Of all the plays / ballets / operas / musicals I have been lucky enough to see this year, The Addams Family Musical was the one I was most excited for - for several reasons. Firsty I absolutely LOVE The Addams Family 90's films. I watched and rewatched them as a child, teenager and adult and when I heard that there even WAS a musical I really wanted to see it! Secondly I am a huge fan of Carrie Hope Fletcher, this is probably expected as she is a fabulous human being but I actually only discovered her on youtube this year! Another person I am a huge fan of is Emma Blackery and when I saw her tweet to Carrie back in January I checked out her channel and became hooked. I think I went back and watched all of Carries videos in about 3 days (no shame) and have been up to date ever since.
When I heard the news Carrie would be playing Wednesday in TAFM I was even more excited as I had already wanted to see it and now Carrie was in it! A third roll of excitement when I heard it would be coming to The Lowry meaning I could go and see it! I took my dad with me and we made a night of it, heading to Harvester before hand for some Tea (chicken stack anyone?!) I wore my black skinny jeans, red velvet boots and superbly matched skull jumper with lace collar which screamed Addams Family in my opinion.
Let's get onto the musical itself. It is an original story, and it’s every father’s nightmare. Wednesday Addams (Carrie Hope Fletcher) the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with the sweet, smart young man Lucas Beineke (Oliver Ormson) from a respectable family. A man her parents have never met. And if that weren’t upsetting enough, she confides in her father that they wish to be wed and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before — keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.
The story is both sweet, hilarious and full on amazing songs and dances. Every character brings massive energy to the story which means it's super hard to pick 'your favourite. Gomez is quite frankly every dad out there with jokes and charisma; Morticia is dark and sexy; Lucas is sweet and caring; Wednesday is complex and confused; Grandma is mysterious; Fester is a great narrator of the story and Lurch is.. Lurch.
There are two other 'main characters' in the form of Lucas's parents Alice Beineke and Mal Beineke who have their own storyline of marriage troubles and finding their old selves again. Then there is the Ensemble cast. Who have so much work to do! They are the ancestors of The Addams Family and are summoned by Fester to help Wednesday and Lucas stay together. Now if you DO watch Carrie's youtube channel you will know of Scott Paige who is just so bubbly and really reminds me of my best friend. He plays the Roman Emperor Ancestor and is just SO good. Whenever he was on stage I just watched him having the time of his life.
I don't want to give TOO much away about everything so I will stop waffling on now but it is really worth a visit because it has everything from laughter to serious, love to hate and of course amazing songs! There are nine more theaters on the tour so plenty of opportunity to go and see it. If I could go again I totally would. Thankyou again to The Lowry for inviting me to come and see The Addams Family Musical!
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