Jerry Zaks brought on for Addams Family

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:11pm

Per the NY Times.
Zaks brought on for Addams Family changes

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:12pm

I can't decide if I'm happy or unhappy with this news.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:17pm

And he's been released from Dame Edna.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:17pm

Wow! Jerry's running the show now.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:27pm

This is gonna get interesting...

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:29pm

Let's hope he breathes energy and life into this production like he did with GUYS & DOLLS as opposed to sucking all of the energy & life out of it like he did with LA CAGE.

This should be interesting...

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:46pm

Hmmm...Jerry Zaks...not sure how I feel about this. If he goes down the same road he did with Guys & Dolls I think we might be in for a treat. If he goes down the same road he did with La Cage, well...let's hope he revamps the show and knows exactly what he's doing.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:49pm

Will Emma Zaks be the new Wednesday understudy now?

[cglaid]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:50pm

LOL ljay, I was going to say -- see ya in your next show Bebe!

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:54pm

Is Jerry taking over for the previous director or just helping out?

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 8:55pm

He will be "running the show" according to the producer. The other directors have not been fired.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 9:16pm

Whoever thought hiring designers to stage a musical should be fired. Designers are not directors. Sure, many of the want to be and act like it, but they're not. I just hope the designs for the show are kick-ass. I'm expecting to be wowed.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 9:20pm

They designed AND directed the acclaimed Shockheaded Peter and would seem to be a natural for the aesthetic of The Addams Family. But maybe they just need the help of someone like Zaks to "go Broadway". I do hope their sensibility remains a part of the production.

[MarkK]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 9:25pm

Adams Family, you in danger girl!

Actually, I think this will help matters significantly.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 9:27pm

I think MarkK must be a Datalounge regular...

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 9:29pm

They designed AND directed the acclaimed Shockheaded Peter

That was sarcasm, right?

The producers are idiots for hiring such rank amateurs. They should have had a director with strong comedic abilities from the very beginning.

They should be publicly flogged and ridiculed for acting so stupidly with $16.5 million involved--not to mention the reputation of Charles Addams.

When did Broadway directing start being considered something ANYONE can do?

[amoni2]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 9:31pm

Stilts! Think stilts!

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 9:37pm

What can I tell you? Der Struwwelpeter was a fixture of my childhood and I got a kick out of the adaptation.

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 9:37pm

amoni2,

I DID think it. But you had the guts to say it. LOL

[Dollypop]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 10:16pm

Okay, the next press release will announce that the opening is being postponed. Right?

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 10:24pm

It better fcking not be!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 10:45pm

Ljay, I almost posted that before!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 10:55pm

We got trouble.Right here in River City

Nothing gets the critics attention like a big musical in trouble out of town - much like blood in the water where sharks are swimming.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 12:06am

You're about to go under the knife for life-saving surgery and the manager of the hospital tells you "We're going to let a pair of talented young designers do the cutting. Granted, they've never held a scalpel before but the really do GET red."

One only has to look at the horrific train wrecks that are the second acts of most Tim Burton movies to know designers do not make good directors. It's all about story and song. If they aren't serviced precisely and rigorously, no amount of glitz will save you.

I could think of better people than Jerry Zaks but maybe he was (a) the best available or (b) the only one willing to try.

And I agree this show should have been better planned in advance.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 12/29/09 at 12:25am

Putting my plan for preview tickets on indefinate "hold" now.