Blake Hammond News

With an alluring and gorgeous Morticia (played by Broadway diva Sara Gittelfinger) and a charming and swellegant Gomez (Great White Way heartthrob Douglas Sills) leading the charge, the onstage iteration of Charles Addams' cartoon family is surely a dysfunctional lot. But, more importantly, they are enormously winning-their interpersonal relationships are not so unlike your own, I daresay-and composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa and book writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice have crafted a storyline that broadens the family's appeal, while more deeply etching the family's brand (particularly in these days of all-encompassing marketing ploys) on American pop culture.

The newly-revised musical 'The Addams Family' finds new life and laughs on tour.

Currently playing Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre is the national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, which features an original story and it's every father's nightmare. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family. A man her parents have never met. And if that weren't upsetting enough, she confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he's never done before - keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday's 'normal' boyfriend and his parents.

According to the Chicago Trinune, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, which will close on Broadway later this month, will return to Chicago next week, and audiences should expect a reworked show. Creator Rick Elice said of the harsh critical response for the Broadway production: "It was difficult to get past that at the outset. To be told that this was the worst musical of the past 40 years. Really? That vitriol was part of my energy for reinvestigating the show."

The Addams Family opened on Wednesday in Toronto, and BWW was on hand to bring its readers exclusive photos from the touring production. A stellar cast and a vastly improved book serve to create a fun night out with the ghoulish, ghastly family that everyone knows and loves. Plus, there's no better place for snapping your fingers in unison than the theatre!

The upcoming national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY- a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams- has trimmed down its Chicago engageent, according to the Chicago Tribune. The show, which was scheduled to play The show will now play December 13 through January 1, will now run December 27 through January 1 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre.

The national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams is now on tour. Check out production highlights from the show below! Joining Tony Award® nominee Douglas Sills as Gomez and Sara Gettelfinger as Morticia are Tony Award® nominee Martin Vidnovic as Mal Beineke, two-time Tony Award® nominee Crista Moore as Alice Beineke, Blake Hammond as Uncle Fester, Pippa Pearthreeas Grandma, Tom Corbeil as Lurch, Patrick D. Kennedy as Pugsley, Brian Justin Crum as Lucas Beineke and Cortney Wolfson as Wednesday.

The Original Broadway Cast Recording of the new musical ELF, the Broadway musical for every 'Buddy,' will be released digitally and in stores on November 1, 2011 by Ghostlight Records.

Full casting has been announced for the upcoming national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams. THE ADDAMS FAMILY is scheduled to open the Adrienne Arsht Center's Broadway in Miami 2011-2012 season, with performances from October 25-30, 2011. Tickets start at $27 and may be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org.

Full casting has been announced for the upcoming national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams. THE ADDAMS FAMILY is scheduled to open the Adrienne Arsht Center's Broadway in Miami 2011-2012 season, with performances from October 25-30, 2011. Tickets start at $27 and may be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org.

The national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams is now on tour. Check out the first production footage the show below!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. The 2011 BWW Chicago Awards, new facilities for Black Ensemble Theater, Stage 773 and Light Opera Works, plus an overview of year-end Loop musical productions and more...

Full casting has been announced for the upcoming national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams. THE ADDAMS FAMILY is scheduled to open the Adrienne Arsht Center's Broadway in Miami 2011-2012 season, with performances from October 25-30, 2011. Tickets start at $27 and may be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722, or online at www.arshtcenter.org.

Whether you've been living under a rock for the past week, or you're just in the mood for a recap of everything theatre, BroadwayWorld's feature, 'This Week in Pictures' is here to satisfy your end of the week fix. Take a look below to catch up on the latest happenings from the Great White Way to the West End (and everywhere in between) with coverage of press events, rehearsals, opening nights and more! For last week's biggest events: visit THIS WEEK IN PICTURES: September 24-30!

The Original Broadway Cast Recording of the new musical ELF, the Broadway musical for every 'Buddy,' will be released digitally and in stores on November 1, 2011 by Ghostlight Records.

The national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams kicked off September 15 at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans. Joining Tony Award® nominee Douglas Sills as Gomez and Sara Gettelfinger as Morticia are Tony Award® nominee Martin Vidnovic as Mal Beineke, two-time Tony Award® nominee Crista Moore as Alice Beineke, Blake Hammond as Uncle Fester, Pippa Pearthree as Grandma, Tom Corbeil as Lurch, Patrick D. Kennedy as Pugsley, Brian Justin Crum as Lucas Beineke and Cortney Wolfson as Wednesday. Check out production shots from the show below!

A lot the single panel cartoons of Charles Addams appeared in The New Yorker, and a lot them didn't feature the particular characters we know and fondly remember as the Addams Family, they just had an offbeat sense of the bizarre, and often featured completely different characters. Some are even more than one panel in length, but those are rare. I own a couple of paperbacks (Homebodies and Drawn and Quartered) that collect these memorable and macabre masterpieces, and really, only a handful have the characters we've come to know and love. And, if turning 'Peanuts', a three panel strip, into a Broadway musical was a daunting task, you can imagine the dilemma faced by writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Thankfully, after much revising (a friend saw a preview in Chicago that ran over 3 hours), they seem to have got THE ADDAMS FAMILY right, or as close to the original lunacy as one can expect.

This year's New York Musical Theatre Festival will host the New York premiere of The Big Bank, a timely musical about a bank that loves to foreclose, written by Daniel and Jacob Seligmann, directed by David Glenn Armstrong.

The national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams comes to the Fox Theater. Joining Tony Award® nominee Douglas Sills as Gomez and Sara Gettelfinger as Morticia are Tony Award® nominee Martin Vidnovic as Mal Beineke, two-time Tony Award® nominee Crista Moore as Alice Beineke, Blake Hammond as Uncle Fester, Pippa Pearthree as Grandma, Tom Corbeil as Lurch, Patrick D. Kennedy as Pugsley, Brian Justin Crum as Lucas Beineke and Cortney Wolfson as Wednesday.

This year's New York Musical Theatre Festival will host the New York premiere of The Big Bank, a timely musical about a bank that loves to foreclose, written by Daniel and Jacob Seligmann, directed by David Glenn Armstrong.