The Cast Photo by Meredith Mashburn Photography

That ghoulish, macabre brood have been around since the 1930s, first as characters in single panel cartoons by cartoonist Charles Addams that appeared in a wide range of publications, most notably The New Yorker. They then entered millions of living rooms when the television series ran for two seasons. That's when the characters were given names: father Gomez, mother Morticia, sister Wednesday, brother Pugsley, Uncle Fester, Grandmama, and their hulking butler Lurch. They have continued to resurface in feature films, animated series, books, and video games. More recently, the well-received Netflix series Wednesday focuses on the travails of the Addams' teenage daughter.

In 2010, the family achieved perhaps its highest form of artistic expression when The Addams Family opened as a full-throttled musical on Broadway, following a tryout in Chicago. The musical garnered unenthusiastic reviews, but managed to run for 21 months, probably on the strength of the beloved title and the appeal of above-the-title stars Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. The national tour made a stop at the Ordway, which I missed. I was very curious, then, when I learned that a new, non-Equity tour was coming back to the Twin Cities, once again landing at the Ordway.

I showed up with modest-to-low expectations and found myself pleasantly surprised by the high entertainment quotient the show delivers. It helps, perhaps, that I have a deep familiarity with Charles Addams' work, having enjoyed his cartoons as a boy when I sought them out in New Yorkers piled up in my dentist's waiting room. As a youth, I was a fan of the TV series. Decades later, I found the feature films, which I saw with my own children, to be terrific multi-generational fun. At the Ordway, I was not alone in my enjoyment, as the audience, comprising people of all ages, laughed and applauded heartily throughout the show.

The strongest element in the musical easily is the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, who had huge success in their previous collaboration, Jersey Boys. When granted the rights to create this musical, the Addams estate (the cartoonist died in 1988) required that it not use scripts from either the TV series or the films, but rather craft a new story that drew inspiration from Addams' catalog of cartoons.

Brickman and Elice came up with an original, one could even say charming, story. It is simple enough to have a sitcom air about it. If the premise is preposterous (well, the whole notion of a ghoulish family that honors their ancestors by dancing on their graves, cuts the bloom off of flowers before putting the stems in a vase, and keeps a severed hand to help around the house, is preposterous), once you accept that, you're in for a giddy time. It should be noted that the book was revised, along with the placement of songs (and some songs replaced with new songs), from the original seen on Broadway, before heading out on its first tour in 2011. That revised version is now the standard.

That celebration on the ancestors' graves kicks off the show. The ancestors emerge from the family crypt to join the festivities ("When You're an Addams"), each doused in ghostly make-up and dressed in costumes to reflect the various eras of their lives, from an Arthurian knight, to a Pilgrim, to a Babe Ruth era slugger, well served by Tristan Raines' witty and elaborate costumes. When the fete is over, the ancestors find the crypt has been locked by Uncle Fester, who declares that none of them can return to their resting place until love prevails. This suggests they will play a part in maneuvering the plot toward that end. What it really does is slyly give the creators an excuse to have these ten performers on stage throughout the show as a singing and dancing ensemble, and toss in some comic bits here and there.

Wednesday Addams has come of age and fallen in love with a boy named Lucas. The problem is, Lucas is from a "normal" family and Wednesday fears her family won't except him, especially her mother Morticia, who is prone to being judgmental and saddling Wednesday with bothersome questions. Wednesday confides only in her father, Gomez, that she and Lucas have already decided to marry. Wednesday begs Gomez not to reveal her secret to Morticia until after a dinner planned for that evening with Lucas and his straight-arrow parents, Mal and Alice.

The story follows these two main plot lines: Whether or not Wednesday and Lucas's love will prevail, and whether Gomez can get away with keeping a secret from Morticia, something he has vowed never to do. Cute subplots feature Pugsley's angst that his sister will lose interest in torturing him, the dry and loveless state of Mal and Alice's marriage, and Uncle Fester's serious love for the moon–a childlike notion that plays out adorably with a whimsical love song, "The Moon and Me." If the plot seems flimsy, it is pumped up with a horde of good jokes, laugh lines, and character-driven funny stuff.

