The freaks and geeks are in Savannah Center just in time for Halloween.
“The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy” features plenty of singing tricks and dancing treats. The Smash Productions show runs through Thursday.
This isn’t your father’s Addams Family. The musical version of the Charles Addams’ cartoon creation is a Broadway show masquerading as a macabre soap opera.
The plot – what little there is of it – goes something like this: freaky Wednesday Addams (Pinky Bigley) has the hots for a geeky dude named Lucas (Mark Kirschenbaum).
Morticia Addams (Deborah Gibbons) is against this imperfect union while hubby Gomez (Tim Casey) succumbs to his daughter’s wishes and helps bring the two lovebirds together.
Also on board are rotund Tim Ruwart as Uncle Fester; big man David Kuntz as Lurch; Holly Jeske as Grandma and Benjamin Keefe as Pugsley. Louie Vassmer plays Cousin Itt with hairy charm.
And let’s not forget Lucas’ geeky parents: Sherry Mistler as Alice and Garry Gibbons as Mal.
The cast was in energetic form during a dress rehearsal Tuesday afternoon. Casey, as usual, chews the scenery in the role of Gomez. He’s a hot-blooded daddy caught in a family crisis between his daughter and his wife.
Casey shines with his singing on such numbers as “Wednesday’s Growing Up” and the somewhat dark and tender “Happy Sad” and “Not Today.”
Gibbons gracefully moves and dances in a tight black dress that seems painted on. She also delivers spooky power on “Just Around the Corner” and teams with Casey on a furious “Let’s Live Before We Die.” The two deliver a climactic moment on the dance floor with “Tango De Amor.”
Bigley is known for her soaring vocals and hits the high notes with style. Kirschenbaum delivers his nerdy role with aplomb, and turns a little “crazy” in the end.
Ruwart is a hoot as Uncle Fester, especially when he sings a love song to the moon. Holly Jeske makes a wild, nutty Grandma. Benjamin Keefe nearly steals the show as Pugsley when he sings “What If.”
And Sherry Mistler jumps on a table and wails with abandon on a jolting number called “Waiting.”
An ensemble of a singing and dancing ghostly chorus adds life to the Addams family death wishes.
Recreating The Addams Family is a theatrical challenge. “These are such iconic characters; everybody knows them,” Director Bob Stehman
said Tuesday. “I told the cast: these aren’t caricatures; these are characters. Make them real.”
“The Addams Family” popularity grew in the mid-60s with the television series, starring Carolyn Jones and John Astin. Then came the 1991 movie, with Angelica Houston and Raul Julia.
The family hit Broadway in 2010 with the musical starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. Netflix recently came out with a series called “Wednesday.”
The Addams Family tree keeps on growing. “We have to be true to its history,” Stehman said. “I think this talented cast has fulfilled that goal.”
Tony Violanti covers music and entertainment for Villages-News.com. He was inducted into The Buffalo Music Hall of Fame as a music journalist.