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'The Addams Family' Music and Stagecraft | The Box Seat Babes Podcast · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome back listeners to another bone-chilling episode of the Box Seat Babes Podcast.
• 0:04
  Today we'll be continuing our discussion on the North America tour of the Addams Family Musical, but as always, before we jump in, please like, follow, and subscribe here on
• 0:12
  YouTube and all other social medias at Box Seat Babes.
• 0:15
  Spoiler warning, we will be talking in depth about what you can expect from this touring production of the Addams Family musical, so if you don't want to be spoiled, make haste
• 0:23
  out of this episode before Lurch has something to say about your presence.
• 0:26
  But if you're still here, grab out your ghouls and gather up your potions as we're diving back into the Addams Family musical.
• 0:33
  RJ, are you ready to finish talking about this musical?
• 0:36
  It's been forever.
• 0:37
  Folks, I just need you to know that I never know what is gonna come out of Brian's mouth when we start this podcast.
• 0:47
  And so it is equally a shock to me as it is to you when you listen to it.
• 0:53
  I'm listening to it for the first time.
• 0:54
  um And the fact that he doesn't stumble over any of his words is always uh way more than I could possibly.
• 1:07
  possibly do.
• 1:08
  um But let's talk about it.
• 1:11
  Let's let's talk about ghouls and potions and you know, I feel like this is I'm giving um this feels very Adams family to me.
• 1:20
  Ish, maybe not tank top version.
• 1:23
  If it was a t shirt, it would feel more.
• 1:25
  um But you know, it's fine.
• 1:29
  I'm giving
• 1:30
  it's Uncle Fester and Pugsley vibes going on.
• 1:34
  Yep.
• 1:35
  For sure.
• 1:35
  That's it's happening, which also that's probably exactly who I would be cast as.
• 1:40
  So it tracks.
• 1:43
  You think you'd be cast as Uncle Fester or Pugsley?
• 1:46
  Yeah, 100%.
• 1:48
  100%.
• 1:49
  No, it's Gomez or bust, my dude.
• 1:52
  We are Gomez or bust.
• 1:54
  high center for sure.
• 1:56
  I don't want no stress.
• 1:59
  I do want to say before we jump into it, then that I, said this one of the other times that we recorded about how you're always shocked by what I say.
• 2:05
  And I always take it as a challenge now to try to make it the most appropriate for the show, but just like the craziest thing I can think of.
• 2:13
  So I sit at home and I think about what's going to break RJ.
• 2:18
  Cause sometimes you laugh and sometimes you keep a straight face.
• 2:21
  And I just, my, my goal is like, I want to make this man crack.
• 2:25
  from just the craziest spoiler warnings, intros, and exits as I can.
• 2:31
  I mean, that is the challenge, right?
• 2:34
  uh It makes me, actually, we just had a conversation with some friends about cracking.
• 2:40
  And I'm sure we've all seen those videos of Broadway shows backstage, right?
• 2:45
  Where somebody backstage, or maybe this is just what my TikTok looks like, uh but where you see actors on stage and then you see actors off stage trying to make them crack when
• 2:57
  they're looking off stage or heading off stage.
• 3:01
  And we actually missed past production of Young Frankenstein at Avon Players.
• 3:08
  um
• 3:09
  there were multiple instances that people were very, very close to cracking to the point where the director might have chimed in and been like, hey, let's be kind.
• 3:22
  Because it can be, even the best of us will crack, right?
• 3:27
  Like if you're doing, and I'm talking like if you all saw these videos, it is some extreme, like there are full on scenes happening off stage that are very bizarre.
• 3:38
  very crazy, just, and I mean, think of a group of actors versus one actor, and that's what's happening.
• 3:45
  uh So yeah, I mean, bring it on, bring it on.
• 3:50
  These are better than others, I guess.
