Pulled" which changed style in the middle of the song and not very successfully. But there were some nice numbers in the score too, personal favorite being the final number, "Move towards the darkness".
I loved the small "cameo parts" of Thing and Cousin Itt!!! ;D
The book was pretty good, though the characters were too one-dimensional (and the first movie with Julia & Huston proved that there can be more to these characters than just one side!). What I didn't like was the Uncle Fester (Kevin Chamberlin) acting as a some kind of a Narrator. The direct contact with the audience wasn't necessary and didn't serve the story in any way.
Visually the show was excellent! I particularly liked the use of the show's curtain! At some points it shifted the focus to another side of the stage in a very cinema-like fashion. And here and there the curtain came down from the flies like some sticky goo flowing down the wall.
Loved it! The costumes and sets were top-notch as well, the show should have gotten a Tony nomination for the sets and costumes.
The show was directed by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch with Jerry Zaks as a Creative Consultant. And that shows. Too many people acting as directors! Messy result!
All in all, I think the show should have been a play. Maybe it would have worked better that way. Or at least the score should have been composed someone with more talent and versatility. I would have loved to see what the legendary composer/lyricist team Kander and Ebb would have made out of this material!! Not a complete train-wreck but not a truly great show either. Entertaining, but I'm not in any rush to see this again.
Before the show I was happy to see that both Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth would be performing though it was a wednesday evening show.
In short, the story of the musical is about the somewhat strange family Addams. The 18-year-old daughter Wednesday has fallen in love with a 'normal' boy from Ohio, Lucas, and has invited his family to meet hers. And she's asking her family to act normal for one evening. And the events of that evening (and following night) is what the show is mostly about.
Though the cast included some big Broadway names no one really was 'starring' the show performance-wise. Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth scored huge applauds when taking the limelight for the first time in the opening number. But unfortunately neither really nailed their characters. Lane had a lot of comic moments and scored huge laughs but as a character, Gomez wasn't much to shout about. His Spanish accent was everything but Spanish! He sounded more Eastern European to me. Lane did adlib a bit during the show, particularly during "Full Disclosure" where he got his co-stars giggling (even the queen of adlibbing, Jackie Hoffman, was struggling not to laugh!) and had the audience - yes, even me - roaring with laughter but that doesn't make a character. His more tender moments, like "Happy/Sad" didn't really suit the character anymore at that point. Neuwirth as Morticia was wonderfully stone-faced and Neuwirth's "dry delivery" was spot-on, but the character was just underwritten. The script had lots of moments where the character of Morticia could have really taken off, but the moments went unused. Carolee Carmello as Alice was good in her role, but her voice... She has a wonderful range, but the vibrato of her voice was just terrible!! Just painful to listen. Terrence Mann, yet another Broadway legend, was musically very underused here. His part didn't include much singing, which was a bit surprising considering the parts Mann has played in the past! He played Mal Beineke very well, in my book his performance was the best of the evening. The two lovers, Wednesday and Lucas, played by Krysta Rodriguez and Wesley Taylor respectively, were nothing special. Rodriguez did the usual 'young-rebelling-woman-coming-of-age', but the character just fell flat, very one-dimensional. The same goes with Taylor's All-American-boy-next-door Lucas. Not much to work with there. I was the most disappointed with the Grandma. Jackie Hoffman has an amazing sense of comedy but she just didn't get a moment to shine here. Her two scenes with the potion cart (first with Pugsley and second with Morticia) could have both been her big moments and the first one was close of succeeding, but both times something was missing. Both scenes were more or less uninspired - though in the first Hoffman did get huge applauds with her line to Pugsley: "How about texting a little less and picking up a book every now and then?!". But in the end, the character just left a lot to hope for.
The Andrew Lippa's score was a huge disappointment!! It reminded me a bit of the score of THE PRODUCERS, a lot of upbeat numbers and not a single memorable tune. Some numbers had a lot of effort and promise, but just didn't deliver (like "One normal night"). Some of the numbers were totally in the category "where have I heard this melody before?!" which was disgraceful! Gomez's solo "Morticia" was one of them that left me wondering where the melody was actually taken from, it sounded so familiar (and the overall sound of the song was very Italian, which was strange considering Gomez's ancestors are Spanish...). And the arrangements of some songs were a bit odd, like "Pulled" which changed style in the middle of the song and not very successfully. But there were some nice numbers in the score too, personal favorite being the final number, "Move towards the darkness".
I loved the small "cameo parts" of Thing and Cousin Itt!!! ;D
The book was pretty good, though the characters were too one-dimensional (and the first movie with Julia & Huston proved that there can be more to these characters than just one side!). What I didn't like was the Uncle Fester (Kevin Chamberlin) acting as a some kind of a Narrator. The direct contact with the audience wasn't necessary and didn't serve the story in any way.
Visually the show was excellent! I particularly liked the use of the show's curtain! At some points it shifted the focus to another side of the stage in a very cinema-like fashion. And here and there the curtain came down from the flies like some sticky goo flowing down the wall.
Loved it! The costumes and sets were top-notch as well, the show should have gotten a Tony nomination for the sets and costumes.The show was directed by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch with Jerry Zaks as a Creative Consultant. And that shows. Too many people acting as directors! Messy result!
All in all, I think the show should have been a play. Maybe it would have worked better that way. Or at least the score should have been composed someone with more talent and versatility. I would have loved to see what the legendary composer/lyricist team Kander and Ebb would have made out of this material!! Not a complete train-wreck but not a truly great show either. Entertaining, but I'm not in any rush to see this again.
