- “The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy”
- Where: Pentacle Theatre, 324 52nd Ave. NW
- When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7-10, 14-17 and 21-24, and 2 p.m. Oct. 11 and 18
- Tickets: $23 for weekday performances and $24 for weekend performances; seniors, students, military and members receive a $1.50 discount
In the theater world, you know you’re in trouble when, after curtain call, you rush to the lobby to greet your closest friends and, through a forced smile, they say, “The costumes were great.”
In Pentacle Theatre’s “The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy,” the costumes were great. Seriously.
Costumer Mary Ann Potter’s designs captured the essence of the iconic Addams universe. For the chorus of ancestors, Potter designed a gorgeous and ghostly white wardrobe that crossed a dozen historical periods. Coupled with Isaac Joyce-Shaw’s zombie-meets-mime makeup design and the fine hair and wig designs of father-daughter team Doug and Alexa Gray of Liberty Street Hair Design, the cast looked “spook-tacular.”
The cast, including “The Walking Dead” chorus, had a playful energy and appeared to have a blast. The company received a standing ovation from the opening-night crowd.
Many in Salem will love this production. I, unfortunately, am not among them, but before I continue, I must explain my philosophy of reviewing nonprofit and volunteer-driven community theater.
A reviewer has a number of roles to balance. First, a reviewer should be acritical voice for theatergoers and an honest opinion about what is worth seeing.
Second, a reviewer shouldchampion the arts while providingconstructively critical feedback with the goal of encouraging and challenging theater companies to improve their art.
Reviewers of professional theater will pan a bad show with no regard for a theater’s reputation and budget; otherwise the reviewers compromise their professional integrity and lose readers’ trust. Reviewers of community theater cannot do thatbecause they should also be champions of local creativity, volunteers and nonprofits. A bad review could potentially harm a nonprofit’s budget and undermine the local theater community.
Reviewing a production like “Addams Family,” which had a number of positive and crowd-pleasing elements but alsowasa directing nightmare, is a tightrope walk that I take seriously. When I am critical of a nonprofit production or particular volunteers, my intention is not to destroy them but to help them improve.
'The Addams Family' will haunt Pentacle Theatre in Oct.
The plot of “The Adams Family” involves the family falling into disarray when daughter Wednesday, who is 19 in the adaptation, falls in love with a "normal" young man and brings his family to meet her eccentric clan, whom she orders to act normal.
Wendy Boyack’s directing and Kimber Jessop’s choreography were a jumbled mess that distracted from this plot rather than enhancing it. Their main shortcoming was repeatedly upstaging the main characters by crowding the stage with actorswho performed extraneous business that pulledfocus from the essential action.
Here are a few examples. During Fester’s serenade to the moon, the chorus danced downstage and blocked my view of Fester. During the final verses of a number of solos, the chorus entered and set up for the next scene, one time entering down the aisles while carrying giant cutouts of trees. In Gomez and Morticia’s scenes, Boyack placed chorus members beside or upstage of them and directed the chorus to act out the emotional beats of the scene as if the actors’ performances weren’t enough.
I’m not saying the chorus was bad. They were animated and interesting to watch, too interesting. I didn’t know where to focus and became frustrated. It's thedirector’s job to focus performers' actionsso the audience knows what is important.
I commend Boyack for thinking outside of the box by creating two speechless gargoyle characters, but this particular choice was an unnecessary addition that further upstaged the show’s main characters. Also, there were times that soloists turned their backs to the audiencewhile singing with the sole motivation ofmoving to anew position. This was another unnecessary directing distraction. Less can be more, especially during well-performed solos and duets.
Andrew Lippa’s music and lyrics are forgettable. The morning after seeing the show, the only tune I remember is the television series’ theme song by Vic Mizzy that Lippa borrowed to open and close the musical.
While the direction and music were lacking, a number of positives will please audiences. Jeff Witt’s charismatic, passionate and, at times, touching portrayal of Gomez was delightful. Carol Pavelek’s hippy Grandma provided much-needed and kooky comedic relief.
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Two moments inspired guffaws and spontaneous applause. Kevin Hamler-Dupras, as Lurch, performed a monologue without words that was hilarious. Susan Schoaps, as “normal” mother Alice, brought down the house when her dark side came out.
If you’re looking for a Halloween-appropriate evening of Addams-inspired fun, the positive moments and campy humor of “The Addams Family” will offer you an enjoyable evening of musical theater.
If you struggled to enjoy Boyack’s previous productions, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and “The Secret Garden,” then you should pass on this one. With stronger direction and a better musical score, I might have enjoyed “The Addams Family” more.
TRastrelli@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 983-6030, facebook.com/RastrelliSJ and on Twitter @RastrelliSJ
If you go
What:“The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy,” with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa,book by Marshall Brickmanand Rick Elice, directed by Wendy Boyack
Where:Pentacle Theatre, 324 52nd Ave. NW
When:7:30 p.m. Oct. 7-10, 14-17 and 21-24, and 2 p.m. Oct.11 and 18
Tickets: $23 for weekday performances and $24 for weekend performances; seniors, students, military and members receive a $1.50 discount; available at the Pentacle ticket office, 145 Liberty St. NE, by calling (503) 485-4300 or atpentacletheatre.org.Proceeds from the Oct. 7 show go to Pentacle's Education Fund.
Benefit:7:30 p.m. Oct. 13for Children's Educational Theatre, $30
For the kids: Mild profanity, humor that may go over kids’ heads; Boyack rated it "a strong PG"
Two-for-one tickets for low-income persons:In partnership with Salem for All, Pentacle Theatre offers two-for-one tickets to Oregon Trail Card holders. Purchase at the theater box office on the day of the show. For more information, go tosalemforall.org.
