The Addams Family: National Tour

The Addams Family was great & I wish it had stayed in town longer so I could have seen it again. This is the third attempt at making The Addams Family a musical & they finally nailed it. The production was a charming, unique, cohesive, smart satire. It was grounded in reasonable, applicable themes with a stunning & ethereal artistic execution. The new storyline centered around Wednesday’s plans to marry someone quite different from the Addams & the ripple effects of this decision on the family. The musical jumped right into the new storyline & I appreciated the tight narrative focus.

To be completely honest, I was biased against Morticia because I expected her to be un-able to compete with Bebe Neuwirth. But Sara Gettelfinger had the same dynamic in a fresher, re-imagined portrayal; this lady was strong, elegant, funny, & had a huge voice that reminded me of Glenn Close. She exhibited a natural matriarch with a strong maternal factor while still introspectively examining growing older.

I was excited to see that Douglas Sills was cast as GOMEZ. I saw him as the title role in The Scarlet Pimpernel on Broadway. He is a smart, seasoned actor who can play silly without compromising the integrity of the character. He provided comical punctuation as well as the kalaidescope of emotions that come along with being the best husband & father he could be.

As WEDNESDAY, Cortney Wolfson’s acting quality was outshone by her strong voice. Her acting expressed her adolescent strife, but bordered on overly-simplified at times. Patrick D. Kennedy played PUGSLEY & was the perfect smarmy little brother. His voice was amazing & his number “What If” provided the most poignant moment of Act I.

The Addams Family Is Coming to Chicago! Again!

The Addams Family Musical

National Tour
Cadillac Palace Theatre
Dec. 27-Jan. 1

I really like the looks of this new-ish musical. It looks like the lovechild of Six Feet Under, Rocky Horror, Chicago: The Musical, Beetlejuice, Frank Wildhorn, Sweeney Todd, & Corpse Bride. I like the costume choices because they are authentic to The Classic Addams Family; it shows smart artistic discretion to not switch up what has already works & is loved. The opening number has catchy music, contemporary lyrics, & an animated, modern tone. This is not surprising since Andrew Lippa wrote the music & I loved the tone he established in The Wild Party. I wanted to see this musical in New York & wish national tours weren’t so overpriced so I could see it in Chicago. 

Chris Jones on The Addam's Family's newest re-interpreation

BILLY ELLIOT National Tour Review



I am a very thankful girl for my Thanksgiving visit to my Delaware homeland. My sister & I had intentions of seeing Once on Broadway, but that goal proved too lofty. Instead, we saw the national tour of Billy Elliot at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music. I loved being back in Philadelphia, even though national tours always lack a little of the shine of a Broadway production.

My opening reaction was an immediate, familiar resonance of those great musicals of the turn-of-the-millennium Broadway era. I grew up on those musicals, and it’s been a long time since I could just go see a new, awesome musical with my sister. For that experience & dynamic, I am very grateful. From a critically-minded theatre-goer’s perspective, my interpretation of that reaction offers a different perspective that explains my immediate sense of familiarity: Billy Elliot is a patchwork of the highest quality musicals of the recent yesteryear, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Throughout the musical, I saw distinct moments reminiscent of The Full Monty, The Beatiful Game, Les Miserables, Urinetown, and Miss Saigon. 

The costumes were a hodgepodge of winter thrift-store wear & I loved them. The set was an asymmetrical set of puzzle pieces that effectively & fluidly created a variety of spaces. Billy’s audition scene used the actual theatre as the set, which was an appreciated change of tone & a clever staging technique. Obviously, the dancing was awesome and Elton John wrote some great songs. The glaring exception to the overall quality & cohesion of the production was the number Expressing Yourself, which felt like a glaring neon public service message & felt completely disjointed in both production-style & plot-relevance.

The plotline seemed stripped from movie in terms of establishing the family dynamic. Specifically, the father’s change-of-heart was too abrupt and the catalyst for his change of opinion was noticeably absent. I did appreciate the theme of swallowing one’s pride in the pursuit of one’s passion that erupted after the father began to support Billy’s intention to dance. In terms of plot, the father’s decision to support his son provided the thematic cornerstone because it also raised the questions of when it is worth it to cross the line, of picketers or appropriateness. In seeing the potential Billy exhibited, the coal miners on strike readjusted their focus to the future instead of the present.