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It was a night of contrasts in central Blackpool tonight. As a curtain raiser for the Illuminations brightly lit bikes were taking over the Promenade for Ride The Lights, meanwhile the dark line in humour of The Addams Family started a five day run at the Winter Gardens.
The Addams Family has a heritage over 60 years strong including several TV series and four films. Most recently the Wednesday spin off has brought the characters to a new young audience. The current run of the musical lives up to this stellar ancestry with an illustrious line-up.
Alexandra Burke takes the lead role of Morticia Addams, most readers will know that she has sold millions of records and reached the final of Strictly Come Dancing in 2017. It’s hard to think of better credentials for
leading in a popular musical with several headline dance numbers. Other cast members include Lesley Joseph as Grandma, who older readers will remember from her role as the difficult neighbour Dorien Green in 130 episodes of the BBC sitcom Birds of A Feather.
In essence this outing of The Addams Family is in one sense an unusual relationship, whilst in many ways a conventional love story. Early in the second act Clive Rowe as Uncle Fester basically tells you it’s going to end swimmingly in one of several offbeat / breaking the fourth wall gags. The journey to get there is immersive and uplifting though.
Clearly in a musical featuring an X Factor winner, the vocal performances are very strong. The comedy is also slick with a steady supply of jokes that went down very well with the audience. I was particularly taken by the musical comedy of Rowe’s Uncle Fester. He deliberately isn’t trying to be the best singer of the ensemble, but his performance is a healthy counterpoint to some of the more earnest musical numbers.
The set is lit in a rather dark and macabre fashion for obvious reasons. It’s appropriate to the subject matter though and a number of seamless scenery changes occur in both acts. The track list isn’t as instantly familiar as say Chicago, that recently did a run at the Winter Gardens, but builds up to some moving closing numbers particularly Live Before We Die.
As well as performances every evening until Saturday at 7.30 pm, there are two matinees – Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm. If you like contemporary musicals with macabre or dry overtones tickets are available at wintergardensblackpool.co.uk
Photography Credit: Pamela Raith[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
