The Addams Family - Let The Buyer Beware

[luvbrdwy]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 1:30pm

Just a word of caution to anyone planning on seeing The Addams Family. We went to NYC this past weekend and purchased tickets at the box office for the show. We were not big fans of the show the Addams Family when it was on TV, but we are huge fans of Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, thus the only reason we went to see the show. To our shock, when the curtain rose, there stood the understudies for Lane and Neuwirth. Neither of the stars were in the show that night. We were never informed of this when we purchased the tickets, there were no postings in the lobby or anywhere else in the theatre and no announcement was made prior to the start of the show. As far as I know all of the aforementioned are supposedly Broadway etiquette on the part of the theatre. We did see change slips in the playbill at intermission but we were unable to read the playbills prior to the show because we were not even seated by the ushers until the house was dark and the orchestra started playing. At intermission I was very upset and talked to an usher. She said the box office should have informed us of the change when we purchased the tickets. She also stated that had we gone to the box office at the start of the show, they would have given us tickets for another performance that Lane and Neuwirth were scheduled to appear in. First of all we were unaware of the change until the curtain went up and to my knowledge it is a huge faux pas to get up and leave during the performance. Second of all we live five hours from NYC, so jotting down whenever they decided to give us tickets for Lane and Neuwirth appearances was not an option. I wanted to post this as a warning to anyone who may be going to the show specifically to see Lane and Neuwirth. As for the show....we were not impressed. The singing was pretty good, the acting so so and the comedy...well I guess you have to be an Addams Family officiando to enjoy it. On the bright side, Grandma was somewhat entertaining. I guess this was a lesson learned....always check to make sure the stars are performing that show. But Lunt Fontanne should be ashamed of themselves for misleading the audience as we did hear alot of people complaining after the show.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 1:43pm

If you had talked to the box office perchance before the show, it really would have been a stroke of courtesy if they had given you exchange tickets since the leads names aren't above the title. The rule is usually that unless the name is above the title, no refunds or exchanges. Luckily, many box office workers have gone around that- I exchanged tix for instance when I saw one night that Lynn Manual Miranda was out of In the Heights at the start of the run. Anyway, sorry you missed them- sounds like a gross experience to sit though. There is an element of luck involved though. It was deceptive of the theatre to not post the understudies in the lobby prior to the show though.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 1:43pm

Maybe if you showed up on time, you would have known.

From your post, you were given late seating which tells me you were late. Perhaps you missed the pre-show announcement?

[lemiz3001]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 1:54pm

I was also there this weekend. Firstly, there was no pre show announcement mentioning that the leads weren't in. There was a playbill insert, however. Also, I bought my tickets online, and they did have a warning that Bebe is on vacation. But it was a pretty big disappointment that Nathan wasn't there.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 1:57pm

Nathan and Bebe are definitely above the title.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 2:02pm

Well, on the actual marquee, they aren't. I walk by it every day on my way to work. On the actual marquee, they are on either side of the title, but on the actual large marquee, their names aren't listed at all.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 2:08pm

They're certainly above the title on the homepage of the web site, for what that's worth.

At any rate, doesn't Equity require the posting in the lobby?

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 2:14pm

I was in the lobby towards the end of the matinee on Saturday while waiting for a friend to buy tickets and the understudies for Gomez and Morticia were posted on the call board. Per Equity requirement two of the following three need to be done when there is a cast change: notification on call board, playbill slip, or stage announcement.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 2:15pm

Equity requires you to do two of the following three things:

A: Post the change in the lobby

B: Announce the change prior to the curtian

and/or

C: Stuff the program with inserts.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 2:23pm

They are above the title in the playbill, which is where I always assumed (perhaps incorrectly) it mattered.

[shrekster224]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 2:35pm

I know Becca Ayers has been covering for Bebe's vacation, but was Merwin on for Gomez for all of the missed shows?

[[e-mail]]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 2:39pm

Last time I went to see a show for a specific performer I called the box office before heading into the city and then asked again at the box office before the show. The one time there was an understudy on and I had already bought a ticket I was able exchange it for another performance. Which I was actually pretty shocked about but extremely happy.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 3:11pm

The Equity rulings stem from the original production of HELLO, DOLLY!

Producer David Merrick was very shrewd and never had to worry about understudies going on when Carol Channing was in the show. He was also pretty safe with Ginger Rogers. However, Rogers did become legitimately ill and missed a few performances. It was then that Merrick decided to make the substitution announcement moments before the show started. The announcement read: "Ladies and Gentlemen, at this performance, the role of Mrs. Levi will be played by Bibi Osterwald" and then the downbeat was given for the show to start.

Now, many people had no idea that "Mrs. Levi" was the title role in the show and the matter was even more complicated by the fact that Ginger Rogers wore a red wig in the role--and a photo of her in that wig was on the front of the Playbill. When Osterwald made her entrance (wearing a red wig) on the trolley car, no one knew who she was and it was too late for the audience to do anything about it once they figured things out.

