Mayflower Theatre, Southampton – until 29 July. Reviewed by Karen Millington Burnet
We arrived in Southampton to torrential rain, thunder and lightening criss-crossing the sky – a wonderfully atmospheric start to The Addams Family; we were in the mood for a great family outing! Arriving at the front door to the Mayflower soaked to the skin we discovered we had turned up to the wrong night but the Mayflower once again pulled out all the stops and found us great seats in the Stalls; there really is not a bad seat in the house. Consistently this theatre really puts its guests first.
The production opened to the gates to the family house and Les Dennis’ Fester setting the tone and standard, introducing the family to the audience to the iconic Addams Family theme tune. Special praise for the orchestra who really engaged the audience from the start and very soon we were all clicking our fingers! Frankly, Fester was the man of the match though his top spot was challenged by Cameron Blakely’s Gomez who helped maintain a steady clip and by Lurch with his excellent comic timing and wonderful bass solo. Samantha Womack’s Morticia was excellent and sang beautifully, however, there was something which just didn’t finish it all off for me; it may have been me, it may have been the weather, it may have been the odd mishap (we think there must have been a malfunction at one point when the stage action didn’t match the sound effects) or it may have been a few of the weaker characters (such as Kerry Hope Fletcher’s Wednesday) who just let down a cast of generally huge talent. The Chorus were excellent and top marks to the Wardrobe for their efforts: great costumes. My 13 year old son was critical of the Tech Crew – by which I think he meant the lighting team – as the lights seemed to miss the characters at critical moments.
Once again the interval ice cream was a delight!
We really enjoy our visits to the Mayflower and hope to return again soon and frequently – in fact, the Theatre itself (the staff – who looked after us as we arrived sodden, the security personnel who checked us in at the beginning and the management) are the real stars of the evening. A huge thank you to them once again…