It’s been quite a while since I last catch a musical. To me, what really constitutes as a good and enjoyable musical is one that has really fascinating stage props and costumes, meaningful and impactful songs and last but not least, wonderful actors who can sing from their hearts. A good stage production is also one that is truly memorable. The Addams Family is one example of a good musical production which I truly enjoyed.
The Addams family is a fictional cartoon characters created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. The Addamses consists of Gomez ( father ), Morticia ( mother), Wednesday ( sister), Pugsley ( brother), Lurch ( man servant), Grandmama and Uncles Fester.
I grew up watching The Addams Family cartoon on TV as a kid. And I became even closer to “The Addams Family” after I had a huge crush on Ben Adams, a singer from the boyband called A1. At the age of 12 years old, I’ve already decided that I wanted to marry Ben Adams so I gave myself a nickname called ‘Adams the family’. At that time, I had totally no idea that The Addams Family was actually spelt with a double ‘d’. Anyways, I went along with the nickname and even set my email ID has adamsthefamily. You could see how totally I am in love with Ben Adams and The Addams Family.
So when I was invited to watch The Addams Family musical in Singapore last Saturday, my heart was singing with joy and my head almost went bursting through the rooftop. You mean ‘The Addams Family” is here in Singapore? And I was like, ” Gosh! It’s been a long time ever since I heard their signature theme song!” Da-da-da-dum …
Before watching the musical, we were ushered backstage to take a photo with the cast from The Addams Family. After the performance, we even get to tour their backstage! Nothing could get even better than this!
Meeting the cast of this musical is like watching the characters from The Addams Family emerging out from the TV screen. The master of the Addams household and father,Gomez Addams (Jesse Sharp) looks exactly like Gomez Addams on TV with his pinstripe suits and moustache. All of them look seemingly bizarre, eccentric and frightening in an entertaining way with their pale-looking faces and deep dark set of eyes.
The Addams Family has just woken up from the dead…and standing next to each of them just makes you wonder how is it possible for them to look so real, just like the ones I saw on TV ten years ago.
After a quick group shot, we hurried back to our seats and guess what? We had one of the best seats in the theatre – first row of seats from the stage. I don’t think I had ever sat that close to a stage for a musical before.
It’s my first time coming to the Festive Grand Theatre to watch a performance actually but I really like the cosy comfy red cushioned chairs and the theatre layout. The stage isn’t too big or too small and it felt really cosy to just watch the performance so up close.
I came to this musical without knowing what to expect because I love surprises and I was surprised that the theme of the musical revolves around love. So, how does this satirical American family potray or interpret love? Like all American families, this macabre-but-not-typically-evil family potrays love in its purest form – love is nothing logical but crazy because feelings stem from the heart, not the mind.
Wednesday Addams, the daughter of Gomez and Morticia Addams, has fallen head over heels with Lucas, an ordinary American boy. So, how will this extraordinary love story turns out for the both of them? There’s a clever twist to this lunatic yet rib-tickling story which I will not reveal so as to keep you in suspense.
I was particulary stunned by Wednesday Addams (played by Jessica Fogarty) who sung so beautifully throughout the performance. And did I forget to mention that Lucas (Bryan Welnicki) looks rather cute too?
I was amazed by how much work and effort goes behind a musical stage production. The stage actors and actresses got to be really quick and alert about knowing when to enter and exit the stage. They would need to get their stage costumes changed quickly as well. It must be a mad rush behind stage where the stage crew will be busying lifting and arranging the stage props behind closed curtains!
Uncle Fester’s fake hands and legs which looked so real on stage! I really love their props which looked really realistic and fantastic on stage!
The most interesting part of the tour was visiting the dressing room where you get to see their make-up artists and stylist at work. The dressing room was pretty big and there were even hair salon wash chairs where they could shampoo their hair.
Stage Props
Backstage photo with Lurch (Dan Olsen), the Frankenstein-looking man servant, who’s really comical in his actions. He sent me laughing off my chair when he walks in a hurried manner.