• 3:53
  I will say that I having seen Gutenberg the musical with Josh Gad and Andrew Rannell's I'm all for a break because those two were just trying to make each other break the entire two
• 4:04
  and a half hours and by the end they were both just giggling like like children and so I'm all for One day I'm gonna get you to giggle straight out because it's just gonna be the
• 4:13
  most ridiculous thing and the next one's Beetlejuice So I have a lot
• 4:16
  I mean, not the next episode, the next one we record.
• 4:18
  uh So for everybody who's listening, thank you for listening to Beetlejuice.
• 4:22
  It was a great episode, I'm sure.
• 4:23
  ah But I feel like that is going to be the one that I really have to go for.
• 4:28
  I have to do it hard and make you laugh.
• 4:32
  I know, mean, Beetlejuice, feel like it's gonna be very similar to this.
• 4:39
  I mean, of course, and it's kind of like Halloween-esque vibes, but I'm also not like the biggest, I mean, we'll obviously break that down in that episode, but I'm not the biggest
• 4:50
  Beetlejuice fan outright, so we'll see.
• 4:55
  We'll see if my tune changes or has changed since then.
• 4:58
  You haven't seen the musical yet and I have been talking to show up for what over a year for you, begging you to go see it somewhere.
• 5:06
  So like, feel like we have, I have, it's either going to be the best show you've ever seen or I'm going to have to eat my words.
• 5:12
  Either way, I'm going to probably have to buy you dinner because we're clearly going to need it.
• 5:17
  No, but anyways, let's jump into the Addams family.
• 5:20
  Now that we've wasted five minutes of everybody's time.
• 5:22
  oh So for
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  have That's why they listen, right?
• 5:27
  Yeah, and we are just a modern day Bert and Ernie.
• 5:31
  that's the due of the...
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  and Marron or is it those two the two guys in the box seats?
• 5:39
  The Muppets.
• 5:40
  They have names.
• 5:43
  They are literally they are literally the Box Seat babes, but I don't know if they're brothers.
• 5:48
  I don't- oh my gosh, yep, that- Salter and Walsworth.
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  There we go.
• 5:55
  I might as well change our names now.
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  Just that's, that's it.
• 6:00
  That is exactly who we are.
• 6:01
  I am shocked to figure out, yeah, we are 100%.
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  They even kind of look like us in 60 years.
• 6:08
  Well, I think for a Halloween episode, we have to dress up as them now.
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  So thank you everybody, you're welcome.
• 6:14
  Yeah, is there like a filter?
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  We'll put it right on.
• 6:18
  So those who have listened to part one, we did talk about the story of the Addams Family musical, which is just an exploration really of family and kind of what love is.
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  This is a story of Wednesday, Addams falling in love with a normie and who would do that.
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  um But she falls in love with Lucas who is more normal, quote unquote normal than the Addams family.
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  She wants to bring him to dinner.
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  She ropes in Gomez and there's just off different kinds of love and what is attraction and what is love and
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  different kinds of true love.
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  And that kind of sums up kind of the story of the Addams family.
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  Is there anything you would add to that?
• 6:54
  That pretty much covers it,
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  Perfect.
• 6:57
  Um, but today we're going to really talk about the music, the setting, the lighting, the costumes, everything else.
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  Um, and we're going to start with the music, which has a score by Andrew Lippa, who, when you wrote on here that it's sung by the Prince of Egypt animated film, like how apropos
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  that we're talking about this on the eve of your casting in that show, that feels like that was meant to be.
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  Who knew?
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  We, we, did, we timed this perfectly.
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  Yeah, it was just, it was meant to be.
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  uh of the music.
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  RJ, how would you describe this music?
• 7:34
  What really stood out to you about this music?
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  Break it on down for me and my musical friend.
• 7:39
  I mean, stereotypical Broadway, I think ah not too many of these songs can stand alone.
• 7:45
  ah Like even just as like solo pieces and even in a Broadway setting, because they're so storytelling, there's so much, I mean, it's not even that there's, we've seen shows with
• 8:01
  more songs, but for some reason, these songs feel like they are the characters
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  realization of whoever is singing them and so If you take the song out of the musical or if you take the person out of the song it doesn't make sense ah
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  They're like narrative focus.
