They’re back! Following the 2017 UK tour, the 2010 Broadway musical The Addams Family is back on tour.
From the writers of multi-award-winning hit musical Jersey Boys, with music and lyrics by Tony Award-nominated Andrew Lippa, The Addams Family is a stage musical based upon the characters created by Charles Adams in his single-panel gag cartoons. Although numerous film and television adaptations of Addams’ cartoons exist, the musical is the first stage show based on the characters – a ghoulish American family with an affinity for all things macabre
Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, is all grown up and has a shocking secret that only Gomez knows. She’s fallen in love with a sweet young man from a respectable family. With his cherished Morticia in the dark will Gomez manage to keep his daughter’s secret until the two families meet for a fateful dinner with hilarious consequences?
Join them, plus Uncle Fester, Lurch, Pugsley and more for a heart-warming story of love, family and friendship… with a twist!
Morticia Addams, most famously played by Angelica Houston in the 1991 film and its 1993 sequel, is played by Strictly Come Dancing winner Joanne Clifton. Clifton is the latest of several incredible actresses to take on the musical role. The original Broadway production starred 2 x Emmy and 2 x Tony winner Bebe Neuwirth, whilst the first UK tour starred EastEnders‘ Samantha Womack.
Returning to the UK tour are Cameron Blakely as Gomez, Grant McIntyre as Pugsley, and Scott Paige (The Circle) as Uncle Fester. Paige was Les Dennis’ (Coronation Street) understudy on the last tour; I saw him at the Lowry when Dennis was indisposed. Paige has been absent from the tour since early March; he returns for the musical’s first night in Manchester.
Kingsley Morton replaces Carrie Hope Fletcher, the biggest West End star in a generation, as Wednesday Addams – arguably, the centre of this musical. Wednesday was most famously played by Christina Ricci in the 1991 film and its 1993 sequel, so she, too, has big boots to fill.
Featuring a live orchestra and extraordinary original score, this musical is sure to entertain whether you are 12 or 312!
The Addams Family runs at Manchester’s Palace Theatre from 19th to 23rd April, before heading to Norwich for the final stop of its UK tour.
The tour was originally scheduled to end in June, but the final four stops have been scrapped. A statement from the show said: “Due to the continued impact of the effects of Covid on our audiences and their willingness to return to the theatres, we have unfortunately had to take the decision to close the tour of The Addams Family earlier than planned.”
