The Chicago Tribune Reveals the Genesis of THE ADDAMS FAMILY and How Nathan Lane Came to be the New Gomez

Chicago is alight with the "altogether cooky" Addams family this month.  The largest Broadway tryout (to the tune of $17 million) to hit the town since 2003's The Producers, this new Brickman and Elice musical (Jersey Boys) began previews on November 13 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The new The Addams Family musical, based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams, will play Chicago through Sunday, January 10, 2010.

In this original story, the famously macabre Addams Family is put to the test when outsiders come to dinner, hurling Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Fester, Grandmama and Lurch headlong into a night that will change the family forever.

The musical will open on Broadway Thursday, April 8, 2010 at The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and, according to the Chicago Tribune, New York audiences should expect the unexpected.  A special feature out by the Trib reveals that lead producer Stuart Oken had two, seemingly antithetical, goals in launching the production: 1. he would stay true to the classic cartoon and subsequent movies it inspired and 2. he would hire the most unconventional creative team possible to give the story a stage life.

Writes Chris Jones in the Trib, "[Oken] wasn't interested in curating a derivative, cheesy, pandering pastiche that might resonate with camp-loving nostalgists and make money, but would likely leave critics and his artistic peers unmoved. 'These are classic cartoons,' he says over lunch one day, his voice cracking with emotion. 'They were dark and romantic in their own perverse way. They're about people who really love each other. We have the chance here to do something surprising.'

To read the full report in the Chicago Tribune on Oken and the birth of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, click here.

Starring two-time Tony Award winners Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia, THE ADDAMS FAMILY features two-time Tony Award nominee Terrence Mann as Mal Beineke, two-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello as Alice Beineke, two-time Tony Award nominee Kevin Chamberlin as Uncle Fester, Jackie Hoffman as Grandmama, Zachary James as Lurch, Adam Riegler as Pugsley, Wesley Taylor as Lucas Beineke and Krysta Rodriguez as Wednesday.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY ensemble features Merwin Foard, Jim Borstelmann, Michael Buchanan, Colin Cunliffe, Rachel de Benedet, Valerie Fagan, Matthew Gumley, Fred Inkley, Morgan James, Clark Johnsen, Barrett Martin, Jessica Lea Patty, Liz Ramos, Samantha Sturm, Charlie Sutton and Alena Watters.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY features a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (librettists of the 2006 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Jersey Boys), music and lyrics by Drama Desk Award-winner Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party), direction and design by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch (Shockheaded Peter, The Metropolitan Opera's Satyagraha) and choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Next to Normal, Jersey Boys).

Despite seeming like a grand slam from the start, Chris Jones notes in the Trib that, in fact, Lane had to be coaxed into role and away from another Broadway project to which he was almost attached. Writes Jones "Marshall Brickman called him and said the very thing that torpedoes the defenses of every actor: 'We wrote this part with you in mind.'"

Read Jone's feature on Nathan Lane in its entirety here.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY will feature lighting design by two-time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (The Coast of Utopia, Aida), with sound design by Acme Sound Partners (Tony nomination for In the Heights) and puppetry by acclaimed Obie Award-winning puppeteer Basil Twist (Arias With A Twist). The music director is Mary-Mitchell Campbell (the revivals of Sweeney Todd and Company), with orchestrations by Larry Hochman (Monty Python's Spamalot), dance arrangements by August Eriksmoen (Memphis). Hair design is by Tom Watson (Wicked), make-up design by Angelina Avallone (The Little Mermaid), special effects design by Greg Meeh (Monty Python's Spamalot) and fight direction by Rick Sordelet (The Lion King).

THE ADDAMS FAMILY is produced by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt and Five Cent Productions, by special arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical. Co-producers are Stephen Schuler, Decca Broadway, Scott M. Delman, Stuart Ditsky, Terry Allen Kramer, Stephanie P. McClelland, James L. Nederlander, Eva Price, Jam Theatricals/Mary Lu Roffe, Pittsburgh CLO/Gutterman-Swinsky, Vivek Tiwary/Gary Kaplan, The Weinstein Company/Clarence, LLC and Adam Zotovich/Tribe Theatricals.

In a prolific career spanning six decades, Charles Addams created several thousand cartoons, sketches and drawings, many of which were published in The New Yorker. But it was his creation of characters that came to be known as The Addams Family that brought Addams his greatest acclaim. With a unique style that combined the twisted, macabre and just plain weird with charm, wit and enchantment, Addams' drawings have entertained millions worldwide and served as the inspiration for multiple television series and motion pictures.

Individual tickets for the Chicago production range in price from $28 to $105. A select number of premium seats are also available for select performances. Tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St. and 18 W. Monroe St.); the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000; all Ticketmaster retail locations (including Hot Tix and select Carson Pirie Scott, Coconuts and fye stores); and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com. Tickets are available to groups of 15 or more by calling (312) 977-1710.