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  Is that the right term?
• 8:27
  Yeah, yeah, they are literally based around the people singing them.
• 8:34
  I mean, just looking at this list, right, when we talk about the moon and me, we talked about pulled, we talked about Morticia, you know, it's just it's like
• 8:43
  I struggle to bring any of those into outside of the show itself.
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  um But all written very, very similarly.
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  Like none of these are super, super ballady.
• 8:58
  uh Like they all, the rhythm is, it's driving, it's continuously driving.
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  It's not particularly so high energy that it's overwhelming, but it is, there is an energy to keep
• 9:13
  I think the timeline and the feel of the show moving forward, because I think it would get stagnant without it.
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  I think the closest you actually get to a ballad is the Moon and Me with Fester, which is crazy to think about.
• 9:27
  Like that's the closest to like a ballad that we really see in this touring production of the Addams Family musical, which is insane.
• 9:35
  that is so, I mean, there's a lot of humor in this, right?
• 9:39
  But that is so over the top that you almost forget that it is a ballad because you're so focused on the, just everything.
• 9:49
  won't spoil so much, but everything that's happening on stage, you kind of lose.
• 9:54
  It's broken up by laughter really.
• 9:57
  Yes.
• 9:58
  Do you think, so kind of looking at the two lists, I do want to talk about this.
• 10:02
  Granted, we have not seen the Broadway version of this show, but when you look at it, like there's a difference between the songs and the music from Broadway to US tours and current
• 10:12
  productions.
• 10:12
  Why do you think that they grew that first act?
• 10:15
  Was that to allow for more laughter in between?
• 10:18
  Cause like they almost doubled the amount of songs that are in it.
• 10:22
  Yes.
• 10:23
  And it's extremely Gomez heavy.
• 10:25
  Like, I mean, you just look at this and it's, I'm looking at one, two, three, four Gomez songs in a row, and then he gets one break and then it's back to Gomez company.
• 10:37
  Like it, it's a lot.
• 10:40
  I think it's a lot of setup and obviously again, I didn't see the Broadway version, so I'm not sure where the holes initially were, but yeah, you see a lot less of Gomez.
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  particularly in Act 1, where I think a lot of the familial ties and kind of where we're headed with this show uh went.
• 11:03
  uh Act 2, less different.
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  I mean, it looks pretty much almost, if not exactly the same.
• 11:12
  uh
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  And granted, we're just looking at titles.
• 11:17
  there's, there are always chances that they just literally merged some of these songs together and only named them one song and just made it longer.
• 11:25
  Um, but yeah, I think there was probably some storyline holes that they, that they needed to fill.
• 11:34
  And I think that like what you're describing there too, it makes sense because like while it turned into more of like a narrative singing, it does fit the storyline.
• 11:42
  Except for what's interesting is when we saw it, I thought that Wednesday was the main character, but now looking at it and thinking back at it, it truly was actually Gomez's
• 11:50
  story of being stuck between his daughter and his wife and the type of love that you feel for a daughter and a significant other and the pull that you feel for both of those.
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  And so I just, think that my perspective of the show changed.
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  when you think of how heavy the story is of Gomez in Act One.
• 12:07
  Yeah, and maybe that's the difference, right?
• 12:11
  Is initially the show was more about Wednesday, and then it didn't make sense to then kind of bring in Gomez and Morticia and have these subplots happening with every single
• 12:28
  character when Wednesday's story was so heavy
• 12:33
  Sure.
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  when you frame it around Gomez and his perspectives on the rest of the family, it makes a little bit more sense.
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  But you have the outliers.
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  Fester is an outlier.
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  um I'm trying to remember the grandmother.
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  Does she have a name?
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  She's just grandma.
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  Grandma.
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  Yeah.
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  So.
