Plymouth Theatre Review

Easy to Follow: 5/5

Family Friendly: 4/5

Must See: 5/5

Title: The Addams Family Musical

Venue: The Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth

Date: 19–22 March 2025

Fun for the whole family and Halloween-loving friends alike (with a mild PG warning for a few raunchy jokes!), America’s favourite family of oddballs came to visit Plymouth, bringing quirky charm and macabre humour to the stage. The knockout vocal performances and voracious dance numbers left the audience cheerfully humming through the rest of the week! 

The show opens with the exterior of the iconic Addams Family mansion, a classically ghoulish silhouette made three-dimensional and very much brought to life, even more so once the façade breaks open in a doll’s house-like reveal, adding multiple areas to our on-stage world. Adorned with careful finishing touches, including a large family portrait of the cast over the central fireplace, I absolutely loved the attention to detail – effective and visually inventive. The simple yet genuinely well-executed concept of the doll’s house-like staging really was an appropriate first visual of the labour of love to come – it was a fitting first look at the craftsmanship and care behind this production. As the big opening number commences (performed by a live band in hooded outfits) we are immediately transported to the kooky, spooky world of these beloved characters. Assisted by our costumed musicians, with their flourishing execution of the classically inspired score, this added an immersive touch to an incredibly creative production. While there were a few minor issues with cue timing and musician costume continuity (not everyone had their hoods up in the second act!), the musicians brought energy and theatrical flair that deepened the atmosphere of the show.

There was a lot to see throughout, with so many notable moments. Among the many standout performances, Lauren Ash-Byrne delivered a commanding performance as Morticia. Her sassy and purposeful facial expressions, expertly smooth ‘float walk’ and incredible vocal control – singing not a note off-key (while dancing!) in a corset – was something special to behold. Ash-Byrne simply shone as Morticia, especially in her solo ‘Just Around the Corner’ – a sure highlight, showcasing her poise and deep commitment to character as she embodied this much-loved gothic character. Likewise, Josh Frost’s Gomez was magnetic from his first entrance. As soon as Gomez enters, he steals the limelight, and alongside Morticia, their on-stage chemistry and strong vocal performances add wonderfully to the melting pot of Addams Family mayhem. Frost was endlessly watchable. His chemistry with Ash-Byrne was palpable, and their duet choreography, especially during the tango, was both precise and passionately executed. With a nicely fitted suit to boot, Frost didn’t have a note or quip off-key. Clearly inspired by Raúl Julia’s accent and flavour of Gomez, it suited him very well, leaving lots of room for laughs with some cheeky comedic timing (on the second night ad-libbing somewhat and receiving absolute roars from the crowd,). It was lovely to see him take on the character of Gomez and have an absolute ball with it! 

The rest of the main cast outshone each other at every turn. Wednesday (played by Millie Partridge) was well-suited to her role vocally, and she gave a successfully cheeky performance complementing the energy of the rest of her fellow cast. Despite some minor mic issues, she carried on like a true professional, never faltering or allowing this to get in her way. Her voice suits musical theatre well and she clearly had a lot of fun with her solo song ‘Pulled’, managing to hit her belting notes (despite struggling a little with breath control) whilst moving around the stage. Lukas Simmonds portrayed the naïve and comedic Lucas Beineke, and I was impressed by Simmonds’ line delivery even in the non-comedy moments. I think he might do well to move away from comedy and into some more serious monologuing roles; his sincerity and naturalistic delivery took me off-guard, and I’d love to see more. His chemistry with Wednesday was realistic and believable and he was a great match to play alongside Partridge.

Creative casting choices paid off brilliantly, particularly in the gender-swapped roles. Meredith Perry as Mal Beineke, complete with a deliberately comic fake moustache, embraced the part with confidence and humour, creating space for improvised laughs and genuine audience engagement. A mishap with the fake moustache added a couple of unintentional laughs and a fun opportunity for the actor to ad-lib, creating some fantastic natural, off-the-cuff moments and more laughs from the audience too. It was clear this cast was having fun, even in unplanned moments, which only endeared us to the performers further. Pugsley, played by Amy Slight, had notable chemistry with Ash-Byrne, and her comedic timing in their scenes together was really engaging. Due to a timing issue with the band, her solo got a little squandered on one of the nights – however, she recovered well and still pushed through to deliver a skilled performance. Slight surprised us with impressive execution on all her songs, and her portrayal of Pugsley was funny and captivating. The choice to cast these actors in male roles clearly paid off.

Alice Beineke, played by Katie Heard, gave a super animated performance that completely absorbed all my attention whenever she was on stage. Her manic Stepford wife-Esque embodiment of this character added so much to the ensemble, and it was the cherry on top every time she flawlessly hit each note and the choreography of her numbers with such passion. Grandma Addams, played by Ceri Taylor, simply shone, and her manic laugh throughout scenes brought much hilarity to the piece. She nailed the kooky facial expressions of her character – you can see why she’d been given this part. The lines may be scattered, but the right person really must be picked to steal the show with her singing and acting parts. Taylor looked like she had a lot of fun and her confidence in embodying such a quirky character was great to see. I absolutely adored Alex Clegg, who played Fester in such a sweet, goofy and wholesome way, and he did a great job reminding you how integral and present the character is in the story. Lending his voice to the show as a flawless addition to the cast, his natural interaction with the ancestors and competence as a narrative hand-holder throughout the show made him a constant presence that lifted each scene. I found myself anticipating when he would next appear! Oscar Thomson managed to embody Lurch with an appropriate flatness yet still harmonised well alongside Gomez and the rest of the cast. He really had his time to shine towards the end, producing a flawless baritone – a surprising twist to new viewers of the production, and yet again adding to the list of talented voices in the cast. With a cast so strong, special mention must also go to the Flapper Ancestor, played superbly by Sofia Ferreira – she caught my eye with such an expressive performance. I hope to see her front and centre in future productions!

I can’t stress enough the thought and time that must have been put into the entire cast’s choreography. From background to foreground, and in every solo moment, each step was clearly and very carefully rehearsed to perfection – everyone was on point (and if they weren’t, they played it off well!). The light-up parasols used in the dark parts of ‘The Moon and Me’ were a delightful visual, the only drawback being that when one of the ancestors missed their cue to switch theirs on, it shattered the immersion quickly. This issue seemed to be gone by the next performance I saw.

Costume also played a big part in the success of this show. The make-up and costume for the ensemble/ancestors were very well thought out overall, not leaving any little detail out. These small parts really felt like they had so much substance to them; everyone was very much in character versus just going through the motions, and this was aided by the aesthetic make-up and visuals as well as well-rehearsed background moments. Ash-Byrne’s (Morticia) big costume transformation for ‘Tango De Amor’ number was a risky decision I’m glad played out so well every time – an arguably simple ruching of her long skirt to make it short for such a flirtatious dance that she and Frost (Gomez) executed flawlessly, adding an atmosphere well worth fighting elastic and a sewing machine for.

The wig styling was also surprisingly on point – they knew what they were doing and clearly made what they had work for them very well. The costume department who styled them deserves some recognition here. Wednesday’s costume may have benefited from a more A-line silhouette to mesh in with the rest of the theme from the main cast; however, the different take on the original stereotypical Wednesday outfit was appreciated and worked well in the story of the musical.

This show was teeming with young talent, surprisingly not just from the drama department! So many multi-faceted, talented people putting their efforts into this show really made an impact on the high-class production level. I have seen full stage productions in professional theatres with less passion, production value, and care put into set design compared to this amateur labour of love. I have full confidence that whatever this group of people put their time into in the future will be successful and ooze creativity – watch this space!