By Evelyn C. McDonald
Arts & Culture Reporter
August 21, 2018 8:00 a.m.
I remember my first glimpses of a Charles Addams cartoon in the New Yorker magazine. There was the house with huge gates and a sign saying, “Beware of the Thing.” Despite my attraction to the Addams weirdness, I never figured on a musical version. But, I have to say, it works. Or at least the ACT cast, director, choreographer, and orchestra made it work. It was an evening of fun that you had to leave reality behind to enjoy. Not a bad way to spend an evening because sometimes reality is overrated.
The set up of the story is that Wednesday (Elisha Cauthen) has grown up and fallen in love with an ostensibly normal boy, Lucas (Tyler Lewis). She’s afraid of what her mother Morticia (Julia Fallon) will say. She has invited Lucas’ family for dinner and is hoping for one normal night. She doesn’t exactly get her wish but Love triumphs all in the end.
The cast were all good. I do have favorites but that’s not to slight anyone else. As Gomez, Chris Arsenault had a great voice and good stage presence. Pugsley was a big surprise. For a boy in the 6th grade, Brandon McClurkin showed an amazing stage presence and voice. My very favorite was Fester. Sebastian Alexander was the comedy relief of the show, letting the audience in on his thoughts and dreams. Lurch (John Bender) showed just how expressive two eyebrows could be.
The music was well suited to the story. Again, no fault with any song but two favorites. One was Fester in “The Moon and Me,” singing his love for the moon and the Gomez-Wednesday duet, “Happy/Sad.” The latter was a lovely ballad with wise lyrics; the former had the audience in stitches.
Choreography was good as well. There were a lot of people on stage most of the time. Fourteen of them were an assortment of Addams family relatives, all deceased. Dancers were in sync with each other and the music. They also looked engaged with what they were doing, facial expressions mirroring the words in the songs. In one scene, the stage was dark and Zach Edenfield danced around holding the moon for Fester. Zach managed to pirouette around the other dancers without a} careening into anyone or b} falling off the stage.
There were cameo appearances by Addams’ regulars, Thing and Cousin Itt. They needed no introduction. The audience as a whole seemed well-acquainted with the Addams Family. Indeed, the opening music was the familiar TV and movie theme. At the appropriate time, we all snapped our fingers.
The play will be shown August 22-25. Go enjoy a night of laughs in the unique world Charles Addams created.
Evelyn McDonald moved to Fernandina Beach from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 2006. Evelyn is vice-chair on the Amelia Center for Lifelong Learning and is on the Dean’s Council for the Carpenter Library at the UNF. Ms. McDonald has MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland’s University College and a BA in Spanish from the University of Michigan.