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  And it does make you think too, when I think about shows, even like Wednesday, Wednesday, part of what makes Wednesday so interesting is the fact of her relationship with her dad
• 13:06
  and her mom and like how that's tested.
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  And so to see this kind of played out in the show, um, makes a lot of sense.
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  But I do think that like the standout person for me, when it came to the singing was Gomez, which again, you probably need a really strong Gomez for a show like this, because
• 13:20
  you need him to stand out amongst the Addams because he's singing so much in that first act.
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  So he really, cause I remember thinking of the show, that's the vocals that really stood out to me was that he was crushing it from start to the end.
• 13:33
  Yeah, I mean, and good God on two show days for him because he must immediately be on vocal rest in between shows because he's also singing up in, I mean, it's a tenor role.
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  He's singing high tenor majority of the show.
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  That's exhausting.
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  On top of, course, having to have the acting chops to convey all these.
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  these subplots and storylines.
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  Was there any song that you can think of that really stood out to you?
• 14:07
  I'm gonna say that I think that what was fun was full disclosure.
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  I don't think there's anything like maybe spectacular about it that made me like think of like, there was vocals in here that were amazing.
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  But I do think it was a fun number to end act one.
• 14:20
  And I am glad that like they ended it on kind of like a fun note.
• 14:24
  ah But any songs that really kind of out to you?
• 14:27
  Yeah, mean, full disclosure is it is one of those high energy, just like kind of so much going on.
• 14:34
  It's a very traditional act one finale, I would say.
• 14:38
  um I always for some reason, and I think many people really enjoy pulled with Wednesday and Pugsley.
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  um It's just kind of, again, the humor um and we don't get to see Pugsley a lot vocally.
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  um
• 14:58
  I'm not even sure, I'm trying to remember, oh yeah, in...
• 15:05
  He has what if, which is kind of the song that he decides that he's going to try to get it back at sister because he misses her, which to me in that song, he was phenomenal.
• 15:16
  Logan Clinger was phenomenal in that song.
• 15:19
  And he definitely stood out to me in that moment.
• 15:21
  Yeah, I mean, that's a good one.
• 15:22
  uh For some reason, a favorite before I even knew that this musical existed, a song that I liked was Crazier Than You.
• 15:34
  And that was one of those ones I was just telling another friend last night.
• 15:38
  You I liked this song just on Spotify or whatever, just hit the like button, didn't see what album it was from, what show it was from.
• 15:46
  And then when I went and saw the show, I was like, oh,
• 15:50
  There it is.
• 15:51
  Yeah, but a solid duet slash quad uh duo happening there.
• 16:00
  So switching away from the music, it seems like we're in agreement there's a lot of great numbers here, there's a lot of great parts, some difficult roles But I do want to talk
• 16:08
  about the costumes, because I do think that they did a good job of capturing what makes the Addams Family the Addams Family, with the fact that there's a lot of costume changes
• 16:19
  for Wednesday, which was interesting.
• 16:22
  But how do you feel like they did with the costuming of the Addams Family?
• 16:26
  Yeah, I thought it was exactly pretty much what you would expect, right?
• 16:29
  Which you have to have.
• 16:31
  Like, people are used to seeing the Addams family look a certain way because they look that way in TV shows and movies and stage productions.
• 16:42
  So the coloring, the design, it all felt very appropriate.
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  um
• 16:52
  The only ones that I think required any kind of like actual thought, not actual thought, but like design work that would have been new is the ensemble.
• 17:03
  ah
• 17:05
  And because also like the humans, right, they're just kind of like in suburbia wear um, but yeah, I thought it was good.
• 17:16
  Yeah.
• 17:17
  I thought it was exactly what it should be.
• 17:19
  I will say that of all of the Addams ones, the one that kind of struck me maybe not in the most positive way was for some reason, Morticia's just looked a little off and I can't put
• 17:32
  my finger on it at all, but it just felt like maybe it was the wig and I'm not a big person with a lot of wigs, you know, I'm just like, uh but um everyone else felt top
• 17:41
  notch.
