Nice article in the Trib today about the new Addams Family show previewing here in Chicago before heading to Broadway.
I’m heartened to hear that the show is based primarily on the actual cartoons instead of the TV show or movies:
Once the decision was made to focus only on the drawings, “The Addams Family” gained a crucial advantage over most other musicals. The source material is just those 150 Addams drawings, all based on the premise of a family of creeps who happen to love each other very much. One typical example features Gomez and Morticia sitting by the fire in their gothic castle. “Are you unhappy, darling?” asks Gomez, in the two-line caption. “Oh yes, yes! Completely! ” answers Morticia. Another features the loving pair, accompanied by their children Pugsley and Wednesday, all staring out happily together at a view of a graveyard.
But the cartoons didn’t form a continuous narrative. They were just cartoons. And thus the show is not stuck trying to stage an existing story — an encumbrance that has torpedoed many recent Broadway musicals from “Cry Baby “ to “Nine to Five. ” Within the parameters of these characters and Addams’ basic mise-en-scene, the show can do its own thing.
Here’s a short video from the local news while we’re at it:
The Mrs. and I have had our tickets for a good while. Can’t wait to go see this!
