Addams Family meets … Almost Normal!

By Noel Smith

The eccentric characters in this musical are based on cartoons by Charles Addams that originally appeared as single-panel cartoons published in The New Yorker between 1938 and 1988. The TV show premiered in 1964 followed by film and animated adaptations of this odd and unique family that includes Gomez and Morticia Addams, their children Wednesday and Pugsley, family members Uncle Fester and Grandmama, their butler Lurch, and the disembodied hand Thing.

In the Cabrillo Stage production Adam Saucedo is Gomez and Danielle Crook plays Morticia leading a stellar cast of singers, dancers and actors directed by Bobby Marchessault and choreographed by Makai Hernandez.

Saucedo is perfect as Gomez, the head of this … uh; unusual family with his marvelous singing voice and his Spanish accent while Crook provides the leggy, dark beauty of Morticia. Gabrielle Filloux as the Addams’ daughter, Wednesday, has a wonderful singing voice and gives her part a delightful presentation. John G. Bridges as Uncle Fester and 13-year-old Michael Novarro as Pugsley also give first-rate performances.

The rest of the cast and the chorus all make this a production worth seeing. I’m always grateful for the quality of musical productions; the singing, dancing, costuming and sets that you find at Cabrillo Stage and am thankful that we have Jon Nordgren as Artistic Director working hard to make such excellence available to us here in Santa Cruz County.

Mickey McGushin, Musical Director, brings the music to life while Scenic Designer, Skip Epperson and Technical Director, Marcel Tjioe provide stage trickery to highlight this darkly humorous comedy that will be enjoyed by the whole family. The Addams Family runs to Sunday, July 9.

For almost 80 years the Addams Family has been captivating audiences and they continue their hilarious best in this musical comedy which premiered on Broadway in April 2010 featuring Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia. Cabrillo Stage continues the high expectations and humor of The Addams Family tradition.

Next, Beauty And The Beast will cast its spell. With this age-old tale of love and redemption, and a lush musical score, it became an international sensation that has played to over 35 million people throughout the world. Beauty And The Beast runs July 20 through August 13.