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Addams family show is kooky, entertaining
By LORRAINE WARDLE
YOUNGSTOWN
Everyone knows the Addams family. You know, creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky. Surprisingly, they’re also musically inclined.
In the latest offering at Top Hat Productions, “Dinner with the Addams,” the family is as odd and zany as you remember them. The show is a dinner-theater affair, complete with audience participation.
The entertainment begins as soon as audience members enter the theater, announced by butler Lurch and escorted to their dinner table. The Addamses arrive and welcome everyone to their important family event, the one night each year when their deceased ancestors return from the grave.
The family sings and dances throughout the evening, while the audience is treated to drinks, dinner and dessert.
Family patriarch, Gomez, is played with zest by Bill Marr. Marr had an excellent stage presence and singing voice.
Carlos E. Rivera Jr. was a very funny Uncle Fester. Rivera channeled the original Uncle Fester, replicating his strange voice and posture perfectly.
Julie Palumbo embodied the slinky, sultry Morticia with fluid movements and regal bearing. Palumbo sang and danced impressively and amazed the audience with acrobatics.
Julie DeSalvo and Jack Kuzcek were great as siblings Wednesday and Pugsley. Each looked the part perfectly and sang very well.
Anna Marshall was perfect as Grandmama, from her wobbly walk to her crackly voice. She kept the audience laughing with her potion creations and other Addams-y antics.
Jerry Zetts was an appropriate Lurch, very stiff and solemn, with a groaning voice.
Rounding out the cast are a host of Addams ancestors in ghostly attire and a cameo by family pet, Thing, played by Joe Marshall.
Director Brian Palumbo led the small but impressive orchestra who played all the live music for the show. Palumbo even joined the cast for a rousing musical number.
The Fairview Arts and Outreach Center is an ideal venue for the spooky dinner- theater event, with an open dining floor and a stage at one end. Palumbo and his crew transformed the former church into a dark and spooky setting, reminiscent of a set for the “Addams Family” television show or movie. Palumbo incorporated some fun special effects that kept the audience on their toes.
Palumbo, owner of Selah restaurant, also provided the dinner for the evening, a choice of chicken or fish, wild rice and broccoli, and a scrumptious chocolate cupcake for dessert.
As the audience ate, the cast mingled and made conversation, remaining in character and involving audience members in the entertainment.
The only drawback to the evening was the sound system. Throughout the musical numbers, it was difficult to understand all of the lyrics. But, overall, the production was engaging and enjoyable.
“Dinner with the Addams” provides a creepy, kooky and altogether entertaining evening of fall fun.
“Dinner with the Addams” plays Friday and Saturday and Oct. 27 and 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the Fairview Arts and Outreach Center, 4220 Youngstown Poland Road. Call 1-800-838-3006 or visit www.brownpapertickets.com to make reservations.