"The Addams Family" by Beeston Musical Theatre Group.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

You know when you sit in the theatre and as soon as the curtain opens and you start smiling, and then don't stop until the final bows? Well, that was me on Wednesday evening; my face muscles ached from smiling so much, and I had good cause to be like this.

OK, Full disclosure, this is one of the musicals that I would happily see over and over again and never tire of it because it's so much fun, and the soundtrack is brilliant.

The musical is from the pen of the multi award winning writers who created “The Jersey Boys”, again another musical that I’ve yet to experience.

The story is that Wednesday Addams, the Princess of Darkness, has grown up and she has a secret; a secret that’s only known by Gomez. She has fallen in love with a nice respectable young man, but will the secret be kept under wraps until the two families meet for dinner?

Evie May Evans plays Wednesday Addams, who finds her heart being pulled in a new direction. Her vocals are wonderful and so powerful. She gives a new meaning to OMG as for her it’s definitely a case of “Oh My Goth!" Evie looks amazing as Wednesday, even with that deadpan expression, and her voice is strong and powerful. Carrie Hope who?

Rob Stott-Marshall plays the object of Wednesday’s inflictions, sorry affections, Lucas Beineke. Incredibly likeable character who would die before living without her. Would he regret that statement though? Rob brings a wonderfully awkward and embarrassing side out of Lucas with his first proper meeting with Pugsley, trying to be cool but when he is with Wednesday there's a really nice chemistry with the craziness of being in love. 

Mother Morticia, played by Beth Yearsley, is elegant in the role. Cool, calm and very collected with an air of sophistication. She can sing, she can dance (great tango) and looks to die for. Beth is a wonderful singer in her own right, and when she commits to characters like Morticia, she brings out another fun side. For instance, take "Just Around The Corner", which opens the second act. It's one of those big numbers with some lovely comedic lines which allows Beth to bring her musicality skill to the fore. This particular scene is pure Hollywood, especially with the choreography for this piece. 

Chemistry is a big thing with this cast, because they all know each other so well and most have worked with each other before, so the chemistry is not forced in any way. That naturalness is in abundance with Beth and Adam, who plays Gomez.

Adam Guest was born to be Gomez. His comic timing is exquisite. His voice is pure character driven musical theatre in this role, and the accent never faltered or wandered. I saw Adam play Tevye in "Fiddler On The Roof" and that lovable father figure was uppermost in this role as well. The soundtrack is mainly fun songs, full of energy, but Adam gets to perform a gorgeous song showing the emotional tug of war that only a father feels as his daughter matures. "Happy Sad" is a fabulous song that requires just the right amount of comedy and emotional vocal ability, and Adam is perfect for bringing out both of these emotional sides of Gomez.

Rob Charles is Uncle Fester, and like all of these actors, I could guess which actor would play each character in this musical because the casting is spot on, every time. Rob was last seen in "A Chorus Line" in March of this year with The Cast, so it was really good to see Rob back on stage excelling in this comic role. Fester is a brilliant fun character who falls in love with the moon, and there's a lovely song in the musical called "The Moon And Me" which shows a sentimental side of this comedy character. Rob also learned to play the ukelele for this role, which he used to accompany himself, and he still has that wonderful playfulness in his character acting; his voice is as strong as ever, despite being away from the stage for a while. Hopefully, Rob will rein in his stage absences because he has such fun on stage, and that fun floods from the stage to the audiences.

Mina Holtom plays the ever kooky Grandma Addams. Brilliant characterisation role to add to her extensive and varied theatrical CV. Mina brings the eccentric to the stage family and I love the steampunk inspired costume for this trendy one hundred and two year old.

Arden-Caspar Jennison plays Pugsley and could never have been cast as anyone other than the little brother who loved to be tortured. I have stated on my radio show that Arden corners the market on playing characters quite a bit younger than himself, due to his youthful looks, and this perfectly proves the point as Wednesday's younger brother. Perfect casting. Pugsley is the typically annoying little brother, but he has his own reasons for not wanting Wednesday to get engaged to Lucas, as shown in his solo song "What If".

