Buzz on Brickman and Elice’s ‘The Addams Family’
February 1st, 2009Michael Riedel reports that 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. Riedel was told that the Addams estate 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, which is scheduled to debut in Chicago in November, with a Broadway opening in April 2010, 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.
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So happy for Rick and Marshall. Are you the “theater executive” investing $10 million, Susie? I asked the same question of our friend Pam Singer, and she said her limit is $5 million!
Comment by Howard Tucker — February 1, 2009 @ 8:01 pm
This is the next big show I am waiting for. In fact, I don’t want to wait. I want to by my tickets now. Susie, do you have any “pull?”
Comment by Caroline Smith — February 2, 2009 @ 1:12 pm