• 17:41
  They felt spot on.
• 17:42
  There was just something about when I looked at Morticia, I was just like, what's going on there?
• 17:46
  um
• 17:47
  But I have no real reason to say that.
• 17:49
  can't think of the reason why.
• 17:50
  That being said, I do want to talk about the sets as well.
• 17:53
  I liked that this show utilized a lot of practical sets.
• 17:58
  In fact, I can't even remember.
• 17:59
  Did it have a digital screen in the back or was it all just practical sets?
• 18:02
  Hmm.
• 18:03
  like almost all practical sets.
• 18:04
  That is a good question, because I'm trying to remember if there was just like a backdrop.
• 18:08
  There must've been some digital screens, cause I remember that Uncle Fester had his moon, one, he was in space, there was stars.
• 18:15
  I remember when they were walking through central park, there was the house in the background and you could kind of see it.
• 18:20
  So there must've been some form of digital screen in the background, but there was a lot of useful practical sets that made the interior of the house come together, made the
• 18:29
  ancestors have kind of roles and kind of had them popping in and out.
• 18:33
  And I loved that aspect.
• 18:34
  Again, we just talked about this practical.
• 18:37
  effects do make a show for me.
• 18:39
  And they did a good job with that.
• 18:40
  That piece actually almost kind of reminded me of Wicked in the um pieces that kind of went off and came back on.
• 18:49
  um Very much reminded me of the classroom and or at Shiz or uh the upper room.
• 18:58
  um But yeah, I mean, it just it makes you feel closer.
• 19:05
  It makes you feel like you're in the room and not staring at a computer screen.
• 19:10
  And I think that's when you utilize it for a certain degree, like, yeah, you can't bring the moon in the building, right?
• 19:18
  Like you can't bring stars.
• 19:19
  Like we know that that has to be projected or just not be there or you're using lighting.
• 19:25
  But in that show, I think it was used in tandem, as you said, with the practicality of the set.
• 19:31
  It felt more 3D, which always makes it feel more real because it's you.
• 19:36
  It is real, right?
• 19:38
  the bed and the torture device and the table and like it's not in the it is literally in front of you.
• 19:51
  Yes, and I think that that was, it also allowed them to embrace like the wackiness that is the Addams family without it feeling like it's just you're staring at a screen.
• 20:05
  even the Uncle Fester part, cause like part of it was that he was, you could kind of tell he was a little bit on a crane and they had a fake body and you could giggle with that
• 20:11
  cause it felt like that.
• 20:13
  But there was like when Gomez comes down the stairs when they get there,
• 20:18
  It felt like there you were actually in the entryway of the Addams' house.
• 20:23
  And because of that, you are uh submerged in that world a little bit more.
• 20:29
  And it's again, it's ridiculous, but in a funny way, like the, or the graveyard at the end, like the mausoleum that came up out of the back and the trees that were rolled in and
• 20:39
  stuff like that.
• 20:39
  you're just like, Oh, this almost feels like a graveyard.
• 20:42
  you could almost be there in a very cartoon comical way and enjoy that.
• 20:47
  Yeah, I mean, you're much more immersed.
• 20:49
  You're in it.
• 20:53
  You're not looking at it and feeling like you're 50 miles from whatever the thing is that you're supposed to be inside of.
• 21:03
  Speaking of the show though, what did you think of overall, pacing wise, direction wise, did this do it for you?
• 21:19
  What was this show like for you in that aspect?
• 21:22
  I think...
• 21:26
  It could have gone without a couple songs, um which is ironic considering we just talked about how they added all of these.
• 21:35
  And yeah, and because of, again, when we talk about plots and we talk about subplots, it was really hard to know where we were going.
• 21:45
  And so when there's no end in sight, I think a show feels really long.
• 21:48
  Because you're like, OK, so is this the end or?
• 21:54
  or no, no, that's the end, nope, that's not the end.
• 21:58
  This is the end.
