The Addams Family at The Ruth

I joke that The Addams Family is practically a requirement this time of year so I went to a production at The Ruth last night and it is by far the best version of this show I've seen!  The Addams family is not like other families because they are all obsessed with the macabre and rely on their dead ancestors to hep them through life.  Things start to go wrong when Wednesday (Beatriz Melo) falls in love with a normal Midwestern boy named Lucas Beineke (Ben Hansen) and decides to introduce his uptight parents, Mal (Josh Tenney) and Alice (Brandalee Bluth Streeter), to her family, including Gomez (Benjamin J. Henderson), Morticia (Ashley Gardner Carlson), Pugsley (Caleb Gordon), Uncle Fester (Joseph Paul Branca), Grandma (Annadee Morgan), and Lurch (Thomas Wood).  She arranges a dinner and begs her family for one normal night.  Of course, chaos ensues when a mishap involving a poisonous potion occurs so it is up to Uncle Fester, with the help of the ancestors, to convince everyone that love is the answer.  I loved everyone in the cast but I will highlight my three favorite performances (which happen to be by three of my favorite local actors).  Melo is one of the best Wednesdays I've seen because she has a beautiful voice but she also has a lot of sass so her renditions of "Pulled" and "Crazier Than You" are incredibly compelling and are the highlights of the show.  Carlson is literally the perfect Morticia because she looks very sultry in her long black dress and she has a flawless deadpan delivery.  She is also an amazing dancer and is very entertaining to watch in "Just Around the Corner" and "Tango de Amor."  Branca is so much fun as Fester (I love him in every role I've seen him play) because you can't take your eyes off him as he gleefully runs around the stage delivering one clever ad-lib after another (the line about coming out of the closet made me laugh out loud).  His rendition of "The Moon and Me" is hilarious, especially when he flies!  The ancestors (Bronwell Merrill, Emily West, McKenna Lorane Wright, Mandy Taylor, Garrett Manning, Brock Sorenson, Dallin Curtis, and Mason Lance) are used more in this production than any other I've seen and they have some really fun choreography, particularly the Pas de Quatre by the men in "Trapped" and an impressive kick-line in a pinwheel formation in "Just Around the Corner." I also loved the costumes for the ancestors (my favorite is a downed pilot with an unopened parachute).  The stage, which has been reconfigured to create two runways that extend into the audience, is absolutely spectacular and allows for some fun staging opportunities (definitely keep your eye on Thing).  The sets are all practical (my favorite is the crypt) but there are also several ingenious videos shown at various times.  Even if you have seen this show before, this version is not to be missed because it will blow you away!  It runs at the Smith Grand Theater through October 31 and tickets may be purchased here.

Note:  This was my third show in three days!  I enjoyed all of them.