‘Family’ fun

April 6, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

In some ways “The Addams Family” is better known for its ’60s finger-snapping sitcom theme song than any defining characteristic.

For Broadway legend Jerry Zaks, who got his start as an actor in the ’70s and has since directed more than 30 New York productions, the story represented the counter-culture commentary of artist Charles Addams, who for six decades created several thousand cartoons, sketches and drawings, many of which were published in The New Yorker.

“There’s something about ‘The Addams Family’ cartoons I’ve always loved, which is they’re always funny, and we identify with that little dark side in ourselves that we don’t want to admit,” said Zaks, calling from New York. When I saw ‘The Addams Family’ [musical] in Chicago, I loved the world it took place in. Certainly the TV series just opened up the notion of ‘The Addams Family’ to everyone and the movies parlayed that. It just seemed like an opportunity to make a good show. And I don’t mean opportunity in a business sense. I’m talking about why I do what I do. I thought, ‘Oh, this could be good.’ That’s what motivated me.”

That Windy City discovery took place in fall 2009 and by spring 2010, “The Addams Family” made its Broadway debut. The musical features a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. While Zaks is listed as the production supervisor, for all intents and purposes the talented visionary, who actually came through Cleveland in the early ’70s as Kenickie in the first national tour of “Grease,” was sent by producers to turn the Chicago project into a Big Apple success.

While “The Addams Family” ran for 18 months on Broadway, overcoming what Zaks described as “brutal” reviews early on, his involvement continues today with the production’s national tour, which makes its Northeast Ohio debut during an April 10-22 run at the Palace Theatre.

The plot revolves around the ghoulish family who must deal with Wednesday Addams’ new and decidedly normal boyfriend. Naturally the pyromaniac Gomez Addams, morbid Morticia Addams and oddball Uncle Fester turn a dinner party between the families into a night to remember.

This is probably the right time to bring up the elephant in the room shared by many diehard theatergoers and casual fans. “The Addams Family” musical? Really? What’s next, a musical of “Green Acres?” Seemingly, if you close your eyes you can already hear Arnold the Pig’s solo “It Ain’t Easy Being Pork.”

The point is, “The Addams Family” is part of a decade-long run of unexpected Broadway shows emanating from Hollywood. This includes ’80 film “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” ’90s movie “The Wedding Singer” and ’00s film “Catch Me If You Can” making their way to the big time.

So naturally, the notion of turning “The Addams Family” into a Broadway production invariably finds plenty of skeptics, none of which bother Zaks.

“You know what? You can have all of the skepticism you want, that’s perfectly fine,” Zaks said. “Everyone is entitled, but all I ask is when they come into the theater and the lights go down, they open themselves up to whatever it is and just give it a chance to work on them. If they go with the show, I think that’ll take care of the skepticism. That’s my hope.”