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<em>Addams Family</em> Enlists Star Director On Way to Broadway
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 29, 2009
Modified Dec 29, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 29, 2009
Modified Dec 29, 2009
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Could it be that the Broadway-bound musical adaptation of The Addams Family is just a tad dysfunctional? Reviewing the production's Windy City debut, The Chicago Tribune wrote, "Someone needs to stick a sharp pair of fireplace tongs into all the Gothic clutter that surrounds them in their overly weighty new musical." Other reviews were more positive—Variety calls it "theatrical comfort food, providing value for the consumer dollar"—but with $16.5 million sunk into the Broadway opening, producers aren't taking any chances. So they've brought in the big gun.
Tony Award-winning director Jerry Zaks has taken over, though producers insist the show's not in trouble, and no one on the creative team has left the show or been fired. Zaks has a winning track record, and he's worked well with star Nathan Lane in the past, directing him in Guys and Dolls in 1992 and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1996, for which Mr. Lane won a Tony Award. The promising cast also features Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia, Terrence Mann, and puppetry by the ingenious Basil Twist, so we're rooting for them. Previews begin March 4th.
Tagged
addams family
broadway
director
Jerry Zaks
musical
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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