The Addams Family

Sunday, 6^th March 2011

Lunt-Fontaine Theatre, New York

While waiting in line at chilly Times Square, snaking our way to the head of the TKTS booth; I overheard one of the security attendants say to the family man ahead of me that today’s matinee would be Nathan Lane’s last performance as Gomez in The Addams Family.

Buoyed by that insider tip, we booked tickets quick smart for that afternoon’s performance and scored enviable seats so close to the front, we could see every sarcastic eyebrow raise by leads Bebe Neuwirth (Morticia) and Broadway superstar Nathan Lane.

The interior of the theatre was subtly dressed to evoke the gothic retro look of cartoonist Charles Addams’ belovedly macabre creations, with flickering lights throughout and a spooky fun feel that tickled the crowd determined to enjoy themselves.

The show itself was fun and cute, it’s bizarro weird bent built around the light plot of Wednesday Addams being all grown up enough to invite her boyfriend and his parents to meet the family – and as expected, wackiness ensues. While simple, there was a nostalgic comfort in seeing characters and stars doing what they do best – dance and sing, preen and entertain.

Being Nathan Lane’s last show, there were a couple of “tricks” played, or more, shall we say, deviations from the script – which had the rest of the cast (some more successfully than others) struggle to keep a straight face. Bebe Neuwirth was most especially amusing to watch as she tried to suppress giggles when Grandma (Jackie Hoffman) ad libbed (Morticia Addams maintains a mostly dour expression at just about everything) but she wasn’t the only one!

At the end of a very entertaining 2 ½ hours, the producers and director came on stage to thank and applaud everyone for all their hard work – they had reached the milestone of their one year anniversary of having their show on Broadway!

Apart from the headliners, other enjoyable performances were from long term Broadway alums Terence Mann and Carolee Carmello as the straight laced suburban parents of Lucas, the “normal” boyfriend of Wednesday. They were glorious in their journey from pompous and meek respectively, to enlightened and invigorated. Nothing like a little freak to turn you on!

Creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky – if you liked it on TV, you’ll love it on Broadway.

American Idiot

Saturday, 5th March 2011

St James Theatre, New York

Essentially a jukebox musical with a nihilistic bent and slacker bravura, Green Day’s Tony nominated American Idiot is a popular concert of songs reimagined into a loose and surprisingly generic storyline.

The three leads were clones in looks to Billie Joe Armstrong and his fellow bandmates in Green Day and collectively have the dream to head out of their hick town for the bright lights of the big city and become alt rock stars.

Will (Justin Guarini) is sidelined before he even gets out of the gate by an unexpected pregnancy; Tunny (Stark Sands) is patriotically brainwashed into joining the military, meeting his dream girl in hospital at the same time he looses his leg; while Everyouth Johnny (Van Hughes) lives the city mouse dream of parties, drugs and passion with his drive of being a musician fading as the months pass.

Although there were some affecting sequences and the punk techno look of the set and projections were pretty cool, overall it just seemed like one long extended video sequence – there was barely enough dialogue between each number, and if you were unfamiliar or (loser!) not a fan of Green Day’s music, you would barely care enough for any of the characters.

The vocals were routinely strong and soaring, and the all ensemble guitar encore to “Wake Me Up When September Ends” was the anthem that brought the loudest roar from the audience.

Overall, a decent 90 minute show, but hardly must-see theatre on Broadway.