Review: THE ADDAMS FAMILY at Musicals at Richter

On Friday, July 7th, I had the pleasure of yet again being blown away by the incredible talent that Musicals at Richter, in Danbury, CT has found to star in their show, this time, being a musical comedy that I have never seen before, THE ADDAMS FAMILY.   This outdoor venue is always the perfect setting for every show I have seen there.  It adds to the feeling and ambiance of each production!  Director Skip Ploss, Musical Director Andrew Gadwah, and Choreographer Lindsay Miller combine their talents to bring out the best in this stellar cast who all clearly enjoy their roles, have tight chemistry with each other, have excellent stage presence, and radiate positive energy that resonates through the audience!  The book is by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elise, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, based on the classic characters created by Charles Addams.

This entire local cast is phenomenal!   Within the Addams Family, they include Jacob Rogotzke as Gomez, Madison Bielmeier as Wednesday, Ariana Straznicky as Morticia, Jen MacNeil Danenberg as Grandma Addams, Thomas Woodman as Lurch, Nathan Reilly as Pugsley, Ted Schwartz as Uncle Fester, Nicholas Byrne as Cousin Itt, and Isabella Didio as Thing.  Additional lead performers outside the Addams Family include Michael Solano as Mal Beineke, Nicholas Eklund as Lucas Beineke, and Denise Milmerstadt as Alice Beineke.

The ensemble members also provide excellent performances making their roles as Addams ancestors count!  Dressed all in white, including wearing white wigs, and wearing white make-up, shining under the white lights, they really appear like ghosts, up on stage.  These specters are spectacularly performed by Jackie Alleva, Blu Arbesman, Sarah Bollacke, Taylor Byrne, Clara Cuneo, Isabella Didio, Christian Eklund, Alex Kirkman, Zoe McCartney, Lynn M. Priest, April Smith, David Stevenson, and Molly Tarnowski.

A talented live orchestra, performing from house left enhances the show.  Conducted by keyboardist Andrew Gadwah, the orchestra also includes Colleen Toole on keyboard, Zack Kelley on guitar, Don Hurta on bass, Elizabeth Dandeneau and Kate Testani on reeds, Sean McKiernan on trumpet, Sam Lovera on trombone, Logan Madureira on drum set, and Sedona Taylor on percussion.

The story centers around Wednesday telling Gomez that she has become engaged, that her fiancé and his parents are coming over to meet her and the rest of the Addams Family for dinner, and not to let her mother, Morticia, know yet that they are engaged.  Wednesday was afraid that Morticia would ask probing and embarrassing questions if Morticia knew that Wednesday was engaged to Lucas whose family is culturally different from theirs.  Wednesday communicated to Gomez that she plans to tell Morticia about the engagement, after dinner, so that the two families will have already established a rapport, making the situation far more amicable.  Gomez, however, is not one to keep any secrets from his wife.  Gomez and Morticia pride themselves on having a strong marriage with open communication and no secrets.  Wednesday’s request to Gomez is one that strikes at the very heart of his marriage.  Nevertheless, Gomez agrees to Wednesday’s request.

Now, if Gomez gave it some basic thought, he could have just told Morticia that he has a surprise to tell her that will not be revealed until after dinner.  That way, he would be honest with his wife while simultaneously honoring his daughter’s request.  That would be a very simple solution to his dilemma, yet strangely enough, it never occurred to him.

Fester is able to participate with deceased ancestors for an annual tradition.  This time, however, he interferes with their return to their graves, telling them that they could not go back to their crypts, until or unless love triumphs in the Wednesday and Lucas love story.  Fester insists that the ancestors all help that love story along by meddling with it, in a positive way.  Fester’s ability to obtain and wield supernatural power over the location of the departed souls of his deceased ancestors seems to defy any sound theological explanation.  Regardless of his seemingly pure and positive intent towards his niece, there is nothing justifiable about the way he is treating his deceased relatives, all of whom obey his requests, seemingly under the impression that he does in fact have the power he claims to have over them.  A possible explanation could be that the presence of the spirits of Fester’s ancestors was only in his own warped mind.  Fester is a rather deranged character, evidenced by his romantic interest in the moon.  I’m not sure if a term exists for such a person, but I think the word “lunatic,” fits him just fine.  So, it would not be surprising if he was also seeing, hearing, and otherwise interacting with deceased spirits who weren’t really there, but only existed in his own mind.  The show does not suggest that explanation, but it is a possible interpretation if one is looking to explain (or in this case explain away) that type of alleged power over the dead. 

