Nathan Lane on Vacation from The Addams Family
admin | Aug 22, 2010 | Comments 16
Nathan Lane will be on vacation from The Addams Family Musical next week, August 24 thru 29. We’d love to hear from anyone who’s seeing the show with Merwin Foard in as Gomez. 
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Last Wednesday, Nathan Lane was out and I saw Merwin Foard. He wasn’t as funny as Nathan Lane, and he didn’t have that hilarious accent. He just had a normal deep voice. Besides that little difference, he was good. Definitely no Nathan Lane though. I’m going again soon, I hope I get Lane.
I was also at that performance. We’d planned the trip 3 months in advance, purchased full price front row seats and flew 1000 miles to see Nathan Lane in Addams Family.
Quite a disappointment to not see him.
The rest of the cast & Merwin Foard did a good job with the show but I won’t be sending people to see it if Nathan Lane isn’t going to be there. The part of Gomez seems to be tailored specifically to Nathan Lane and the show suffers from his absence.
Things happen and performers are called out of the show, we actors do read these blogs about the show. Since the reviews were mostly negative we like to hear the thoughts of the audiences. Sorry that you were disappointed, but these things happen. Sometimes it is the actors choice and sometimes it is not.
I saw Merwin Foard play the part of Gomez last November in Chicago. He did a fabulous job–especially given that it was on VERY short notice. He was funny and had a Latin accent, not a “normal” one.
It went well with the role he played, and with that lovely, deep, full singing voice of his. He wasn’t performing “Nathan Lane”. Nathan Lane does that well enough.
I’ll agree with Scott in saying that the part of Gomez seems to be tailored specifically to Mr. Lane. And, if anything, I think the show suffers from this tailoring and the subsequent under-use of at least two of its Tony nominated performers: Terrence Mann and Carolee Carmello.
However, I’d pay to see it again (if I lived close enough to make it feasible) as long as Mr. Mann, Mrs. Carmello and Mr. Foard were performing. It was an enjoyable show.
I’d like to add that I also saw the show in New York and so I saw Mr. Lane in the role as well.
Loved it. Missed Nathan,but Mr. Foard did a fabulous job. Probably more true to the Gomez role anyway. I come to see Nathan, just to see Nathan, but every thing that he does is Nathan!
I saw Addams Family last night with Merwin Foard as Gomez and I loved him! I thought he was great and I didn’t even miss Nathan Lane, and that says a lot for Merwin Foard because I love Nathan Lane..Before the show there were a few that were shocked Nathan Lane wasn’t going to be there and they were not happy. However, during the intermission it was a different story, they were quite surprised that Merwin did a great job….Why hasn’t Broadway picked up on what a great Leading Star he is……? I can’t say enough about how great the show was. Thanks for a great night.
My family and I went to see the Addams Family last night and we were NOT disappointed!
Merwin was immense! Such a showman and a really down to earth guy. Stood at stage door talking to us for what seemed like ten minutes! Absolutely fantastic night at the theatre!
We also saw the August 25th show and were immensely disappointed. As stated in one of the previous comments, we paid an insane amount of money to be close to the front and specifically to see Nathan Lane. Mr. Foard is a fine performer, and the rest of the cast was wonderful, but he wasn’t NATHAN LANE. (We also felt that Bebe Neuwirth didn’t match well with Mr. Foard – that she and Nathan probably were cast because they truly complement each other.) I understand that actors deserve time off and will sometimes become ill, but when the theatre/production company knows in advance that the headliner won’t be performing, it is irresponsible to sell full-price tickets using the headliner to attract attendance. This sanctioned “bait and switch” practice will prevent us from traveling to New York any time soon to see any performance. If the theatre community wants to know why attendance is down, here’s one reason why.
To not travel to NY because of a disappointment with one show is a bit dramatic, isn’t it? How in the world can the “theater community” ensure that every star of every show is on stage for every fan’s visit? It’s unfortunate that you purchased your tickets before Mr. Lane planned his vacation, but when it was known he would be out, there was certainly no secret about it. And since his name does appear before the title of the show, you could have gotten your money back and spent it on a show where the “star” was definitely performing.
Anyone who spends “an insane” amount of money on a ticket for a broadway show better be sure they still want to see the show if the “star” is out.
Sorry if this seems like a rant, but this post just got me going. And I am sorry, Rosemary, that you were so disappointed.
Just fyi, and few people know this, if the Number One headliner is not appearing, you CAN get a full refund of the show price. In this case, Bebe and Nathan Lane are sharing top billing. If either one of them is not there, you can receive a full refund.
However, I am happy to hear that Merwin Foard does such a great job and would still see the show if Nathan Lane were not there.
I came out from Colorado with my 3 children to see the Addams Family over Father’s Day weekend. This was my children’s first “Broadway” show (and first trip to NYC)and they were really excited to see “Timon” (they are 5, 8, and 10).
Mr. Foard was wonderful, but Mr. Lane was who my children really wanted to see, and they were quite sad that he was not there. We are now planning another trip out over president’s day weekend, hopefully Mr. Lane will be at the performance.
Lisa, I’ll be sure to post here if I hear of any planned vacations for Lane or Bebe. I know you probably wouldn’t change your plans, but at least you’d be prepared in case you wanted to get your money back.
Thanks for sharing on the blog!
Thank you so much! I have our tickets for the 2/19 matinée, we are SO excited! We were very fortunate to see the fabulous cast minus Mr. Lane in June, so we are keeping our fingers crossed he will be there then.
We just saw the show without Nathan Lane tonight. Even though we were initially disappointed, we were quite pleased with Merwin Foard and his performance. We hope that Mr. Lane is well and was just taking some time off.
I sae Mr. Foard in the 2/9/11 performance of the Addams family, and I was suprised at how good the show was without Lane. Lane is a good actor, but I am glad to see that the show has a chance of surviving without him. I would have loved to see Nathan in the show, but I am an actor too, and knows how it goes….I think Mr. Foard was amazing and hope to see him in more shows in the furture