Good buzz is coming out of this week's invitation-only reading of "The Addams Family" musical, with lots of cheers for what one spy calls a "brilliantly funny" cast - Nathan Lane (Gomez), Bebe Neuwirth (Morticia), Kevin Chamberlain (Uncle Fester), Marylouise Burke (Grandmama) and Terence Mann and Jan Maxwell as a "normal" couple.
Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman, who wrote "Jersey Boys," have come up with an original story, taking nothing from either the TV show or the movies. The Addams estate, I'm told, was adamant that the musical be based solely on Charles Addams' New Yorker drawings.
"They have complete control over just about everything on this show, and they rule with an iron fist," a source says of the estate, which is said to collect millions of dollars a year on all things Addams.
The musical is set in the present day, and the Addams family lives in a spooky castle in the middle of Central Park . The plot is a bit like "Meet the Parents," with Gomez and Morticia throwing a dinner party for the parents of their daughter Wednesday's boyfriend.
Among many funny wisecracks, this one got the biggest laugh (for the full effect, imagine Nathan doing one his famous double takes on the punch line):
Morticia: When your mother moved in, it was supposed to be for two weeks. She's been upstairs now for 12 years.
Gomez: My mother? I thought that was your mother!
"The story's a little thin, but they fire a lot of funny jokes at you," says a theater executive, who says he's going to invest in the $10 million show
GOOD REVIEWS COME FROM INVITATION-ONLY READING OF "THE ADDAMS FAMILY" MUSICAL - New York Post
theaddamsfamilymsical.com
i do not like that Wednesday has a boyfriend she would not date any one normal and i do not like that they live in a castle in the middle of Central Park
what do you all think about this now?
