The Addams Family Visits Manila

Last, November 23, 2013, I was able to watch The Addams Family A New Musical at Meralco Theater. And to simplify things, the performance was wonderful. I will use my newly learned skills to critique the show.

Let me start with its comparison to the Chicago preview and the Broadway show which were both uploaded in Youtube few years back.  In the Philippine adaptation of the show, four original songs were removed and replace – these were the ‘Where Did We Go Wrong’ (sang by Morticia and Gomez, wondering whether they raised Wednesday right because of her sudden liking for a “normal” boy), the‘Morticia’ (which Gomez sang as he pined for Morticia who declined his request for tango), the ‘Let’s Not Talk About Anything Else But Love’ (sang by Gomez, Mal, and Fester) and its reprise (sang by Gomez, Fester, and Grandma), and finally, ‘In The Arms’ (sang by Mal for Alice after having a moment with Bernice, the pet giant squid of the Addams family). These songs were replaced by differently worded songs to the tune of the Broadway preview’s ‘Passionate and True’, and the album’s ‘Crazier Than You’ and ‘What If’ (though both songs were also used in the Philippine adaptation).

The additional song that I really love was Gomez's "There Are Two Things I Will Never Do". It's just so funny. The song talked about Gomez being torn between his love for his daughter and his wife. Gomez sang this when Wednesday asked him not to tell Morticia that she is engaged. The song went "There are two things I will never do. Say no to my wife and say no to my daughter." Then when Morticia tried to confront him, Gomez had a rendition of the song, making it "There Are Three Things I Will Never Do", in which he enumerated the three as "Lying to my daughter, lying to my wife, and telling either of them the truth." There was actually an attempt to do a third rendition, creating "There Are Four Things I Will Never Do", but Morticia stopped him ("Gomez, stop doing that").

Most of the choreographies were changed, which was not bad at all. After seeing the Chicago preview and the Broadway show on Youtube, a new choreography is rather pleasing to the eyes. The book was also modified, merging some of the script of the Chicago preview with the script of the Broadway show, and also having additional script. The story itself was modified a bit as well, instead of Gomez and Morticia being caught off guard to Wednesday and Lucas’s engagement, the Philippine adaptation had Morticia the one to be caught off guard and Gomez knew all about the engagement. Gomez’s Full Disclosure was different as well, making me miss the goat, plum, and crow humor of Gomez, but still, Gomez was wonderful as always.

Now let’s go to the technicals – lights, sounds, set and props, and costumes. The play of lights was simply wonderful, most especially during the opening number (‘When You’re an Addams’). The lights gave the whole show the perfect drama each scene requires. And as a student studying DRM102 (Directing and Production), I cannot wait to get my hands on the technical table, especially the lights panel and experiment on it. Now to the sounds… my golly, the sounds were spectacular. Last Saturday, I realized why the tickets were prized as such, the orchestra was live! Each cent I spent to watch the production was just worth it, the performance itself was wonderful and to have a live orchestra – it was just perfect! Frankly, I did not know that there will be a live orchestra, but when I saw a man tuning his bass, I realized that the accompaniment was live and I knew right then and there that I was in for a wonderful show (and I was not disappointed). The set and props were as amazing as the performance itself. I just love to see the backdrops dropping and rising from the pulleys attached to the ceiling above the stage (what on earth were they called? Sorry!). The dead trees were realistically made, actually, everything looked real. I especially liked the couch and the side table with a bust, it looked just like the one used in the Broadway show. But what I liked the most was the ‘Pulled’ scene. I love the effect of how Pugsley was electrocuted by Wednesday. And finally the costumes, the most notable costume was Morticia’s. It was different from Bebe Neuwirth’s and Brooke Shields’s which was purplish-black. The biggest difference in Eula Valdez’s costume was the wired hem of the dress. I believe that the production wanted to recreate the old cartoon’s dress, but I feel Morticia had a hard time walking in that dress. However, for the second act, Morticia had a different dress, allowing her to dance for the ‘Just Around the Corner’ and the ‘Tango de Amor’. And Morticia was just so sexy during the ‘Tango de Amor’, when she pulled her dress up, revealing her legs (“Mi Amor! Creature of constant surprises, you have legs!” Gomez said). The other casts’ costumes were appropriate for their character, most especially Grandma. I also found Lurch’s heeled shoes cute, I do not know why.

Finally, to my favorite part, the show itself! I was not disappointed at all. The performance lived up to my expectations. Eula Valdez was sublime as Morticia, I totally envy her figure. After those famous people who portrayed Morticia – Carolyn Jones, Anjelica Huston, Bebe Neuwirth, and Brooke Shields, she ranked up to the perfect Morticia (in my scale). Arnell Ignacio was just perfect for Gomez. You can see none of his comedian self as Gomez, he was simply… well, Gomez. K-La was another story, but I cannot comment much on her since last Saturday was the first time I saw her perform. The same comment goes to most of the cast. Nyoy Volante was surprisingly good. I honestly did not see him as an actor, how much more as an old woman. Watching him as Grandma made me almost forgot that the actor doing Grandma was indeed a man. But the person who really mesmerized me was Carla Guevara-Laforteza who played Alice Beineki. She was such a wonderful actress with a very powerful voice. Of all the songs in the show, I believe that the hardest song to sing was ‘Waiting’ and Ms. Carla Guevara-Laforteza did it so well. When I was watching the Chicago preview on Youtube, I did not care much about Alice, but after seeing her perform, I fell in love with Alice. And I think I have a new idol.

For those who are theater fanatics like me, I suggest you watch The Addams Family A New Musical. The show really is worth watching.