The Addams Family is the first full-scale musical to be produced by the Te Auaha musical theatre programme in the brand new Tapere Nui Theatre in Wellington.  

These up-and-coming musical theatre performers were there to showcase their work and there were some very polished performances.

The show opened with the upbeat When You’re an Addams which introduced the characters and then continued into a non-stop evening of big numbers, great choreography and some really stellar moments. [More] 

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From its humble beginnings via cartoonist Charles Addams’s pen in 1938, it’s ironic that the Addams – an eccentric family with a penchant for death and the macabre – are still very much alive in 2018. 

This iconic American family, having graced the page then the small and the large screens for near on 70 years, took to the boards on Broadway in 2010 thanks to writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with a score by Andrew Lippa.

The Addams Family is an upbeat musical comedy featuring a family who live in an upside-down world where pain is joy, sad is happy and death and suffering are dreams to aspire to.

In the musical, Wednesday is now 18 and in love with respectable Ohio boy Lucas Beineke. She confides this love to her father Gomez, who in turn tries to keep this revelation from his wife, but the after-dinner game of ‘full-disclosure’ breaks any illusion of ‘normality’ wide open (from both sides) when the two families meet. 

This is the first full scale musical performed by the Musical Theatre programme since the Te Auaha campus opened at the beginning of the year and what an excellent choice for this full creative faculty to produce. Not only is it the perfect vehicle to showcase the full company of musical theatre students across all the year groups but also for the Weltec make-up department students (under tutors Dany Pike and Sarah Elford) to bring the ghoulish characters so superbly to life and experience working in a full show setting which must add priceless value to their learning.

I’m sure there are other students (as with previous years) helping in other areas like stage crew/lighting and sound departments too – but not so obviously identified in the programme.

From the first down beat of the overture, the opening night audience are right there with the quintessential Addams family clicks while roving lights swirl, illuminating the imposing Addams mansion (set designer Ben Emerson), like the opening of a circus performance setting us up for a night of mystery, intrigue, quirky madness and hilarious fun.

And fun and laughs are certainly delivered. The students all do themselves and their tutors proud and the audience love them. 

The vocals (Musical Director Kate Marshall) are excellent, the harmonies fabulous and the storytelling engaging with excellent diction. The choreography and direction (Leigh Evans) is slick and uniformed, and creatively contemporary or Latin in style, whether with the full company – ‘When you’re an Addams’ – or a poignant pas de deux in ‘The Moon and Me’ with Moon (Veronica Grace) and Fester (Jake Elston).

The sound mix of the backing instrumentation is somewhat shrill initially. It does improve, presumably as the operator adjusts to the full house, but overall the volume mix is just too loud in what is still ultimately an intimate theatre experience even though it is in what is called the Tapere Nui (Big Theatre).

The role of Gomez Addams is played by third year Mia Alonso-Green. A difficult task to take on a male role and one with a very strong accent, but Mia performs the passionate and loveable Spaniard patriarch with great vigour. She shows excellent strength of vocals in ‘Trapped’ and ‘Not Today’ but there is a cautiousness and ‘rehearsed’ feel to the spoken dialogue which makes it hard to always fully believe her interpretation. A particular moment when she breaks through this is the achingly beautiful father daughter scene, including the song ‘Happy Sad’.

The matriarchs of both families are played with grounded maturity by third years Greer Samuel (Morticia) and Frances Leota (Alice Beineke).

Greer drips with assured sensuality and dry wit, demonstrating her honed skill as an all-round performer particularly in ‘Death is Just Around the Corner’ and Frances takes the dramatic arc of Alice’s character to full throttle in ‘Waiting’ with her powerful vocals. 

First years Flora Dryburgh and Devon Neiman play the young lovers Wednesday and Lucas. These two will be ones to watch over the coming years as their interpretations and all-round performances are already standout. Flora’s vocal craft in ‘Pulled’ shows a great understanding of the musical theatre voice and together they perform ‘Crazier Than You’ with excellent flare and connection.

Riley Booth (year 1) as Pugsley is endearing, and Trent Taylor (Year 2) is a suitably uptight Mal Beineke.

Jake Elston (year 2) in the role of Fester – the kooky uncle – has a difficult role to judge as sometimes he is the breaker of the 4^th wall as narrator and at other times very much part of the family dynamic. While not always consistent in his delivery, he portrays the child-like wonder of Fester beautifully.

Kudos must be given to Honours student Ben Paterson (Lurch) and second year Claudia Holmstead-Morris (Grandma) in showing their ability to absolutely inhabit their wacky caricatures with hilarious effect and comic timing.

The rest of the year one and two students play the ancestors with fantastic expression, characterisation and ensemble – whether singing or dancing – through their individual and collective interactions.

Their costuming and makeup in particular is brilliantly realised and this is illuminated with the evocative and moody lighting design (Joshua Tucker).

The Addams Family is definitely great and entertaining family theatre. It’s a show which is perfect for all ages, although a stretch given the duration of nearly 2.5 hours: my seven year-old swings from cackling uproariously to jumping into my lap in excited/ scared anticipation of what is going to happen next.

This is a tale of the joining of two families, both of which are entrenched in their own sense of ‘normal’, embracing change and acceptance, and following their dreams. They now meet the talented family of Te Auaha Musical Theatre 2018 who all bring their own histories and are embracing their challenges as they follow their dreams. It sounds like the perfect musical story, doesn’t it?

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