Leigh Operatic and Dranatic Society invited us to 'Meet The Family' in their most recent production at the Palace Theatre in Southend, The Addams Family.
Considering the popularity of the 60s television show and the 90s films, it was a brave choice to try and recreate the well loved characters as many people, myself included, would have strong expectations as to how the characters should look and what they should sound like.
However I needn't have worried, as LODS proved once again they are more than able to take well loved characters and recreate them with accuracy.
Neil Lands had the difficult task of recreating the patriarch of the family, Gomez. He did this with a degree of passion needed for the role, speaking and singing with the appropriate accent throughout, which cannot have been easy. There were one or two moments when it was possible he had missed a line of a song, as there was a slight pause, but perhaps I was wrong on this as I do not know the songs.
Helen Sharpe played Gomez's wife Morticia with an air of cold indifference, essential for the role, throughout and gave a flawless performance.
Rebecca Wallace had the difficult job of playing the character of Wednesday who, in the story portrayed, was split between the unemotional Wednesday known in the tv series and films and a young lady falling in love, which she did very well.
Playing the loveable and childlike character of Uncle Fester was Barry Jones, who was, in my opinion, the stand out actor. His superb characterisation within scenes and when addressing the audience was excellently executed.
Of the two actors listed in the programme as playing Puglsey, I saw young Alex Reed. He had an excellent singing voice but did at times seem a little awkward on the stage, not knowing where to look, but this is not surprising. For a 12 year old lad, he did an excellent job.
Completing the family unit was Sarah Kelleway as Grandma. This was a smaller role, but she played with such relish it was captivating to watch.
All of the other main characters, also played their parts well. Simon Sharpe, Laura Hurrell and Matthew Giles as the 'normal' Beineke family played their parts excellently in counterpoint to the abnormality of the Addams'. Finally a special mention has to go to Peter Brown who played the mostly silent character of Lurch. His mime upon meeting the Beineke family was comedy gold.
The rest of the cast made up the Ancestors and sang, danced and acted fantastically throughout. Of these, I would like to specifically mention the guy dressed in a Tudor costume and the ladies in basques as ancestors who stood out with their brilliant characterisations.
Of the songs, there were several that stood out as being extremely well performed, these included When You're an Addams, Trapped, The Moon and Me and Full Disclosure, with this final song being the one that I was singing on the way out.
With regards to the staging, there were several elements I though were used well. The video screen at the very start of the show finally revealing the cast, was excellent, as was the execution of the cameo roles of Thing and Cousin It. I also liked the dragon under Pugsley's bed, the blue light for Fester's song, and the use of the ancestors as trees.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this show and look forward to the next outing of LODS, which is due in October of this year with Ghost the Musical.
Considering the popularity of the 60s television show and the 90s films, it was a brave choice to try and recreate the well loved characters as many people, myself included, would have strong expectations as to how the characters should look and what they should sound like.
However I needn't have worried, as LODS proved once again they are more than able to take well loved characters and recreate them with accuracy.
Neil Lands had the difficult task of recreating the patriarch of the family, Gomez. He did this with a degree of passion needed for the role, speaking and singing with the appropriate accent throughout, which cannot have been easy. There were one or two moments when it was possible he had missed a line of a song, as there was a slight pause, but perhaps I was wrong on this as I do not know the songs.
Helen Sharpe played Gomez's wife Morticia with an air of cold indifference, essential for the role, throughout and gave a flawless performance.
Rebecca Wallace had the difficult job of playing the character of Wednesday who, in the story portrayed, was split between the unemotional Wednesday known in the tv series and films and a young lady falling in love, which she did very well.
Playing the loveable and childlike character of Uncle Fester was Barry Jones, who was, in my opinion, the stand out actor. His superb characterisation within scenes and when addressing the audience was excellently executed.
Of the two actors listed in the programme as playing Puglsey, I saw young Alex Reed. He had an excellent singing voice but did at times seem a little awkward on the stage, not knowing where to look, but this is not surprising. For a 12 year old lad, he did an excellent job.
Completing the family unit was Sarah Kelleway as Grandma. This was a smaller role, but she played with such relish it was captivating to watch.
All of the other main characters, also played their parts well. Simon Sharpe, Laura Hurrell and Matthew Giles as the 'normal' Beineke family played their parts excellently in counterpoint to the abnormality of the Addams'. Finally a special mention has to go to Peter Brown who played the mostly silent character of Lurch. His mime upon meeting the Beineke family was comedy gold.
The rest of the cast made up the Ancestors and sang, danced and acted fantastically throughout. Of these, I would like to specifically mention the guy dressed in a Tudor costume and the ladies in basques as ancestors who stood out with their brilliant characterisations.
Of the songs, there were several that stood out as being extremely well performed, these included When You're an Addams, Trapped, The Moon and Me and Full Disclosure, with this final song being the one that I was singing on the way out.
With regards to the staging, there were several elements I though were used well. The video screen at the very start of the show finally revealing the cast, was excellent, as was the execution of the cameo roles of Thing and Cousin It. I also liked the dragon under Pugsley's bed, the blue light for Fester's song, and the use of the ancestors as trees.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this show and look forward to the next outing of LODS, which is due in October of this year with Ghost the Musical.