You have to like Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane in the same show. How did she keep the costume on…that’s what I want to know…

A Review of the Broadway Play, The Addams Family

By Marilyn Baron
Petit Fours and Hot Tamales Writing Blog

Recently, my husband and I flew to New York to visit my daughter and we met my sister and her husband and my mother there. I was the designated trip planner, and it’s hard to come up with a Broadway play that I thought everyone would like or had never seen. We finally settled on The Addams Family, which was officially opening the weekend we arrived so there were no reviews available until the last minute. I purposely didn’t want to read the reviews before I saw the show, but when my husband handed me The Wall Street Journal with the review, I couldn’t resist. That critic and another one in The New York Times didn’t give the play a rave review.

Well, we already had the tickets and I was optimistic. I wanted to see Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. And we had great seats, just four rows back in the orchestra. We were a divergent group of six, representing various generations that included: my 20-something daughter, my husband and myself, (I won’t tell you our ages), my sister (or hers), our mother (especially not hers – let’s just say she’s a grandmother ten times over) and my brother-in-law’s cousin.

Well, apparently the bad reviews didn’t keep people away. The house was packed and everyone LOVED the show, my mother especially, which was worth the price of admission. It got a standing ovation. People clapped or snapped at the right time – ba-da-da-DUMP snap, snap. The reviewers claimed the songs weren’t memorable and the plot was predictable. But there’s a lot to be said for nostalgia and the strength of the Addams Family franchise. Theatergoers were really into the show. The special effects and the staging were wonderful and the acting (I thought) was superb. I appreciated the humor and thought the timing was perfect. I laughed a lot and I even stuck around the stage door for autographs. I thought it was a very smart, satisfying production.

There’s a lesson to be learned, I think, that can be applied to our writing. I’m unpublished, but I’m sure there are published writers who receive bad reviews of books that their loyal readers love. In my opinion, these reviewers are not always in touch with their readers. One reviewer did admit that the show would undoubtedly run until he was “older and grayer.” So what he was essentially saying was that the show didn’t live up to his lofty expectations but that it would probably be a popular success. From what I could gauge from the audience’s reaction, I have to agree with him.

Everyone has different tastes in movies, books and plays. So don’t let one or two bad reviews poison the well.

My recommendation: Go see this show!

I’d be interested in comments from other people who enjoyed this show.

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Marilyn Baron

Having seen the show in Chicago last November, I knew that some of the numbers would be changed. The show was good abd Bebe Neuwirth wasn’t that bad as some people have indicated. I will have to get the cast album to see what changes were made, as I will not be in NYC until November, and if still running will see again, plus “Love Never Dies”, just received the cast album and it is wonderful.