The Addams Family, Birmingham Hippodrome - review and pictures

Wednesday is all grown up and has fallen in love, but all is not what it seems. To the horror of doting father Gomez and temptress mother Morticia, she has fallen in love with their worst nightmare - a nice, normal boy.

Wednesday invites Lucas and his parents Mal and Alice to a family dinner with her parents alongside brother Pugsley, Grandma, zombie butler Lurch and the lovable Uncle Fester where hilarity ensues.

All comes to a head when she announces her impromptu engagement to Lucas, causing chaos as she had previously made father Gomez keep this secret from her mother.

A deep soul-searching journey to the roots of love, loss, time and change ensues in this comic musical with a hint of horror.

Carrie Hope Fletcher is everything I wanted to be as a child who hero-worshipped Wednesday Addams. Sashaying across the stage with a snarl across her face and a crossbow over her shoulder - Wednesday is every bit the empowering and self-assured woman Morticia vowed to raise.

She adds something to Wednesday that has never been portrayed before, and that is vulnerability. Fletcher brings to life her heartbreaking personality crisis and struggles with young love and family acceptance with true care.

Oliver Ormson as lover Lucas is every bit the doting and loving boyfriend as well as the stereotypical high school jock. His performance is almost pastiche, but he is lovable nonetheless as he frantically tries to please both his parents and Wednesday - a feat not easily achieved.

A romance like Gomez and Morticia Addams’ was always my idea of a perfect relationships - so naturally I was swooning from start to finish over their unrequited love, and brought to panic by a threat to their relationship.

Samantha Womack played the perfect Morticia, oozing sex appeal and authority in every flick of the wrist and snap of the head as she floated across the stage.

She, quite literally, dances with death at a time of crisis though like Wednesday, demonstrates love and compassion as she comes to terms with her daughter’s new life.

Cameron Blakely as the comically passionate Gomez was a real highlight of the show for me - his comic solo numbers as he battles between his loyalty to his wife or daughter were sharp and perfectly time, inducing erupting laughter from the crowd.

Every flamboyant skip across the stage, flourish of the sword or passionate tango had the audience giggling by association, or swooning endlessly over the love that seemed to inhabit every bone in his body.

Alternatively, the stiff and uptight mannerisms of Charlotte Page as Alice and Dale Rapley as Mal provided the perfect contrast for true comedy.

Alice’s charming rhyming couplets and skittish mannerisms undergo a massive overhaul when Pugsley accidentally poisons her when trying to split Wednesday and Lucas up - leading her to become a loose and free bird, ready to set husband Mal straight.

Mal, an angry businessman snaps out of his stink when he is threatened with the loss of Alice and becomes the rhyming, bandana-toting hippie she fell in love with. Their ridiculous behaviour from one extreme to the other really made them stand out, even up against a clan such as the Addams’ Family.

The stars of the show shone through the unlikely characters of Lurch and Uncle Fester.

The story begins with Les Dennis’ Fester bringing lost Addams’ relatives from the dead to aid in the romance and help all those lost find their way - setting him apart as the story's narrator.

One minute he is insulting the audience with seats at the back, the next he is waltzing with the moon declaring his undying love - Fester really is the embodiment of all that is crazy with the Addams Family and the audience lapped it up.

Lurch remains quiet and sombre throughout the show - being a zombie butler and all - with laughs following him like a trail of ghosts as he sloped across the stage.

It came as a surprise then, when in the shows finale he bellowed out deep and moving lyrics before dancing across the stage and giving the audience one last booty shake before the show closed.

I cannot review this show without talking about said deceased Addams’ relatives. Their attention to detail was utterly perfect - from faded clothes to mark their passing and time period, constant presence onstage as ghosts doubling as stagehands and powerful movement throughout.

This attention to detail spanned across the whole show - with cast members never breaking character for a second and spooky set additions such as a hand through the letterbox, fireworks, shadows that changed shape and a real-life monster under the bed.

A real testament to the legendary status of The Addams Family - this live show is every bit as kooky and spooky as the family have always been, if not moreso. I would recommend anyone experience this show and snap their fingers along...If they dare!

The Addams Family runs at Birmingham Hippodrome from June 6 to June 10.