After Lucas and his parents arrive at the Addams house, and have some awkward interactions with Lurch, Wednesday comes out to meet them, while wearing a bright yellow dress, which is the polar opposite of Wednesday’s usual fashion styles, since as an Addams, she typically wears black.  This yellow raises some red flags with her family.  There are two possible explanations for the yellow dress, but neither is a positive one.  The first is that she is presenting as someone she is not, in order to try to impress Lucas’ parents in accordance with what she feels would impress them, rather than being herself and letting them accept and eventually love her as herself.  The second possible explanation puts her in even more dangerous territory.  That would be that she is genuinely becoming someone she is not, as a result of yielding her own beliefs, values, thoughts, and actions to those that are more aligned with the worldview of Lucas.  The fact that some of her family members also adopted fake personas when initially meeting Lucas and his parents suggests that Wednesday’s yellow dress signified the former explanation.  The lyrics to her song, “Pulled,” however, suggest the latter explanation. 

Pugsley enjoys being tortured by his sister.  Unlike Fester, Pugsley does not want to see the relationship between Wednesday and Lucas thrive.  Pugsley feels that Wednesday has lost herself in that relationship and will no longer be the sister who he loves, nor will she interact with him the way he strangely likes.  His song “What If,” communicates those feelings with lyrics that remind me of the type of thing that “Weird Al” Yankovic would have written in his early days.  Based on information obtained from Grandma Addams, Pugsley plots a strategy to try to sabotage the relationship between Wednesday and Lucas.  Grandma Addams, however, was not aware of what Pugsley planned to do. 

It soon comes out that the romance has faded from the relationship between Lucas’s parents.  This comes out in a rather public manner, at the dinner table, one that is embarrassing to Lucas and his family.

When Morticia finds out that Gomez has kept the secret of Wednesday’s engagement from her, and that Gomez has furthermore lied about even having a secret, a huge strain is placed on their marriage.  Trust is wounded.  Gomez wants badly to reconcile with Morticia.  With a daughter who may be losing her own self identity, a son who enjoys being tortured by his sister, an old woman living in their house who he thought was his wife’s mother and his wife thought was his mother, and a brother who is in love with the moon, the fact that Gomez places his top concern on reconciling with his wife definitely shows the depth of his love for her.

All the turmoil happening around them furthermore places a strain on the relationship between Wednesday and Lucas, to the point that it appears they may not even remain a couple, much less get married.

Meanwhile, at various times, Thing is at the back of the stage, cleverly presented to genuinely just appear as an isolated hand.

Will Wednesday and Lucas get married?  Will Wednesday totally lose herself and become someone she is not?  Will Lucas’ parents, Mal and Alice reconcile their marriage that has lost its romantic spark?  Will Morticia forgive Gomez?  If Wednesday and Lucas get married, will it be with approval from both sides of the family?  Will Wednesday promise to continue to torture Pugsley?  Will Grandma discover what Pugsley has attempted to do and reveal his treachery to the rest of the family?  If so, how will the family react?  Will the Addams Family’s deceased ancestors get to return to their graves?  Will Fester get the serious psychological help that he desperately needs?  Will Itt have a brief spontaneous dancing moment?  Will Lurch suddenly sing and have an amazing singing voice?  Come to the show to find out!

I highly recommend THE ADDAMS FAMILY which is scheduled to continue to run through July 22, 2023.  For times and tickets, please go to https://musicalsatrichter.org/tickets.php.

Photo courtesy of David Henningsen Photography.

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