Their house may be a museum, but not everyone is itching to go over there and see ’em: for the lovestruck Lucas Beineke and his unwitting parents, the Addams Family’s way of life is just mysterious, spooky and altogether far too “ooky” for their tastes. Yet romance is apt to overcome and blossom in the unlikeliest of circumstances, at least within the realms of musical theatre…

Out on its first ever UK tour following a successful Broadway run, Andrew Lippa’s Addams Family musical presents a brand new chapter in the story of America’s creepiest, kookiest clan, with the sometime sadistic Wednesday now ‘all grown up’ and ready to take on the wider world. Pity the planet then, but particularly the boy with the audacity to fall head over heels for her.

With the hapless Lucas having already secretly proposed, a desperate attempt at a civilised ‘meet the parents’ dinner party soon descends into exactly the disaster you’d expect. But all hope is not lost: with the help of some long-dead ancestors shut out of the family crypt, a fairy godmother of a sort is on hand to carry us out of the chaos - and he comes in the rather unexpected form of Uncle Fester, played with undisguised delight by Les Dennis.

“When I spoke to the director while we were still at the beginning of rehearsals, he gave me a key to the character by saying that Fester is almost like Puck [in A Midsummer Night’s Dream],” Dennis explains. “He’s the matchmaker for this unconventional love between Wednesday and Lucas, the normal and the ‘unnormal’, and he champions that while in an unconventional love affair himself. I love that he gets the chance to bring all the pieces together - one of my favourite parts is when he’s on the balcony watching the Beinekes in Crazier Than You.”

The innocence and wide-eyed wonder of the character is perfect for this role: Fester is upbeat and optimistic enough to believe that rules can be broken and stories changed; generous and genuine enough to win the trust of anyone; and determined enough to make sure everything goes to plan.
“With Fester, you can kind of see how he is part of the family, but he resists the darkness,” Dennis adds. “I’ve tried to make him quite silly and childlike.” 

Silliness is an important feature of this show, in everything from the madcap costumes and choreography of the undead extended family, to the weird, witchy old Grandma who might not actually be anybody’s grandmother after all. But as Carrie Hope Fletcher, who’s enjoyed portraying Wednesday’s newfound womanhood, points out, as dysfunctional as the family might seem at first, beneath the surface, they’re perhaps not as unusual as you’d think.

“The thing about the Addams Family is that they never actually do anything malicious,” she says. “They’ve always got that edge to them, but you never see them being mean or horrible.”

“They think that they’re completely normal,” agrees Samantha Womack, who plays the ever-immaculate Morticia, “and that the outside world is just horrid and disintegrating into chaos, so they feel very proud of who they are” 

“And they’re not wrong, are they?” laughs Dennis.

This is the crux of Lipper’s musical: though the Beinekes are initially unsure what to make of them, it’s through their encounter with the Addams’ unconventional habits that they’re eventually able to acknowledge and liberate their true ‘crazy’ selves from self-inflicted repression. It’s a journey that we, as viewers, are invited to go along on, too - there’s certainly something to be envied about the Addams’ total openness and lack of concern for what anyone else might think of them.

“They base their relationships on truth and honesty and nothing is taboo,” says Fletcher. “The relationship that Morticia and Gomez have is so sexual and nothing’s held back from the children.”

“I always like doing characters where I get to try out a part of my personality that I might like to explore more if I was confident enough,” says Womack. “I love the fact that Morticia doesn’t make small talk and is very still and contained. I’m not like that. I have to fill the gaps - I’m a people pleaser, so there’s something quite liberating about this.”

“I wish I was as confident as Wednesday,” Fletcher admits. “They’re all so sure of who they are.”
Ultimately, this serves to make them a much stronger family unit - the love and loyalty they share is completely genuine. It’s also the reason why the show has gone down such a storm so far, for all it might seem an odd choice for a Broadway musical. As much as it taps into the eccentric humour of its sources, there’s also an emotionally resonant side to this story that will strike a chord with any family, however ordinary or crazy they might be.

“Parts of this story are so poignant, like in Happy Sad,” says Fletcher. “You’ve got this crazy family with all of these ridiculous things going on, and then suddenly there’s this amazing song about a father not knowing how to watch his daughter grow up and pass her on to another man. My dad watched the show last night in an absolute state!”

“Andrew Lippa talked to us about devising the lyrics,” says Womack. “He explained how it doesn’t all have to be happy and light. Sometimes you find the most beautiful answers in a place of pain and darkness, like in the line where the bull says to the matador, ‘I hate you. Well done.’”

Having accrued a huge following of young fans through her vlogging and writing as well as her performances, Carrie Hope Fletcher will have the privilege of introducing whole new audiences to the Addams Family. But as she can personally attest, there’s also plenty in the show for existing Addams enthusiasts to enjoy.

“I love The Addams Family. I was obsessed with the movies as a child, and I really enjoy all the dark, Burton-esque type stuff. Dark stories rarely get made into musicals, and I think that’s what makes this such a fun thing. There’s just so much to play with!”

There’s a definite care and respect for the source material in all aspects of this show, from the array of musical styles tailored to each character, to the attention to detail in the design and performances, partly drawn from the original Charles Addams sketches.

Having recently finished a long-running role in EastEnders, Womack was initially reluctant to jump straight into a major touring show, feeling that only something really special could tempt her. But after reading through the script, she was immediately sold.

“It’s so much more than I expected it to be, and when I started doing auditions the character just came to me really easily. Sometimes you pick something that you really want to do and it just doesn’t come, but I felt Morticia coming through like tendrils.”

For Fletcher, meanwhile, the whole thing has been a dream come true.

“I sobbed before I went on stage the first night,” she laughs. “A few years ago, I got asked to do a concert with Andrew Lippa, who gave me Pulled from The Addams Family to sing, and I just completely fell in love with it. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t known there was a musical before, so I bought the soundtrack and devoured everything I possibly could. Then after the concert, I said to my agent, if there’s ever a whiff of it coming to the West End, please, please make sure I’m first in line to audition for Wednesday. And it happened, unbelievably!”

The Addams Family shows at Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 June, and then at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Tuesday 17 to Saturday 21 October