Review: THE ADDAMS FAMILY - THE MUSICAL Launches Downriver Actors Guild Season thru Oct 25

If you are seeking the perfect Halloween entertainment, you will love Downriver Actors' Guild's newest production THE ADDAMS FAMILY - THE MUSICAL on stage through Oct 25. This wacky musical is hilarious and features characters from the beloved TV comedy. It includes Andrew Lippa's 2010 Tony Award-nominated Best Original Score, with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice.

When Wednesday Addams, now grown up, brings home a "normal" young man she loves, and introduces him and his parents to her family, Gomez and Morticia find their world turned upside down until Uncle Fester and an ensemble of ghostly Addams ancestors step in to help.

Directed by the immensely talented Valerie Haas of Inkster, this production is supremely clever. The chorus remains on stage during most of the performance. When not singing and dancing on the boards, they remain seen in the walls, as if they are oil portraits of family members. The costumes are wonderful in this presentation, as is the castle-like set. Haas said the show is about love - romantic love and familial love - as well as loyalty. "They're more kooky than creepy," she said, "and to the Beineke family, the outsiders, they may seem mysterious or spooky, but eventually, everyone loves the Addams family. They grow on you, like a fungus or something."

The cast includes Allen Park residents Chris Chavez as Gomez and Carolyn Sohoza as Morticia, Matt Mayes of Trenton as Uncle Fester, and Jeanne Edwards of Grosse Ile Township as Grandma Addams.

Mindy Padlo of Brownstown Township plays Wednesday, with Logan Skidmore, 12, of Monroe as Pugsley, Mitchell Sturm of Taylor as Lurch, and Cole Haas, 13, of Inkster as Thing and Cousin It.

Chris Washburn of Garden City plays Lucas Beineke, Wednesday's beau, with Jeff Hollon of Trenton as his father, Mel, and Jami Krause of Wyandotte as his mother, Alice.

The ancestor ensemble includes Allen Park residents Nathan Vasquez, Kayla Chavez, 15, Emily Braun, 16, and Abbey Demorow, 16; Michael Suchyta of Dearborn; Riley Klauza, 15, of Garden City; Alex Rosen, 17, of Lincoln Park; Abby Hill-Kennedy of Monroe; Jamey Pittman of Romulus; and Ivy Tarnoski of Trenton.

Chris Chavez is a perfect Gomez. He combines the right amount of class and insanity and has a charismatic command on stage. Chavez has starred in many roles in the past, but this role may be the apotheosis of his acting career.

Uncle Fester is a delightful lunatic in this show; Matt Mayes gave a stellar performance.

You will love the voice of Mindy Padlo; and will laugh uncontrollably during the scene where she tortures Pugsley.

Carolyn Sohoza makes a beautiful Morticia; she is graceful and alluring. All these actors work so well together on stage. There is chemistry indeed!

Tickets are $16 for adults and $13 for students and seniors. To order, call 313-407-7020 or visit downriveractorsguild.net.

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