Hellooo! Yesterday afternoon I took another trip to the theatre, surprise surprise! This time, I went over to the Bradford Alhambra Theatre to see the matinee performance of the Addams Family UK Tour. This was another one of those shows that I couldn't decide whether to go or not as I've never seen the Addams Family and don't really know a lot about it but the cast looked amazing. I kept looking at the seats and decided I would get a seat up in the Upper Circle near where I sat for Funny Girl. That was until my Mum pointed out that there was a single seat on the front row (C26) that was only an extra £15 and I was like you know what, let's do it!
This was my first time sitting on the front row and it was amazing! It's crazy how different everything sounds on the front row compared to the last time I was there in the Upper Circle. Everything sounded so much fuller and I loved being able to see the performers' expressions so clearly. It was also great not having any heads in the way and having so much legroom!The costumes were all classic Addams Family black and I LOVED Wednesday's black dress which had a kind of bluey tealy layer over the top which looked SO good under the lights!
Speaking of Wednesday, the whole cast was incredible! The now grown up Wednesday was played by Carrie Hope Fletcher who was amazing with such a powerful voice and I especially loved Pulled! Her love interest, Lucas, was played by Oliver Ormston who I met at the stage door along with Cameron Blakely (Gomez) who were both just such nice people! They were so patient with the crowd that was waiting and I was SO happy that I got to meet them! Carrie didn't come out via the stage door and there was a sign up letting everyone know and I know there's been a lot of talk about that lately but at the end of the day, it's up to the perfomers whether they want to or not. I did spy her wandering around out the front though but she was on the phone to someone and I didn't want to be THAT guy so I kept my distance but I was still over the moon to meet Oliver and Cameron! Back to the review! Gomez was probably one of my favourite characters and Cameron's accent was perfect and never faltered! Eastenders' Samantha Womack played Morticia Addams and her expressionless portrayal of the character was spot on! I was also super impressed with her singing as having only seen her in Eastenders, I had no idea she was a singer!
The star-studded cast continued with Les Dennis playing the role of Uncle Fester and I liked his comedic, commentary-style lines spoken to the audience. In fact, the comedy throughout the show was flawlessly executed and had the audience giggling from start to finish! This continued with Dickon Gough as Lurch who was just the perfect actor for the role! One character that stood out for me was Alice (Lucas' Mother) who was played by Charlotte Page who had a beautiful voice and played the part amazingly! The ensemble were all awesome too and Ioved how the ancestors sort of lurked around in the background throughout the show when they weren't part of a main section such as a musical number. All of the performers' seemed made for their parts and it was one of those shows where you forget that they're acting because they just fit the roles so well.
There were two sizes of the programme available with the house programme being £3.50 and the giant glossy souvenir programme being £6 and I'm a sucker for programmes so I just had to buy both of them!
The choreography throughout the show was great and I really liked the tango section near the end. I really liked the set and how they sort of spun pieces around to give them a different purpose. I also loved the balcony doors that opened and closed on the sides of the set. The apple trick was pretty cool too! Sitting on the front row, it was interesting to see how they made it happen and I was intrigued as to what happened to the apple once it rolled into the orchestra pit! I loved the part where the lighting sort of changed when Gomez was thinking out loud and how it changed when Morticia snapped him out of it the final time.
Overall, it was a fun filled afternoon of comedy and incredible music with an amazing cast! I think that the cast is one of the main selling points of the show but even if the cast wasn't so strong, the story and music was also really strong and the whole show was pulled together perfectly. I think my stand outs from the cast were Carrie Hope Fletcher, Cameron Blakely, Charlotte Page and Oliver Ormson (bit of a long list but hey) but the talent throughout the whole cast was just amazing! I found it super relatable, families arguing and all that, and even though I didn't know a whole lot about the Addams Family, the basics were explained during the introduction to the show. Oh and I also loved the branding of the programmes and merchandise! I was really impressed with the show and loved it from start to finish! I would without a doubt recommend it!
Thanks for reading! Sophie
