"Corn on the Macabre": The Addams Family Opening Night

I was blessed with a ticket to the opening night on Broadway of the new musical, "The Addams Family" from my friends Joey Arias and Basil Twist. I worked on the costumes for their smash hit show, "Arias with a Twist", and Basil did the amazing puppetry that definitely adds a whimsical touch that the "Addams Family" really needed. Nathan Lane was not too Nathan Laney (you know what I mean) as Gomez, complete with fabulously corny non-pc "Spanish" accent. He shows he is an old pro, and doesn't let himself get bogged down by some of the illogical material. Bebe Neuwirth, as Morticia, is droll and dry as you might imagine, bringing her best "Lilith" bite to the part. One of my favorite numbers is her opening second act song about Death being "just around the corner....Around the coroner, get it? " She is charming, but the whole show I couldn't help imagining one thing: the most brilliant piece of fantasy casting of the 21st century....Cher as Morticia. Oh God!! Could you just die? She would be a foot taller than Gomez (like Sonny), and so incredibly bitter, droll, and creepy. As well as super-funny. Cher can deliver a one-liner with the best of them. Are you listening Producers? Cher--give her a call.

I thought the evening was charming but uneven, especially the end of act one with a painfully embarrassing number that lasts for what must be an eternity. I must mention my friend, the amazingly talented Jackie Hoffman (Hairspray, Xanadu) who plays Granmama with exquisite gross-out appeal. Too bad she doesn't get to do much, but when she does, she brings down the house. The sets are fine, even though everyone keeps going on and on about them. The inside of their house is brown? Really? Where is the black, grey, cobwebbed, exotic residence we've come to expect? The Munsters live in a creepier house. And yes, as a costume designer, I will say this about the costumes: They should have hired me. I could have taken my finale collection straight from Bryant Park onto the stage at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater and it would have been ten times more interesting. Sorry, the costumes for the principals are just serviceable, even the ghostly chorus of dead ancestors upstages them with wit and creativity. Oh well...are you listening Producers? Give me a call....