"The Addams Family"

Nottingham Theatre Royal

Wednesday Addams has fallen in love with a young man called Lucas Bieneke and wants to run off and marry him. She has told her father, Gomez, that Lucas and his parents, Mal and Alice, are coming round for a meal so that they can meet, and accept the rest of her family. The only thing is, can Gomez keep this secret from Morticia until after the meal? And will the secret be let out of the bag after their family game, Full Disclosure has been played by all? Will brother Pugsley's plan to disrupt the game come to fruition, as he has reason for his sister Wednesday and Lucas not to be an item?

It's a frightfully good story, not too brain taxing, and it's suitable for all ages.

The sets, by Diego Pitarch are great fun, with an almost comic book feel and a staircase that can be manoeuvred easily to create several entrance and exit points depending on the setting for the scene.

Cameron Blakely portrays Gomez with plenty of energy and humour and a pair of mobile eyebrows. At no time do his eyebrows ever leave his face though! A wonderfully comic role played just as it should be played.

I've seen Joanne Clifton in a few musicals now and not only does her professional dance skills used to great effect in all that I've seen her with, but she has a really good voice as well, a voice that could have been made for musical theatre. Being on Strictly as one of the professional dancers means that when she performs something like the tango in this show, you know that you are in for something really special, which is exactly what you get with "Tango De Amor".

It's also quite magical when with just a wig, make up and costume you can transform an actor to look and behave like someone completely different, and that is the case with Joanne. Brilliant wig et al.

Wednesday Addams, who I last saw professionally played by Carrie Hope Fletcher, this time around was played by Kingsley Morton, and what a powerful set of lungs this woman has. With great ease her vocals soar with enough power to light up the theatre.

Brother Pugsley is played by Grant McIntyre. Now I don't know how old Grant is in real life but looks to be portraying a slightly older Pugsley, possible teenage Pugsley, but I tell you what, he has a really controlled vocal ability, highlighted by his solo, "What If". He may look slightly older than some of the Pugsley's I've seen in the past but he has got the sound of a young Pugsley just right, especially with his screams of pleasure in "Pulled".

Someone who you would not recognise in the street from this production is Scott Paige who plays Uncle Fester. Thanks to the brilliant make up team for this show, Fester looks nothing like Scott. A brilliant part played brilliantly, who you will fall in love with over his infatuation with his love of the moon.

Grandma Addams is played by Valda Aviks, and another amazing job done by the make-up, wig and costume team.

One of my favourite characters in "The Addams family" has always been Lurch. In this production Lurch is played by Dickon Gough. I have mentioned that this cast have really good vocals but Dickon blows everyone, well almost everyone, out of the water with his deep bass voice, showcased in "Move Towards The Darkness". Great pace, which extracts more comedy from the show and the role, and when he finally gets to air his vocals, after the majority of the show we hear just grunts, he gets the "wow!" affect. He is also quite scary in character as well!

Lucas Beineke is played by Ahmed Hamad, and for me it's his vocals that made me take notice. He is very easy to listen to and his duet with Kingsley Morton in "Crazier Than You" was really well matched.

Sean Kingsley played Mal Beineke, and I really enjoyed the way his character reverted back to the "old Mal". From where I sat though I could not tell if the T Shirt was a Grateful dead T Shirt, not a big deal but I loved the rockier Mal just as much as the Mal we first saw.

Alice Beineke is a brilliant character, again the transition from the rhyming, under the thumb Alice to sexy, in control Alice is one of my favourites in "The Addams Family" and I can bet that Kara lane just loves this part. And Kara also has an amazingly powerful voice.

A supporting cast of spooky ancestors who cannot get back to their resting places until they make sure that love does indeed run smoothly for all, are all great fun to watch and they hav​e some wonderfully choreographed pieces. And I also thought that one of the ancestors looked just a little bit familiar and after checking the programme was proven correct when I saw Sario Solomon's name who was in "The Band" after winning a part in the BBC TV talent show "Let It Shine".

As I have mentioned how good the choreography is, I really need to mention that this was the work of Alistair David.

Love the soundtrack and it leaps into life under the Musical Direction of Richard Beadle. "When You're An Addams", "Pulled", "One Normal Night", "What If", "Full Disclosure", "Just Around The Corner", "Crazier Than You" and "Move Towards The Darkness" are all musical theatre earworms for me, and I know for others there tonight as well as I heard various medleys of these songs being hummed as I left the theatre surrounded by many very happy customers and theatre lovers.

"The Addams Family" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 13 November.