THEATRE REVIEW: The Addams Family - The Opera House, Manchester.

It's hard to believe that the genesis of these characters was a cartoon strip in The New Yorker newspaper in the 1930s! Yes, they have gone through several transformations since then, but they have lost nothing of their clever graveyard humour; a balancing act between outright caricature / slapstick humour, and scary horror from the Beyond.

This latest UK tour of the Musical version by Brickman / Elice / Lippa, and produced by Aria Entertainment, is currently running at Manchester's Opera House. It is a fast-paced, comedic and highly entertaining show with easily recognisable characters and a lively score with plenty of eye-catching choreography (Alistair David).

There are a couple of points however which did sadly let the show down somewhat. The set, designed by Diego Pitarch, looked great, and cleverly utilised a split staircase and different level doors; however, most of the flats were what appeared to be wooden slats with gaps in them, and we could easily see the cast behind them waiting for their entrances - this was especially evident behind the door at the top of the stairs centre stage. I am not entirely sure what the two "box-crates" were supposed to be though. Used together as a dining table [looking nothing like a dining table and would have benefitted from a floor-length tablecloth], and then as a coffin (?) and wall (?).  A clever and appropriate lighting design (combined with haze effects) by Ben Crocknell, was mostly delightful, however, the design relied heavily on follow spots, and sadly the operators on those spots this evening were consistently not hitting their marks and leaving the cast in semi-shadows, and this was most offputting. The sound (Richard Brooker) was set too loudly. It started at ear-piercing levels, and unfortunately some song lyrics and dialogue were blurred and indistinguishable since the mic levels had been set too high. 

What was abundantly clear however was that the proficient ensemble and principals in this production were all enjoying themselves giving their all, and this transfused into the audience, allowing us to appreciate their talents all the more. There were some lovely (undirected?) moments between Morticia (Joanne Clifton), and a rather-more-energetic-than-seen-previously Gomez (Cameron Blakely), which helped to truly make their stage chemistry all the more intense; whilst Scott Paige's Uncle Fester was just captivating, hitting his characterisation square on every time and wowing the audience with his lovely singing voice. In fact the singing (especially the harmonies) were lush all evening, whilst Matthew White's direction focused on the look and feel of the show giving us some great 'pictures'. 

A very enjoyable production, with a talented, consummate cast, which is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and start your fingers clicking... de de de da [click click] ...  A fun evening out!

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 19.4.22