Andrew Lippa's unremarkable score works well in the context of this narrative, with some numbers aptly conveying plot development, as in the anticipatory "One Normal Night." The most memorable songs are "The Moon and I," Gomez's fatherly explanation to Wednesday that seeing her grow up makes him "Happy/Sad," and a romantic ditty that morphs into a strident tango for Gomez and Morticia, "Live Before We Die/Tango de Amor."

Antoinette DiPietropolo directed and choreographed this tour. Her direction works like clockwork, keeping all the plot shifts and ever-changing set pieces (Randel Wright's inventive designs score well), and maintains a lighthearted tone that draws out the humor in the macabre nature of the Addams. The choreography, while enlivening the show periodically, is nothing special.

The cast, on the other hand, features some special talent, particularly Rodrigo Aragón as Gomez and Renee Kathleen Koher as Morticia. Both actors convey the nuanced eccentricities of their characters with brio, and their chemistry together is solid. Each has a solid solo turn, Aragón in "Not Today," and Koher in Morticia's affirming anthem "(Death Is) Just Around the Corner." Though the songs are run of the mill, the actors make them into memorable moments.

Melody Munitz is great as the moody, impetuous teenager Wednesday, and she is well matched by David Eldridge as her love interest, Lucas. The two especially shine together in "Crazier Than You." Allie Tamburello is wonderful as ditzy Alice, brazenly letting loose in "Waiting," another case where the actor makes so-so material into an exciting moment. Shereen Hickman as Grandma and Timothy Hearl as Uncle Fester both wring out all the substantial comic juice in their roles, and Jackson Barnes uses physical bearing in a role that mostly calls for grunts and growls to make Lurch an audience favorite.

So, I admit it, I had a really good time at The Addams Family and am glad I had the chance to see it. Is it a great musical? No. While not great, it is great fun. This production is staged with the winking knowledge that fun, unrelated to most of our daily concerns, is in great demand these days, so take your seats and enjoy.

The Addams Family runs through October 5, 2025, at at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington Street, Saint Paul MN. For tickets and information, please call 651-224-4222 or visit www.ordway.org. For information on the tour, visit www.theaddamsfamilytour.com.

Book: Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice; Music and Lyrics: Andrew Lippa, based on characters created by Charles Addams; Direction and Choreography: Antoinette DiPietropolo; Scenic Design: Randel Wright; Costume Design: Tristan Raines; Lighting and Video Design: Charles Ford; Sound Design: Anthony Lopez, Timothy Riggs; Hair and Makeup Coordination: Lisha Michel; Associate Director and Choreographer: Emilie Renier; Orchestrations: Larry Hochman; Music Supervisor and Conductor: Thomas Fosnocht; Technical Supervisor: James Book; Casting: Alison Franck, C.S.A., Production Stage Manager: Jackie Mates; Executive Producer: Daniel Sher.

Cast: Rodrigo Aragón (Gomez Addams), Jackson Barnes (Lurch), Dalton Bertolone (Ancestor), Tucker Boyes (Mal Beineke), Sophia-Bella Carrasquillo (Ancestor), Logan Clinger (Pugsley Addams), John Cuozzo (swing), Max Desantis (Ancestor), David Eldridge (Lucas Beineke), Timothy Hearl (Uncle Fester), Shereen Hickman (Grandma), Alyssa Jacqueline (Ancestor), Malik Jordan (Ancestor), GraceAnn Kontak (Ancestor), Renee Kathleen Koher (Morticia Addams), Noah Lytle (Ancestor), Melody Munitz (Wednesday Addams), Alex Pletikapich (Ancestor), Sophie Rapiejko (Ancestor), Delaney Shea (Ancestor), Allie Tamburello (Alice Beineke), Gretchen Vosburgh (swing).