During intermission, there were many, many complaints. Even Rogers and Osterwald complained. The matter was taken to Equity and they made the rulings about cast substitutions being listed in the lobby, the pre-show announcement and the slip of paper in the Playbill. Ginger Rogers took it upon herself to take off the red wig and performed the part as the blonde people recognized her as--even though the lines in Act Two still referred to her as having red hair.

This information was given to me by Bibi Osterwald herself.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 3:12pm

Double post. Sorry!

Updated On: 2/14/11 at 03:12 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 3:15pm

Lane and Neuwirth are definitely both above the title.

Their absences were both noted on the call board in the lobby Saturday, and it appears, there were inserts in the Playbill. Therefore, the production satisfied its contractual requirements.

It sounds as though the original poster arrived right before curtain and was rushed in. Therefore, chances are, they didn't see the understudy board in the lobby, and didn't find the inserts until intermission.

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 3:49pm

What Adam said. Plus...

The OP's desire to not commit a faux pas by getting up once the show had started is admirable, but it surely was clear within the first 5 minutes of the show that Nathan Lane was out (as Gomez has the first line in the show). Faux pas or not, if it means that much to you, get up and say/do something.

While I sympathize that circumstances conspired to prevent advance notice before they were seated, the time to send back the meal is after you've taken the first bite and not after you've eaten half the entree.

[Patti4President]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 6:54pm

You saw a better show with the understudies than you would have with Nathan and Bebe. Take my word for it.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/14/11 at 11:30pm

just curious, who was on as Morticia, Becca or Jessica Lea??

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 2/15/11 at 1:27am

"They are above the title in the playbill, which is where I always assumed (perhaps incorrectly) it mattered."

That is indeed where it counts in matters such as this. It is also what determines the initial Tony eligibility in terms of who is leading and who is featured.

[lemiz3001]

Posted: 2/15/11 at 3:54am

Becca Ayers was on as Morticia

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 2/15/11 at 4:37am

Like Diva says "make sure you get to the theatre on time"

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 2/15/11 at 5:29am

"We did see change slips in the playbill at intermission but we were unable to read the playbills prior to the show because we were not even seated by the ushers until the house was dark and the orchestra started playing"

You phrase this as though it was the usher's fault you weren't seated until the house was dark. That tells me a lot about this situation. You arrived late.

"We were never informed of this when we purchased the tickets, there were no postings in the lobby or anywhere else in the theatre and no announcement was made prior to the start of the show."

Sure, you should have been informed, but really, you need to take some responsibility here. You live 5 hours away, you don't care for the Addams Family, and it didn't occur to you, after the show has been running for over a year, to ask whether either of the two people you wanted to see had scheduled absences?

"But Lunt Fontanne should be ashamed of themselves for misleading the audience as we did hear alot of people complaining after the show."

I don't think they should. They fulfilled their obligations. They weren't hiding anything. Broadway isn't a movie, where you get just exactly what you expect. I'm not sure about this, but it sounds like these were scheduled absences. If they weren't, well, these things happen. I hope you have learned to be a more engaged and better educated theater-goer and will take precautions in the future to avoid disappointment.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/15/11 at 6:23am

And if the actors were the ONLY reason to see this: Why didn't you check when you bought the tix earlier that day?

Sorry, sir/ma'am. This one lies at your feet.

You didn't check, and it WAS posted in the lobby. YOU were late, so you couldn't see your slips of notice.

[luvbrdwy]

Posted: 2/15/11 at 5:31pm

FYI we were not late for the show....we arrived at the theater one half hour before the start of the show. We did not get thru the doors of the theater until about five minutes before the curtain rose. Incidentally, we were not the only ones not seated. There was still a line of people waiting to get to their seats once the theatre went dark. I have been to almost 100 shows on Broadway and I am fully aware of the "rules" of the theatre, etc. And I don't know where you saw it posted that Lane and Neuwirth were not appearing but the doors we went in and the area we were directed to go to had nothing posted. So please don't make assumptions. You're entitled to your opinion and so am I. And yes...from now on I will make sure to check as to whether there are any cast changes. Again...in my past experience it has always been posted in the lobby near the box office and in the past the box office worker has been respectful enough to make sure we knew of changes when purchasing tickets. I guess I am not as knowledgable as some of you seem to think you are.

[luvbrdwy]

Posted: 2/15/11 at 5:41pm

One more thing...some of you keep referring to the fact that the changes were listed for the performance on SATURDAY. We saw the show on Friday not Saturday. I also called Nederlander to find out their policy on this. They stated they would check to find out why there was nothing posted, so perhaps the reason you saw the changes posted on Saturday was because Nederlander contacted the theatre. One more question....please advise me what is the safe and appropriate time to arrive at the theatre because apparently after 100 shows, I've been doing it wrong. I don't know what the delay was in getting everyone in, but I do believe one half hour is plenty of time...the line behind us went almost two blocks so obviously if we got in late, so did the people behind us.