The Addams Family -- October 2014
Back to my season overview. Now technically I am not an amazing writer. I call it word vomit. Meaning that whatever comes into my head I write down. And it is never linear, so good luck! I guess what this blog is about is my journey through this job and the specific shows I worked on. You know every show is different, so I am going to write down my opinions of the specific show, how I made it work (or not) and just the journey to get there.
When "The Addams Family" rights were available, I pounced on it. Before even thinking about it very long or analyzing the script, which I do ad-nauseum. We had never had a successful show in the October slot and I thought this might work. Halloween theme, check! Nostalgia, check! Campy, check! I should preface all of this by saying, no shade to the authors as all shows have inherent problems that need to be solved. What worked for Broadway might not translate to your audiences. The script you get for "Addams" is the tour version, which in my little opinion, was retooled the right way after Broadway. It is now a tighter show.
Here's another thing about being an Artistic Director that I haven't really discussed. As Artistic Directors, our knee jerk reactions are to jump on a show immediately upon release so we can all say, "FLORIDA PREMIERE!" If you deny that concept, you are lying. That is great from a Marketing standpoint, but from a logistical production stand point, it might need some rethinking. Just because you CAN do the show doesn't mean you CAN do the show the right way. I hope that makes sense. Also, it sucks for other theatres that could possibly pull off a show technically, but they can't get the rights because another theatre is doing it first who may or may not be able to produce the show the way it should be done. Just because you get the rights doesn't mean you should do the show. Look, I wasn't even sure if I could pull "The Addams Family" off, but in my gut I took the risk.
But I have to admit, when I read it I was... well, underwhelmed. I LOVE Andrew Lippa. I liked almost all of the music. When I tell you that the "But Love (reprise)" was consistently sung among the cast, it is an understatement. Just say it in the right phrasing and the lyric sounds like, "Let's not talk about anything else, BUTT LOVE!" Yeah, I am a junior high school student. But the script was written in little vignettes, almost like an old school musical that does scenes "in one", meaning in front of the curtain so the crew can set up the next scene. And some of the scenes were there for just that, to cover other things, so it didn't really propel the plot at all. I had the same issues with "Damn Yankees" which I will discuss later. Or as I like to call it at our Theatre, "Damn TANK-ees".
Fast forwarding to tech week, I usually look at my tech crew and watch them. If they laugh or are involved, I know there is something there. When they sit there with their heads in their hands I panic. They are the best litmus test. Well, tech week, they not only had their heads in their hands, they were literally talking about where they were going eat that night and what they needed to do the next day...and they were sitting right behind me!! AHHHHH! Not a good sign.
Anyway, we had over 100+ people audition. So my idea about nostalgia was going to pay off audience wise. BUT, there are tons of shows out there that actors REALLY want to audition for that TOTALLY TANK at the box office. You know the shows. "Addams" is one of those shows like "Annie" where you literally have people at auditions dressing up to audition. Which really kind of perturbs me. I might have another vision for the show! If I do "Charlie Brown", which I have done so many times I may or may not have a tattoo of him, it really pisses me off when someone comes in with a bright canary yellow shirt with a zig-zag on it. I swear if I ever do that show again and someone comes in that has shaved their head, I will officially resign. I am sure there are people out there that want a role so bad, like in "Les Mis" that they would try to get consumption just to show the Director they can play the part. Jeez.
For the costumes I told our costume designer, Andrew that I really wanted to go back to the original concept designs of the comic, not the TV Show or the Movie. BUT, how do you take readily identifiable characters and not make them look like a carbon copy of previous versions? Andrew and I worked on keeping common themes, but also adding new flourishes, things that are more current. I didn't want my actors to feel like they had to copy John Astin or Anjelica Huston. They needed to make these characters their own. Of course Morticia is in an all black sexy dress! But for Gomez we went with a dark gray suit in the beginning and as the show progressed, his clothing, while still dark overall, lightened up as he let Wednesday go and realized he has to change with her. For the Addams Ancestors we had a field day with what time period we were going to give the actors. From flappers, to a Civil War hero who died in battle, to someone who may or may not have been Moses, I let him go crazy with ideas of who these people should be! The audience howled every time a new Ancestor came out of the crypt in the opening number. We may have toyed with bringing Judy Garland out, but I'll never tell...