Lurch, the butler, is played by William Howarth. William is tall in any case but take a look at the shoes that he wears, they are built up by about three or four inches making Lurch tower over everyone else on stage. Wonderful physicality and even though I knew when the surprise with this character came in "Move Towards The Darkness", he still managed to make my smile even wider.

Lucas’s parents, Mal and Alice Beineke are played by Craig Arme and Charlotte Drewett-Holden. Lesser roles comparatively but nothing less than a majorly comedy duo. Charlotte really delivers the hidden side of the character's personality during the full disclosure section, and that is the catalyst for the change in her husband's character. These characters also show that Craig and Charlotte can do comedy as well as their other past roles.

The ensemble is made up of Daisy Forster, Charlotte Gelernter, Hannah Gorton, John Hand, Matt McAuley, Marie Nelson, Naomi Batley, Jaye Bonser, Victoria Bryan, Andy Bulmer, Sultan Chadhury, Jane Cottee, Sarah Dunbavand and Claire Ferrand-Preston.                  

The male principal dancers are Matt Charlton, Bobby Hughes, Joseph Straw and Ewan Waddell. The female principal dancers are Cibele Ponces Alvarenga, Alice Cammell, Eleanor Carty, Jenny Chatten, Maisie Cutts and Esther White with Dance Captains Jaye Bonser and Alice Cammell. This team made sure the stage was flooded with talent, making the choreography as well as the chorus even bigger.

Directed by Emily Owen, this show is very slick, and is of the same quality that you'd expect from a touring production. This is Emily's directorial debut.

Choreographed by Lu Anthony. This show is dance heavy so who better to choreograph than Lu, who is renowned for their choreographic flair, blending Hollywood with more contemporary style. Their choreographic skill is bore out by these talented dancers, especially in those big dance numbers like the "Overture", "Addams Theme", "When You're An Addams", "Full Disclosure" and "Move Towards The Darkness".

Musical Director for "The Addams Family" is Jake Gelernter. Shut away in the side room of the Duchess Theatre, if you didn't know that there were a twelve piece band in there, you'd have swore that the music was a lush set of backing tracks. But NO! All the music is played live and it sounds absolutely superb. The arrangements of the full company numbers are powerful in volume and sound like any big choir. The quartet arrangement for "Crazier than You" was wonderfully performed and I've not heard a better "Tango de Amor".

The set design by Emily Owen and Kenneth Howarth. Just take a look at the below photographs to get a feel of the amount of work that has gone into this area of production. Like every other area of this show, it's simply excellent.

The amazing array of costumes are managed by Mina Holton and when you look at the different costumes just for The Ancestors, never mind the main characters and ensemble, they are all stylish and novel. The Ancestors' costumes consist of a Pirate, Founding Father, a Ballerina, Crazy Cat Lady, an Edwardian Explorer, a Victorian Pie Maker of Dubious Morals, a Regency Lady, a Tavern Wench, an Air Hostess, Depressed Teenager and a Big House Zoo Keeper. 

Production and Stage Manager is Katie Bird. Another reason why this show is so slick.

Sound is by David Dallard. You could hear every single word with renewed clarity and, as far as I could tell, there were no mic issues. There was a time when these were in abundance at the Duchess, but they are all a thing of the past and the quality in this area has increased immensely. The sound mix is something to behold, especially with the mix between the band and the onstage vocalists.

Lighting by Dave Martin and tonight operated by Rachel Elphick. This light design and operation is excellent and the timing cues are extremely tight, making this show visually exciting as well as sounding wonderful.

From the brilliant Front of House crew via the hard working backstage crew to the sound, light, band, on stage performers and every person involved, this show is immaculately run, and the only thing that separates a production like this from a touring production is the cost of a ticket. No wonder there are only a handful of tickets left to grab for the rest of the run.

Beeston Musical Theatre Group are also collecting for their chosen charity throughout the week, so please give generously.

"The Addams Family" is at the Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 26 October. It's frighteningly good!!

Photography by Martin Holtom.