The Addams Family (Snap Snap)

TheAddamsFamily

            On my first day of work, my supervisor asked if I was interested in free tickets to a show that night. Duh. Had he not gotten the memo that I would work 40 hours a week with no salary and accept free tickets as my payment!?

            I managed to not be too enthusiastic and replied that I would be grateful for tickets, and he went off to find me some. A short time later he came back with tickets to….The Addams Family. Now, I know that at this point he was a gift horse, and I did my damndest not to look him in the mouth, but I did feel a small sense of disappointment. I had absolutely no interest in seeing this show, having heard nothing but terrible things about it.  

            However, my mama raised me right, and, with the exception of candy from strangers and scabies from trickers, I don’t reject anything that’s free.

            So I dragged my friend, Adam, along with me because my mama also taught me that misery loves company.  And I have to admit, I was surprised. Surprised that the show has been running as long as it has. It’s so bad.

            The plot is ridiculous, the music is forgettable, the costumes are lazy and the characters are just not the Addams’ we have come to know and love. 

            The story now revolves around a “grown up” Wednesday Addams who has fallen for a boy and intends to marry him. However Wednesday and Pugsley are basically the same age they’ve always been so how she sped through puberty straight to marrying age is never really clarified. 

            The acting, for the most part, was good for what they had to work with. I feel fortunate that Nathan Lane had departed the show before I had to sit through him playing straight, as I am not a huge fan of his anyway. I was lucky enough to see Tony winner Roger Reese as Gomez.  Though Roger is not a musical theater actor, he was very charming and charismatic and, within the very tight confines of an unfunny script, funny. 

            I have long been a fan of Bebe Neuwirth, however watching her in this show was like watching Donald Trump affix his toupee. Tragic, yet boring.   I was really hoping for a redemption, as the last time I saw her was several years ago when she went back into Chicago, playing Roxy (shutter), following hip replacement surgery.  Now I normally loves me some Bebe, but she is not a Roxy type, and Fosse dumbed down for a healing hip-replacementist is just sad.  So I was really hoping to fall in love with Bebe again.  But you could tell that she had just given up and was just going through the motions.

            The only other stand outs in the cast were the always hilarious, though poorly used, Jackie Hoffman as Grandma; Rachel Potter as Wednesday has a killer belt that gave me delicious chills, and Heidi Blickenstaff, the hilarious diva of [title of show] fame.  

            The highlight of the show, and the focus of my attention for those very long 2 hours, was the technical aspects. The set is really cool. First off is a very large beautiful red grand drape that I will, someday, use as window dressing in my apartment.

            The set has two large stair units that split in half and move into many various positions to effectively create different levels and rooms of the house.

            There is also a lot of puppetry in the show. Memorable appearances by Cousin Itt and an amorous curtain tassel, a rodent eating plant, a giant squid and a miniature Fester. But you can get on playbill.com and see video of how these were created and see them in action and not have to sit through the show.

            As most of Lippa’s scores, in my humble opinion, the music was disjointed and forgettable. A few catch tunes or phrases within a tune, but really no overall tunes you would want to take to an audition or big 11 o’clock numbers.

            Mainly you would be better served watching Addams Family movie or even, I shutter to say it, Addams Family Values.

New scoring system

I have decided to impliment a scoring system. I will give 1 to five comedy masks for positive aspects of the show and 1 to 5 tragedy masks for negative aspect and then give an overall average rating of the show.

Why? Cause I thought it would be fun for me. So there.

Enjoy!

Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Priscilla Queen of the Desert

          When I first heard that they were making a stage musical out of one of my favorite cult classics, Priscilla, I cringed in fear; as I usually do when movies are being converted to stage form.  However, I can honestly say that I have never had this much fun in a theatre before.

          This show is jam packed with heart, amazing music, wonderful performances, mind-blowing costumes and just utter, utter fabulousness. It is a roller coaster of non stop energy and laughs.

          The show’s semi-narrators are, as I refer to them, the flying divas. The three proud Marys open the show by flying in from the ceiling, in full glitz and glamour, and astound you with a rousing rendition of “It’s Raining Men” while below them some very attractive dancing boys shake their groove thing in rainbow zoot suits.

 These ladies pop up often during the show, mainly while the bus is traveling or our actors are “transitioning” and sing such hits as “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, “Hot Stuff” and “I Say a Little Prayer”. They always show up with pounds of glitter, eye shadow, sequins and foot high maroon wigs and of course lots and lots of attitude (in a good way!).

The baton is then passed to another diva, known as Miss Understanding (naturally), who is the Emcee club our antagonistic protagonist glumly performs in. I mention her/him specifically because his/her impersonation of Tina Turner is stunning….as are his legs, and just as comparable.

Will Swenson (the token straight actor in the show) portrays our first drag queen, Tick/Mitzi with elegance and heart, and while his voice is not a pure as the rest of the cast, it does have personality and isn’t (completely) pitchy. Upon receiving a phone call from his wife (yes, you read that right….though if you’ve seen the movie none of this is a surprise!) that she is ready for a vacation from raising their 8 year old son (yes, you read that right….though if you’ve seen the movie none of this is a surprise!) and offers him and three friends a job performing in her casino in the middle of nowhere Australia.

Tick/Mitzi calls his best pal and confidant Bernadette, whom he discovers is mourning the death of her lover. What follows is the best funeral sequence ever conceived. This sounds morbid, but it is absolutely wonderful. It is the funeral you imagine when fantasizing the funerals of Elton John, Liza Minelli and Liberace (not that you fantasize about their funerals, but if you did….just sayin). It’s the kind of celebration of a life that any good Queen worth their weight in boas prays for.

Tony Sheldon portrays Bernadette and his is one of the most transformative and amazing performances I have had the pleasure of witnessing. He not only acts this role, he lives this role on stage. He is so immersed in the trueness of this character that you have no doubt believing in and falling in love with him/her.

Next we meet Adam/Felicia who has the fiercest body of his fellow actors, but also the least to offer as far as acting. He’s not terrible, just very forced (much like Guy Pearce was in the movie, so maybe it was a choice) acting. Lovely voice and terrific dancer, but nothing near the amount of hear the rest of the cast wears on their rhinestoned sleeves.

The set is mostly suggested by small pieces, but not in a way that you ever doubt where or you are or are distracted. The lighting is breathtaking. The bus itself is a 20ft LTD display and it is a joy to witness it being “painted” right in front of you as well as several light shows, sky displays and sunrises/sunsets that are presented.

The featured characters such as Cynthia (think dirty ping pong!), Bob and Shirley are hilarious as well, and the ensemble is an adrenalin army with tireless energy, that portrays many characters, both in and out of drag. They feature the awesome choreography in a way that makes you want to get up and dance along, is it weren’t for those bad knees.

I can’t start in on the costumes, or this would be 900 pages long. Suffice it to say, the costumes are worth the price of admission 100 times over. Even if you have seen the movie, they are wonderful to behold in person. 

The music, also, defies mere mortals descriptions. They are songs you’ve heard a million times on the radio, CD, MP3 or 8-track, but with this powerful blend of voices, you ain’t heard ‘em like this.

I have seen this show three times. I say this with no shame. I will continue to see this show as many times as possible, because for all the crap I have sat through in my life, it is wonderful to sit through a show that is JUST PLAIN FUN!!!!!