When Charles Addams submitted a series of cartoons about anonymous, well-dressed, and morbid weirdos to The New Yorker, did the phrase “franchise potential” spring to mind?
Like the living dead, The Addams Family has had incredible staying power. They began as a single-panel cartoon, then became the stars of a ’60s sitcom (where they were given their names and the character traits we know and love). In the ’90s, a trio of Addams Family movies came out, which each had varying levels of critical and commercial success (although Addams Family Values has rightfully earned the title of “cult classic”).
The Addams Family is experiencing yet another boom, thanks to the massive success of the 2022 Netflix series Wednesday (seriously, this thing won’t stay dead). The hit TV seriesaged up the character and made her into a psychopathic gothic dreamgirl, but itwasn’t the first mature take on the Addams daughter. The Addams Family Musical opened on Broadway in 2010; its plot revolves around Wednesday’s troubled affair with a nice young man from—gasp—Ohio.
If you’ve ever seen an Addams Family joint, you can probably guess the plot in about ten seconds. “Straight-laced normies come to the Addams Family home, macabre fish-out-of-water hijinks ensue, everyone learns a lesson about tolerance and the importance of family.” It’s not revolutionary theater, but it is top-class entertainment with some deliciously dark musical numbers and suitably campy performances. The Addams Family Musical is another great opportunity to experience this 19th-century Gothic-style family with a 21st-century twist.
The show begins with “When You’re an Addams,” which reintroduces us to that creepy, kooky clan: Gomez (Rodrigo Aragorn), Morticia (Renee Kathleen Koher), Uncle Fester (Chris Carsten), Grandma (Shereen Hickman), Wednesday (Melody Munitz), Pugsley (Logan Clinger), and their butler, Lurch (Jackson Barnes). It’s a lively celebration of death and darkness with Spanish spice and synchronized snaps (you know the ones).
The song is enough to wake the dead, and wake up they do: the deceased Addamses come out of the family crypt, dressed variously as flappers, pilgrims, and baseball players. Fester gives them an urgent mission: they must help Wednesday and Lucas (David Eldridge), the nice, normal young man who loves her. Wednesday’s mother, Morticia, would never approve of a nice, normal young man from Ohio. Besides, she’s far too young to have a married daughter.
It’s not long before Lucas arrives at the Addams family mansion with his square dad Mal (John Adkinson) and his overexcited, amateur poet mom Alice (Sarah Mackenzie Baron). Wednesday begs her family to act “normal” for just one night. Her younger brother Pugsley fears the loss of his sadistic older sis and plans an elaborate sabotage, with the unknowing help of Grandma. As Grandma, Hickman channels Carol Kane (who played Grandma in Addams Family Values) with her wisecracking bag lady routine and gross-out humor.
Meanwhile, Chris Carsten invests Fester with offbeat wisdom and charm, as seen in “Fester’s Manifesto.” He narrates the story with puns and head-scratching profundities, like “Was Napoleon right for Josephine… Was COVID right for the quarantine… were those folks right for the mezzanine?” Fester sings lead and plays banjo on the jangly, ragtime love theme; later on, he embarks on his own lover’s quest to the moon (with some out-of-this-world practical effects).
True to form, Munitz’s Wednesday is a beautiful dark cloud on a sunny day. She struggles with the concept of “love” and the notion that she may, in fact, have a soul. Her character matures over the course of the three-hour show, which leads to deeper relationships with Lucas and her fellow Addamses. Though twisted and goofy, the musical is also a thoughtful story about family, individuation, and reintegration.
Koher and Aragorn, meanwhile, nail it as Wednesday’s perhaps-too-loving parents. Aragorn’s Gomez steals the scene with his swarthy, swashbuckling charm, and his relationships with Addams women leads to some surprising personal growth. His fiery passion is matched by his partner’s sardonic wit and unconventional motherly charm. With a raised pinkie, Koher’s Morticia delivers one deadpan zinger after another, putting all that is vulgar—like “flowers” and “people who wear yellow”—in its proper place. Wednesday may be the star of her own show, but this Morticia is leading lady material, too.
The Addamses, undead or otherwise, are stunningly brought to life with incredible set design and practical effects. The Addams Mansion is a labyrinthine haunted castle, complete with galleries, a grand hall, an underground lab, and a dungeon. (What, your house doesn’t have one?) “Thing” hands the family members props from offstage, and the talented tech crew make scenic changes in record time.
The Addams Family Musical national tour continues on to Michigan, Colorado, and California. STL locals, meanwhile, can look forward to a season of diverse entertainment at the beautiful Stifel theater, which includes the music of Dvorak, famed singer-songwriter Paul Simon, DMC (of Run-DMC) and the Sugarhill Gang. You’re sure to find something to please your whole family—even if they’re creepy, kooky, or altogether spooky. | Rob Von Nordheim
For more information or to see the full tour route, visit TheAddamsFamilyTour.com.
