What you thought of Addams Family

Dont bash the show just say what u liked and wat you didn't. be honest

I liked the Music but the score was all over the place. The dancing in the tango scene was good. The costumes were great. The set was incredable and should have been nominated

i was upset that jackie hoffman wasn't in more. With the exeption of tango i think act 2 lacked alot more then act 1. loved act 1 but act 2 draged alot

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I thought the design elements were amazing, particularly the puppetry that Basil Twist created. I enjoyed myself, but it's not something I'd probably ever want to see again. I thought it was mostly a case of incredibly talented people in underwritten parts. I adored Nathan Lane, but I think the person who ultimately came off the best and had the most to work with was Kevin Chamberlin...I agree with newintown that his big number (the one he sings to the moon) was probably one of the only moments where real theatrical "magic" happened. Overall, just kind of disappointing in the end (even though I had fun)...it's such great source material and with better writers I think it could have been so much better.

I just watched the movie again the other night, and it made me wish that Marc Shaiman had been brought in to write the score. His film score was quite wonderful. Actually, I wish that they had just set out to musicalize that film. The "fake" Fester plot is far more interesting that what is currently on stage.

I saw the show last night from front row center, which was awesome because of the talent that's up there. I agree with everything that was said so far. It's a weak story and Act Two is pretty weak, outside of Bebe's number at the top of the act. The cast is excellent with what they're given. Loved Nathan and Bebe, and I could see why Kevin was nominated. His number was also very entertaining. Krysta I saw go on as Vanessa in ITH, and I was disappointed. However, here she is much more enjoyable and fits the role better.

I loved the sets and how they moved the staircases around. A standout moment was when they constructed the interior prior during the song about being a normal family. The puppetry was better than I thought, and the curtain use was very effective.

There were several jokes that worked. I really laughed quite a bit. But as a whole, not a strong piece. It definitely made for a fun evening though.

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I liked the gate set piece and Jackie Hoffman.

i agree with zepka102

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Written from a British Point of View.

Really, really badly written and conceived production. The production (physical) itself was very good - with some delightful technical aspects to the show, but - it's a mess generally. The music is weak, the lyrics not funny enough, the story (La Cage retold) weak and the pacing of the show is off.

The biggest crime is that they totally mis understand the concept of the Addams family being that the family find themselves to be normal, and the rest of the world to be abnormal. In this version, they are reverting to normality for the "normal" family from Ohio.

I have a feeling the script is incredibly butchered from Chicago - for as soon as the (strong) opening number is over, we are hurled into the story of Wednesday's Ohian boyfriend coming to visit, and the Addams immediately commence their attempt to gain normality. The play's entire story can be told in the 2nd act. In the first act I'd like to have seen the Addams revel in their apparent every day normalcies. There are glimmers of this scattered throughout the production - but not nearly enough.

The score, however, is the most disappointing aspect of the show. I have respect for Lippa, but I don't think he has the gurth and humour to carry out an iconic project such as this. 90% of the songs are utterly forgettable and the choice of styles make no sense in relation to character, and the lyrics - whilst should be humorous - are littered with cliched metaphors and similes. Shame. I think that Whittmann and Shaiman should be the team chosen to do Addams (let's not forget Shaiman's delightful scores for the first two Addams' movies).

The cast were good - but so they should be at $120 a ticket - so, I am not going to comment on them. They're just vastly underused. It's a big shame.

The show will need MAJOR reworking before it ever comes here. I don't see it coming here in its present state. The book is littered with far too many US current political and social references to work for a British audience - and the family are too American to be able to make any British references in the script. I don't think the book writers would be good enough to make it work for a true worldwide audience, as the Addams are too much part of American culture.

The show has a future, because of the advance and a US tour - but, it's just a shame it's a completely wasted opportunity for, what could be, a wonderful musical - which instead falls flat on its face.

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Updated On: 6/28/10 at 04:22 PM

I saw it in Chicago previews, fyi. I really like and agree with this:

"The show will need MAJOR reworking before it ever comes here. I don't see it coming here in its present state. The book is littered with far too many US current political and social references to work for a British audience - and the family are too American to be able to make any British references in the script. I don't think the book writers would be good enough to make it work for a true worldwide audience, as the Addams are too much part of American culture. "

The things I have always appreciated about Charles Addams' The Addams Family is they are universally translatable, timeless, and present a unique dark dry wit--not out loud guffaw humor like they are selling in the musical. Even the movies were on the dry side. I think a British writing team could have had more success bringing that out.

Basically, I left the theater asking myself, "This is all Broadway professionals could do with an Addams Family musical!?" It had no justification for existing, and completely betrayed what makes the Addams what they are.

I could have forgiven that if the musical had been at least fun or funny, but it never took off. Plus, the story is as predictable as can be and except for "In The Arms" the score was pedestrian and forgettable.

Puppetry and sets are impressive of course, and the cast is more than capable, but both are in service of some weak material. Bah! Disappointing.

The pop-culture and political gags really annoy me. This is how you appeal to audiences now? Is Spiderman going to make references to American Idol and Prop 8 to get by? Musicals and adaptations in general just never need to go there. I so much more appreciate when a fiction creates its own popular culture.

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Updated On: 6/28/10 at 05:05 PM

I've never heard anyone say that they were looking forward to seeing Merwin Foard...

I saw the show in Chicago and not having been previously impressed by Lippa's work, the score was as unfortunate as I feared. From what I heard on the CD, the score improved very little from the Chicago tryout. I liked the sets, costumes, Hoffman, Chamberlin and a couple of the songs were okay, which was about as notable as anything from the score could be. The Song to the Moon number was the one truly wonderful moment in the entire show. Had the rest of the show taken on that kind of creativity and ingenuity, it could have been funny, touching and visually stunning. But for me, that one number wasn't good enough. And I was shaking my head at Full Disclosure. Nothing about it worked in any way. I couldn't figure out what the creative team were thinking.

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I saw it while the show was in Chicago. While it wasn't a great show by any stretch I still found it extremely entertaining. I LOVED the use of the curtain, especially the run-away tassel part. And I loved the rest of the set as well. As far as the songs go I liked "Pulled, and LOVED Full Disclosure. But, I thought The Moon And Me was a piece of s***. Sure it looked nice. But the song was just awful, and did nothing for the story as well.

Well, there's my two cents.

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Shrekster, I felt that she didn't have the emotion Vanessa needs to have. People complain Marcy is too harsh, but I felt she was closer than Krysta was. Vocally she wasn't bad, but I didn't find anything in her Vanessa that would attract Usnavi to her. I really enjoyed her as Wednesday though. She's a perfect fit for it.

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Despite everything I have heard, I am really looking forward to seeing it (hopefully tomorrow - going to stop by the box office this afternoon to pick up a ticket). I have the recording enjoy it for the most part...I am hoping it is one of those that takes on new meaning from its context when seen.