ANYWAY! The rehearsal process was so much fun, I have to admit. I was working with great people and even got my friend, Shane on stage after a long hiatus. For the first time in my life we rented a set. It was based on the Broadway set and was delivered to us 2.5 weeks before we opened. Only one other theatre used it before us in Augusta, Ga. So Brighid, my Production Manager, and I traveled north to see the show. I was excited to see the show, but most excited about seeing how they pulled off "The Moon and Me" and also see how the show flowed. At that point we had been in rehearsal for about 3 weeks, so the show was blocked. This is a mini story in itself. So B and I pile up in her SUV and head to Augusta. And we pulled into the worst looking hotel I had ever seen in my life. When I checked in the front desk lady actually ran away for 15 minutes. When she came back she said, "Sorry, I just had to check and see which rooms were acceptable!" ?!?!?!? Little did we know, but she put us in the very back of the hotel and as we pulled the car around I literally saw a drug deal go down outside the room next to mine! Good God, I was going to die. And you know, the only thought I had was, I have to leave my baby Bertrum (my 11 year old pug) here by himself while we see the show! Not that I might be murdered. Bertrum always comes first.
So we went to the show. The audience loved it. The set looked gorgeous, but they didn't do "Moon and Me" with any effects. We left the next day and of course got lost in the middle of nowhere. But we did pass the Annual Cooter Festival! (That's southern for Turtle, you pervs!) Our TD, Lighting Designer and Brighid had great ideas for the lights, so I wasn't worried.
Now that I knew the show could work, I kept bumping up jokes and beefing up character choices. The show's central plot is slight. Like Mama-Mia without all the Dad stuff or "Dancing Queen". Wednesday has fallen in love and doesn't want the family to embarrass her in front of her new in-laws! Tada! That's pretty much it. Luckily I had great actors. And I really concentrated on Gomez and his realizing that his little girl has grown up. There is a beautifully written scene and song in Act II that he sings to his daughter. There was my "in" so to speak. The whole show should build up to that moment. And it was played to perfection by my BFAM Rob who has a daughter of his own. When I talk about cast bonding, this show inherently had it. We all got along and became a very tight knit group. I am not a director who likes to have 100+ people on stage. Just keep it as small as you can and I think it works the best. Just my opinion. Also, there is a terrifically funny section at the end of Act I that is a perfect piece of Theatre. Both families sitting around a dinner table. And boy do I love to direct a farce. And my actors played it to perfection.
As far as the "Moon and Me" section where Fester has a love dance with the Moon itself... It worked perfectly and the audiences continued to ask me about it long after the curtain fell. I had my cast under strict orders to never tell ANYONE! Not even their loved ones. The thing is, it was SO incredibly simple if we told them, they would say, "THAT'S ALL?!?!" One critic claimed that:
The “Moon and Me” is a piece of sublime theater magic which you really cannot miss. It will probably end up in Brevard community theater legend..." Pam Harbaugh http://www.brevardculture.com/2014/10/review-henegars-the-addams-family-the-musical/
Pre-opening night was a wonderful, exciting affair...until... Well, The Henegar is a 25,000 square foot building. It has three dance studios, rehearsal spaces, a black box and offices. At the very end of the building is an Art Society that is a tenant... and we love them. BUT, opening night they decided to fire up their kilns. Yep. SO, right before the big reveal of the Family behind the gates, the power shut down and all the alarms sounded. A transformer blew and the heat/smoke from the kiln set off the fire alarm. Chaos insued as everyone of our staff tried to solve the problem before the big fire truck got there. Man, we had it down to a science, running, calling, fixing. I swear I lost 10 pounds in 10 minutes. What we didn't want is the audience to get up out of their seat. We were lucky enough to have everyone there that knew how to fix it! BAM! Back to the Overture and the audience was more excited than ever. I think it actually pumped them up more. Well, obviously, sitting in a Theatre not knowing if it is going to burn down around you would pump anyone up.
So, dear friends, if you are thinking of doing "The Addams Family", give it a chance. It really works. I have heard that it is one of the most popular properties at Theatrical Rights. And luckily this year I get to work on another Lippa show that I adore called, "Big Fish". I can't wait for that magic to start.
Like the fox said, "Bye Felicia"... until tomorrow. :)
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