steve's notebook

(Nov. 19, 2009)

So instead of the fifteen other things I ought to be writing, I’m instead thinking back on the open dress of The Addams Family I saw a week ago.  For a first public performance, the show was in fairly solid shape.

While not a large jump from the recent spate of screen-to-stage transfers, it does deserve some credit for taking familiar characters and sticking them in a new situation, giving the audience more to do than simply recognize favorite jokes.  To that end, the plot is essentially Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, with the undercurrents of dicord running between Addamses and the frightfully normal Beinekes, whose son Wednesday has fallen for.  For the most part, the show steers away from its predecessor’s weightier elements, usually playing in the vein of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels or Spamalot.  Where it searches for relevance is where it is weakest.  Topical humor dates quickly and already references to swing states and health care sound aged.  The final number, an attempt at a stirring anthem urging us to embrace the darkness, which builds and builds and goes on and on and on, is such a tonal disconnect from what’s come before that it seems to be from another show entirely.  Yet when the writing forgoes Meaningfulness (capitalized and grandiose) and instead draws depth from its characters, as in Gomez’s touching ballad expressing the complexities of love to his daughter or Pugsley’s concern over growing apart from his sister, or solves conflicts with a horny giant squid, it succeeds quite well.

I’ve not been a big fan of Andrew Lippa in the past.  I can’t stand his score for The Wild Party or his additions to You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.  Asphalt Beach had a few songs I loved, though just as many that were either absolute clunkers or suffered the same over-inflation I’ve mentioned.  Happily, though cautiously, Addams Family is probably his best yet.  There are quite a few catchy songs that remained stuck in my head over the last week, notably Wednesday’s “Pulled in a New Direction” and the reoccurring “Let’s Not Talk About Anything Else But Love.”  On the downside, the opening number, vaguely recalling Fiddler on the Roof, doesn’t accomplish anything that isn’t covered in two lines of dialogue stuck in the middle of it and the first Gomez/Morticia song left no impression. Lyrics are something of a liability (“full disclosure” is a terrible phrase to end the first act on) but on the whole it’s a solid score.  What particularly impressed me were several long-form numbers Lippa uses to jump from character to character through a series of scenes, progressing the plot while letting us know how everyone feels about what’s happening.  Though once or two they become a little ponderous and lost in themselves, they’ll be fine with some gentle editing and are a model of strong theatrical storytelling.

The cast.  The cast, the cast, the cast.  Well-stocked with a mix of Tony-winners, ought-to-have-been-Tony-winners-by-now, and promising up-and-comers.  An advantage of such a well known brand as the family Addams is the freedom it provides to cast actors known mainly for their stage work.  Nathan Lane was perhaps the most restrained I’ve ever seen him.  As Gomez, he was loud and bordering on the top, but a slightly cartoonish passion for his wife and very grounded concern for his daughter stopped him from crossing over it.  I first saw Krysta Rodriguez on as a understudy in Spring Awakening, where I thought she was better than the regular actress (at least based on the recording).  Though the show is really an ensemble piece, Wednesday is the plot’s primary mover and she lands solidly.  Wesley Taylor, as her boyfriend Lucas Beineke, isn’t given much to do with the material but is at least very likable.  Terrence Mann, playing Lucas’s father, doesn’t get much to do as a straight-laced real estate developer until near the end, but shines in his big moment and still has a great voice.

I’ve heard lots of good things about Jackie Hoffman over the past week, but as far as I’m concerned, a little of her goes a long way and there’s more than enough of her Grandma right now.  And sad to say, Bebe Neuwirth is the other weak link among the cast.  While it’s hard not to like her, and she understands the part well, it’s her voice.  She’s never been a great singer, but a narrow belt has developed into an even more limited warble that kills lyrics and blends with others even worse than does Nathan Lane.  And when she gets to dance, it feels a little restrained, though that may be the choreographer’s fault.  Still, she’s hard not to like.

Above all else, though, the two best things the show has goes for it are Kevin Chamberlin and Carolee Carmello.  Now, I may be a bit biased as I’ve been a big fan of Carmello for years, but she came awfully close to stopping the show when she was allowed to drop her bubbly mousy housewife persona and take center stage smoky, sexy, slightly-crazy and belting down the rafters.  Chamberlin is Uncle Fester, acting as something of a narrator for the evening’s proceedings.  Though his part and two big numbers are largely tangential to the plot, they are something of a counterpoint, but more importantly utterly charming and the essence of musical comedy.  He’s funny, touching, sings, dances, flies—after this I’d be willing to believe there’s nothing he can’t do.

He is aided, though, by the clever design of the show.  Puppets (think Little Shop and not Gypsy) are featured heavily, and most manage personalities.  The vast house is created with an economy of set, as stairways and doors rearrange to create new locations.  There’s all sorts of stage magic that is mystifying but wonderful.

Naturally there is plenty of work to be done during the tryout period.  The show ran about three hours at my performance, about half an hour too long for this show, but plenty of opportunities exist for tightening.  The openings of both acts took their time to pick up steam.  In the first act particularly, a new opening number could cover most of the characterization territory the first fifteen minutes lays out, introducing everyone and getting us right into plot sooner.  Some of the longer numbers could take careful internal cuts without falling apart.  Give us about half as much Jackie Hoffman.  I’d hate to see Fester’s songs cut, regardless of now less-than-strictly-necessary they are.  Aside from being so damn enjoyable, they were the point in each act when things started clicking.  The sound balance was spotty, too, at this performance but that’s easy enough to work on.  And, again, it needs to be careful and avoid trying to be Meaningful.  The comedy is what keeps the show afloat, and reaching too hard will just drag things down.

If the creative team can make the right adjustments, as I’d expect they will, the show will be in strong shape by the time it moves to New York.  But what do I know: I sawWicked in previews, basically enjoyed it, thought there were a few problems, and figured it wouldn’t amount to all that much.

(Apologies if I end up revising this a bit. I have to run out the door and haven’t said anything particularly intelligent.)