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Snap! Snap!
Charles Addams is finally festering on Broadway
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It would appear a lot has changed since the Charles Addams drawings of “The Addams Family” first began surfacing in the New Yorker on August 4, 1938. Even so, the unique family has survived through many generations, with many reincarnations in drawings, television, and movies. Truth be told, the family has not aged at all in this new Broadway production (except the newly 18-year-old Wednesday, of course). Yes, after the official announcement in 2007 and the recent out of town try-out in Chicago, it is finally time to be mortified on Broadway!
Aspiring to keep the darkly beautiful integrity of the original drawings, the production features both an original score by Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party) and original book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice (authors of Jersey Boys). As if raising the ingenious cartoonist from his grave, two-time Tony Award winners—the witty Nathan Lane (The Producers) and gorgeous Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago)—star as Gomez and Morticia Addams, respectively.
The rest of the infamous Addams clan is cleverly portrayed by the following: Kevin Chamberlin (Seussical) as Uncle Fester, Jackie Hoffman (Xanadu) as Grandmama, Kysta Rodriguez (In the Heights) as Wednesday, Adam Riegler (Shrek the Musical) as Pugsley, and Zachary James (South Pacific) as Lurch. For those concerned, rest assured: Thing and Cousin Itt make it into the show!
As if The Addams Family couldn’t get any stranger, hints of the production include: a mansion in the middle of Central Park, the call for a “grandma sandwich,” a love affair with the moon, and even a sexual attack from a squid. Prepare for anything but, as one of the new songs is titled, “One Normal Night.” After going through major changes, The Addams Family officially opens on Broadway April 8, 2010 at the Lunt-Fontanne on W. 46th Street. Start snapping.
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 West 46th Street, New York, NY,
www.TheAddamsFamilyMusical.com.