Tag Archives: London Palladium

THE ADDAMS FAMILY A MUSICAL COMEDY – LIVE IN CONCERT

★½

London Palladium

THE ADDAMS FAMILY – THE MUSICAL COMEDY – LIVE IN CONCERT at the London Palladium

★½

“pretty feeble stuff and – despite the talent of the cast”

The Addams Family – originally a single-panel comic before being reimagined in a whole host of television and film adaptions – has become a cult phenomenon. Thus, it was only a matter of time that the famous family would get the musical treatment, first performed on Broadway in 2010. Now, after a successful UK tour, The Addams Family: The Musical Comedy (directed by Matthew White with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa) premieres on the West End with two nights at the London Palladium as an ‘in concert’ show.

Patriarch Gomez Addams (Ramin Karimloo) faces a conflict with his wife Morticia (Michelle Visage, of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame) when their typically morose daughter Wednesday (Chumisa Dornford-May) asks him to keep her shotgun engagement to all-American boy Lucas (Ryan Kopel) a secret. When Lucas and his parents Mal and Alice (Sean Kingsley and Kara Lane respectively) come to dinner to get to know their soon-to-be in-laws, Wednesday’s younger brother Pugsley (Nicholas McLean) causes mischief in an effort to turn his sister’s attention back to him.

The plot is weak and highly cliched. Our three couples – Morticia and Gomez, Wednesday and Lucas, and Alice and Mal – all go through some (very) minor strife before expectedly making up. They all learn some generic advice from one another – how to be honest, how to let loose, and so forth. The audience’s investment can only be minimal when the stakes are so low.

The strongest of the cast are Sam Buttery as Uncle Fester and Dickon Gough as Lurch despite the latter having minimal lines. Dornford-May performs well as Wednesday – she has a great voice. Her interest in Lucas however is baffling – she even calls him the wrong name (Lewis) at one point though its unclear whether this was scripted.

“despite the talent of the cast – not much can be done to enliven such a boring storyline”

The chemistry between Visage and Karimloo is a little lacking. They play their own roles well but one is strained to believe in their relationship, especially given Gomez’s characterisation as the doting husband.

The songs are nearly entirely forgettable. There are some amusing lyrics – most notably in the song Trapped sung by Gomez – but overall, they are uninspired and often come out of nowhere Karimloo delivers strongly in his solos but any group singing fails to pack a punch. Whether this is due to weak microphones, shoddy sound design or lack of enthusiasm from the cast is unclear.

The set (designed by Diego Pitarch) is disappointing even for an in concert performance. A cardboard façade of the skyscraper-clad New York City skyline sits at the back of the stage and a static tarp with stars and a moon shrouds the back wall. And, well, that’s it. Chairs, tables and the odd torture device are wheeled on in a vague suggestion of different rooms in the Addams’ family mansion. Granted, the musical is only scheduled for two nights but anything to suggest the set was anymore than a cheap afterthought would have been appreciated.

The props similarly fail to pack a punch. They are clearly cheap – Visage fails to make a clearly cardboard coffin look heavy at one point – and frankly no fun. There are no surprise hands or creatures jumping out of boxes. No appearance of the family pet Socrates the Octopus – not even a tentacle! Poorly rendered birds on sticks are flown around the stage at one point – I thought they were meant to be some make-belief fluff monster.

The Addams Family: The Musical Comedy – Live in Concert is pretty feeble stuff and – despite the talent of the cast – not much can be done to enliven such a boring storyline.

 

THE ADDAMS FAMILY – THE MUSICAL COMEDY – LIVE IN CONCERT at the London Palladium

Reviewed on 12th February 2024

by Flora Doble

Photography by Pamela Raith

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DEATH NOTE – THE MUSICAL IN CONCERT | ★★★★ | August 2023

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

 

TRUE TALES OF SEX, SUCCESS AND SEX AND THE CITY

★★★½

London Palladium

TRUE TALES OF SEX, SUCCESS AND SEX AND THE CITY at the London Palladium

★★★½

“an enjoyable, if slightly twee, evening out with the women in your life”

And just like that, it’s thirty years since Sex and the City first appeared as Candace Bushnell’s original New York Observer column. In the intervening years there have been books, TV series and films all exploring the lives of single, professional, and sexually adventurous women in New York City. Bushnell has revealed she sold the screen rights to Sex and the City for $100,000 in the 90s and doesn’t receive royalties, so despite the show’s incredible success – she doesn’t see a penny. Instead, she has focused her career on being a writer, with books that have consistently appeared in the NY Times bestseller lists on publication.

Perhaps it’s the thirty year anniversary of the column, or that she’s feeling a new lust for life at 65, or something else entirely, but this year Candace Bushnell, who, at least in the UK, has a much less public profile than her on screen persona Carrie Bradshaw, is touring a one woman show offering to reveal the truth at the heart of her stories.

It’s a sell-out concept with extremely high production values. At least seven pairs of Louboutins, Manolos and more are bathed in the warm glow of their own spotlights lining the front of the stage, with more dressing shelves across the back. However, this shopaholic’s boudoir is disappointingly a bit more Elle Woods than fashion-forward Carrie Bradshaw.

“the content is engaging and will thrill any fans of the show”

In the 90s and even before, through columns in Cosmopolitan and other women’s magazines, it’s clear Candace was a trailblazer, a third wave feminist with Gloria Steinem as a childhood idol, talking frankly and openly about sex. But there’s been criticism of some of the content of the TV series by today’s standards of sex and gender politics. Despite this, Carrie and Candace Bushnell clearly still appeal to many women, with gaggles of girls of all ages queuing down Argyll Street in front of the London Palladium eager to hear from the real Carrie Bradshaw.

Bushnell struts on stage with a perfect blow out, candy red dress, bare legs and of course a matching pair of red Manolos. Even her presentation is expertly polished, but so much so that it feels unnaturally robotic – barely pausing for breath from one line to the next, intentional choreographed movements across the stage from, gasps fixing her mouth and eyes in wide ‘O’s for just a touch too long. Performance wise, it reads more children’s entertainer than mature, sophisticated adult. One can recognise something of Carrie in the way she speaks, her intonation and penchant for rhetorical questions, but it feels written-in to please the audience rather than an authentic reflection of Bushnell. I can’t help but wonder, is this another persona created to hide the real woman?

Despite the delivery, the content is engaging and will thrill any fans of the show. Bushnell tells of her romance with the real Mr Big and plays a game of ‘real or not real’ asking the audience to guess whether she really met Matthew McConaughey in Hollywood, or dated a senator. She reveals the lessons she’s learned from relationships – which are, on the whole, quite sadly cynical: men lie; if you don’t do it someone else will; people in relationships see what they want to see. They are all delivered with a grin and appear tongue in cheek but are a pretty sad indictment of dating. The one point of hope is Bushnell’s thesis that despite the trials and tribulations of relationships with men, your girlfriends – your Mirandas, Charlottes and Samanthas – will always be there for you.

All in all Bushnell provides the entertainment for an enjoyable, if slightly twee, evening out with the women in your life. Best enjoyed after a big bottle of wine and a Cosmo or two.


TRUE TALES OF SEX, SUCCESS AND SEX AND THE CITY at the London Palladium

Reviewed on 7th February 2024

by Amber Woodward

 

Click here for further tour dates

Previously reviewed at this venue:

DEATH NOTE – THE MUSICAL IN CONCERT | ★★★★ | August 2023

TRUE TALES OF SEX

TRUE TALES OF SEX

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page