The Addams Family 6/12

Saw the Addams matinee yesterday, an anniversary gift from my partner.

I went in with pretty low expectations, based on the savage drubbing most critics bestowed, so I was shocked at the wonderful time we had!

I found the show hilarious, charming and sweet - the set and costumes are truly spectacular and the performances spot-on. Nathan Lane if gifted with masterful delivery and we laughed out loud after many of his one-liners. Bebe was sexy and graceful (I actually enjoy her singing, unlike so many) and her tango with Nathan was terrific.

Every bit as fun, silly and kooky as an AF musical should be.

It seems like it has improved by leaps and bounds since Chicago (and Zaks?), but I can't see how this could be the best possible Addams musical. I feel much of the pandering, dated, pop-reference focused humor is a complete betrayal of the source material.

Isn't there enough humor to be mined from what Charles Addams created without having to make out-of-character cracks? Or, does this approach really just speak to the uninformed audiences of today that Broadway has to market to?

I don't understand the point of view of this show, and when I saw it it wasn't fun enough to make up for that.

I enjoyed what I heard of the cast recording the other day, and I think "When You're An Addams" is an attractive and superior opening number to "Clandango." Lippa could have done better elsewhere. He should have taken inspiration from Viennese operetta (harpsichords!), Kander and Ebb, and Italian film scores. How I wish K & E would have done this show on the heels of the Chicago revival.

And, malice, it too is hard for me to reconcile why Addams isn't nominated for best musical when it is one of two original book scores this season and is just as (in)competent as past non-deserving nominees. Lippa's score is mediocre but it has some flashes of theatricality and serves many of the singers well. The score plays way better on disc than in the theater.

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Updated On: 6/13/10 at 02:23 PM

I liked Bebe's Morticia as well... and have no problem with her voice ("Just Around The Corner" was my favourite song). I agree with the pop reference / betrayal thing that twinbelters was hinting at.

It still baffles me just how huge of a failure Andrew Lippa did. While I agree the show was funny, the lyrics were bad, and if one song was successful, he just copied that model for another song (I see hints, lyrically from Pulled in Just Around hte Corner). Worse than that, usually the music can make a score atleast OK, but no he just completely and epically failed on all counts.

Yes, in my opinion I do think it would have fared better. Bad lyrics can still win over a general audience; if the music is bad, there's very little hope. That's always been my opinion on people like Frank Wildhorn or plenty of other composers who have bad lyricists.

Great choice

Oh well

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I could never tell...was Lippa commissioned to do this project or was it his own idea?