The infamous Addams Family is in Fayetteville, and they’re inviting everyone — living, dead and undecided — to come see them.
After a couple of weekday sold-out preview dates, Cape Fear Regional Theatre opened its latest production, “The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy,” on Saturday night to a packed house.
The spooky musical is the perfect complement to the fall season. After record-breaking sales in September for “The Play That Goes Wrong,” CFRT continues to see a quick pace for ticket sales. In the past several years, the theater has continued to work hard to bring the best to Fayetteville, and audiences are thanking the theater for it. Its productions have become hot tickets in Fayetteville.
“The Addams Family” is based on the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. The play’s music and lyrics are by Andrew Lippa, and the characters are based on those created by Charles Addams and featured in his cartoons for The New Yorker magazine. The music was directed by James Clark.
Mary Catherine Burke took the director’s reins again for “The Addams Family” and, ironically, sat right behind me Saturday. I glanced over several times to see her reaction. It was a pleasure seeing her laugh and enjoy moments of the play herself. Burke brought back Emmy-Award winning choreographer Tyce Diorio for the show; Diorio was assisted by friend and collaborator Melanie Benz.
What’s it about?
Wednesday Addams (Alessandra Antonelli), the oldest child of Gomez and Morticia Addams, is the ultimate princess of darkness. But she’s fallen in love with a sweet “normal” young man, Lucas Beinecke (Joseph Gaitens), who hails from a respectable family and wants to marry her. After Gomez discovers his daughter’s secret, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother.
Now, Gomez has to do something he’s never done before — keep a secret from his beloved Morticia. Everything changes for the entire family when they host a dinner for the boyfriend and his parents, the Beineckes. Along the way, everyone’s love gets help from the Addams’ ghostly ancestors.
The cast
The play’s cast consists of talented triple-threat actors who can sing, dance and act.
Cape Fear Education Director Marc de la Concha plays Gomez Addams, and Samantha Parada plays Gomez’s wickedly twisted vampira-type wife Morticia. Together, the couple make an interesting pair, contrasting in physical and personality traits.
Both are tied together by their love and devotion to one another. They’re both wickedly playful.
This is Parada's debut at Cape Fear Regional, and the actress marvelously portrays the mistress of the dark. I would’ve preferred to see her hair down. though, and flowing naturally in the traditional look of Morticia. Hair and makeup chose to slick back Parada’s long black hair, which changed her image from the sultry Morticia “Addams” fans might be used to. Parada looks more rock-goth, less vampiress to me, but it works with de la Concha's portrayal of Gomez.
de la Concha plays Gomez at twice the speed that we’ve seen in this character before and puts his personal spin on the character. His Gomez is more talkative, animated and hip than the quirky, wise-cracking, sometimes goofy character we've seen on television.
Between de la Concha's fast-paced Gomez and Parada’s modern-day Morticia, it feels like the Addamses have arrived into this century. It’s different, but it works.
Joshua Morgan plays the bald, black-coated Uncle Fester and gives a standout acting and singing performance. Morgan really tied this production together with his mannerisms, singing and one-liners. Fester’s song and dance with the moon — his true love in the musical — stood out, eliciting loud applause from the audience.
It’s Uncle Fester who calls upon the Addams’ ancestors for intervention. Fester asks them for help with the love story of Wednesday Addams and her beau.
The Addams’ ancestor ensemble gives interesting life to the show and, for me, was a personal favorite element about this play. I don’t know how this show would look, or work, without them. Each ancestor is dressed in a different but easily recognizable time period and provided crucial support in dancing and singing with the main actors. The costumes were top-shelf, and so was the play’s choreography, as you’d expect.
This Addams family play is often advertised as dark and mysterious, but I found this show more fun and kooky, rather than spooky. It’s a musical, after all, and has a PG rating. It’s not mysterious either, but it is funny.
I grew up watching black-and-white reruns of "The Addams Family" show on television. The show’s schtick was poking fun at the culture clash between a typical suburban American nuclear family, against an extended family who was into the macabre. As I watched CFRT’s "Addams Family," I thought what was presented as a modern-day culture clash in the American ‘60s could pass as normal America today.
Today we see more extended families like the Addamses, where aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents live under one roof. Who hasn’t seen siblings who antagonize and torture one another? Today many girls relate to the character Wednesday, and you’ll often see them dress like her as well. Due to her popularity, the character Wednesday even has her own Netflix series. Modern America can relate more to the Addams Family. You might even see your family's reflections in the Addam characters at CFRT.
When you’re an Addams, you’re family-first.
After the show, audiences filed out of the auditorium happy and chipper. I do recommend seeing this musical comedy — a nice change from movie night or a great offering for date night.
For ticket information, go to CFRT.
