The Addams Family – Birmingham Hippodrome

With its familiar theme song (click, click) and enduring characters (click, click) the Addams Family has established its own gruesome niche in the global comedy/horror market (click, click). Since it emerged from the fetid and grim brain of Charles Addams way, way back when horror was in black and white both in film and print and his cartoons adorned the pages of the New Yorker it has, like the many creatures it apes, transformed, transmuted and transmogrified and spawned many and varied offspring. Famously a TV series which evolved from the simmering depths of the ABC network in 1964 (not to be confused with “The Munsters” which sprung from the same gothic horror tropes with a similarity bordering on plagiarism, but shown on an entirely different channel), which then evolved into a film, a film, another film, a cartoon series and probably something else – all of diminishing quality and finally found it’s place on the Broadway stage. Where else? For those of you not in the know and if you were in the know you probably wouldn’t need to read this so I guess that means all of you, The Addams Family (the musical) opened on Broadway in 2010 with Nathan Lane (as Gomez Addams) and Bebe Neuwirth (previously Fraiser’s ice-cold lover Lilith) as Morticia penned by Woody Allen side-kick Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice with songs by Andrew Lippi and tonight we see its latest reincarnation exhumed and re-animated on stage at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

And though the vibrant and engaging set from Diego Pitch evokes every horror cliche we fear, embellished by Ben Cracknell’s (is there a show he hasn’t lit?) spooky and atmospheric lighting – there’s something awry. The pace is sometimes leaden, the gaps between the jokes a little too wide and there’s missing chemistry. Alexandra Burke has, of course, stunning vocals and brings an elegant mystique to Morticia playing well against Ricardo Afonso’s Gomez. There’s strong and vibrant support from an outstanding Lauren Jones as Wednesday and Nicholas Mclean as Pugsley. But it’s those two troupers Clive Rowe and Lesley Joseph who really squeeze every ounce of comedy juice out of the thin script. Rowe as the eerie Uncle Fester lends quirky eccentricity to proceedings and Joseph hits bullseyes with every line she’s given. Sadly, both are underused, and we feel the audience yearning for their return after every exit. It was truly appreciating audience, though, and with a few trims here and there this could be something exceptional, but tonight it didn’t quite click, click…

Reviewer: Peter Kinnock

Reviewed: 11th July 2025

North West End UK Rating: