Acton Amateur Operatic Society are at Crewe's beautiful Lyceum Theatre this week with a musical based on characters originally created almost 100 years' ago by American cartoonist Charles Addams.. yes, you've guessed it, that kooky and truly spooky, Addams Family.
And to further illustrate how spooky they truly were, their long-dead ancestors were in the foyer and around the auditorium making a spectre-cal of themselves (sorry..!) before being called upon to join their living family on stage.
The story for this show takes the idea that Wednesday (and therefore also Pugsley) have grown up a little from the pre-teen children they are elsewhere, and Wednesday has fallen in love and wants to get married. It's quite fast-paced, and has some delightfully catchy musical numbers [courtesy of Andrew Lippa], and in Acton Society's production there was also a fabulous multi-level set with an elegant candle-lit staircase, as well as plenty of gravestones and cobwebs, a pitch-perfect small band under the direction of Treona Holden, and simple but effective choreography (Rachel Capper). What made this show even more impressive for me was twofold. First, the lighting design was to a professional standard and I truly enjoyed the lightning effect; whilst director Caroline Coles (with the help of assistant director Benjamin Stubbs), had managed to put many tiny little personal touches into the show throughout which added greatly to both the show and our enjoyment of it. Excellent use of space, including the use of an empty box, and even managing to get a joke in there about the Covid vaccine too!
A couple of the songs were taken at a slightly slower than usual pace. Especially Alice's part in the 'Full Disclosure' song, and Wednesday's solo, 'Pulled'. In both cases the lyrics, and the meanings thereof, were much clearer than I have previously witnessed (even in professional productions!), and this worked really well, and both songs were not just more understandable, but more enjoyable because of it.
It was also wonderful to see the Addams Family themselves not being simple carbon copies of other, more famous, incarnations of themselves, but instead, putting their own personality and spin on their characters without deviating from their recognisability and origin. Rob Earle and Debbie Cornock were Gomez and Morticia respectively. They worked excellently together and both had great stage presence, giving much to the show.. very enjoyable. Wednesday was played by Chloe Parr. A forthright and headstrong interpretation which worked well, and her singing voice was powerful and tuneful. The other family members, [Cory Levick-Jones as Pugsley, Rob Nixon as Lurch, Paul Birchall as Fester, and Mary Bolide as Grandma], as well as the Beineke family [Kevin Whitfield as Mal, Emma Jones as Alice, and Sean Clark-Wilkinson as Lucas], all gave their alls to the show and this paid dividend many times over. I especially enjoyed Grandma's playfulness, Lurch's wonderfully sonorous bass voice (when he finally did sing!), and Alice's transformation.
Using teenagers and children as singing and dancing ancestors alongside the society's chorus was a lovely idea, and worked superbly, and brought a new dimension into the show which I haven't seen before. The two 'spirits' under Pugsley's bed for example was inspired.
There were a few things which for me, didn't work quite as well as perhaps they could have done, but overall this was a most enjoyable, solidly produced, and fun show, and one which certainly deserves a larger audience then this evening's only half-full auditorium.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 3.11.22
on - 3.11.22
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