• 21:59
  um And we know it's not always about the end, it's about the journey, but like when the journey continuously is, I don't know where I'm going, it can feel a little bit, okay, so
• 22:11
  now we're talking about his relationship with his daughter, now we're talking about his relationship with his wife, now we're talking about him talking to the other parents.
• 22:20
  um
• 22:24
  started to string out a little bit and get thin and thin.
• 22:28
  The more branches you have, the thinner it becomes.
• 22:31
  I was going to say, they had been talking about full disclosures since like the beginning of the act one.
• 22:36
  said, oh, we're going to have dinner full disclosures, how it's going to end.
• 22:39
  Like I'd guessed that very early on.
• 22:40
  And then I kept waiting.
• 22:42
  like, when are we going to get there?
• 22:43
  Maybe I'm wrong.
• 22:44
  Maybe I'm wrong.
• 22:44
  And that's how act one ends.
• 22:45
  And I was like, whoo, that was a journey to get there to that moment.
• 22:52
  And that did feel, I think that's what bogged it down was that there was so much setup and act two isn't very long.
• 23:00
  compared to Act One, there was a lot of setup to get to the point where I was like, somebody has to take that potion.
• 23:05
  It's going to be either the mom or the dad.
• 23:06
  How are we getting there?
• 23:09
  And so it did feel really bogged down, which I this feels sad to say, but I think that is where maybe I struggle with the idea of if I would see this again.
• 23:17
  Like.
• 23:18
  I enjoyed the songs, I loved the vocals of some of these actors, the costumes are great, but there was something that felt like it was like and again, it could have been the
• 23:26
  pacing.
• 23:26
  There was something that wasn't missing for this.
• 23:28
  for me to be like, I have to go see that again.
• 23:31
  Well, and it was like watching a show within a show within a show in regards to, okay, so I'm getting an introduction to basically every single character on a deeper level.
• 23:44
  So there's, there's one plot or storyline.
• 23:48
  Then I'm initially introduced to this plot about Wednesday and her boyfriend.
• 23:55
  So, and I think that's what I originally thought the whole thing was going to be about.
• 23:59
  Then we break into the Morticia plot.
• 24:02
  Then we break into the ah blanking on his name, the boyfriend's parents problems.
• 24:10
  ah Then we break into grandma and Pugsley and Fester.
• 24:15
  And I'm like, holy cow.
• 24:18
  So you're introducing me to eight characters singularly.
• 24:25
  And then also giving me
• 24:28
  two dynamic plots and a singular one in addition to that.
• 24:32
  um And I get why they did that.
• 24:36
  I get that like if you have someone coming to the show who's literally never been exposed to the Addams family, it could be incredibly confusing to be like, well, why is there a
• 24:46
  dungeon?
• 24:47
  why, you know, like, why are they so behaving this way?
• 24:51
  And why is it so weird?
• 24:53
  um
• 24:55
  But then maybe that's just all you tackle.
• 24:57
  Like it almost has to be more of a cabaret style show to just be like, here's Fester, here's Gomez.
• 25:07
  Like we don't need, we almost don't even need that entire plot of a Wednesday and the boyfriend.
• 25:13
  Like you could practically remove that and we would still have a long enough show.
• 25:21
  I think it does speak to like, who is this for?
• 25:23
  Because I think that they were aiming this to feel like it was like a family show.
• 25:28
  But like when I was going to the bathroom one point and the kid was just like, that grandpa, I don't think this is a show for me.
• 25:34
  I do think that not only was there some jokes that were clearly went over their heads, but also I think that it was a show that was hard to follow for anybody who wasn't a teenager
• 25:42
  above, which really does kind of limit the like the who is this show for because Addams family has always felt like
• 25:48
  very family-ish show.
• 25:51
  And this feels like this alienated anybody who didn't have the cognitive abilities to understand the plethora of plots that were kind of thrown at you.
• 25:59
  Yeah, I mean, if you didn't grow up or aren't a fan of the Addams family, I'm not sure.
• 26:07
  Even with all of the time spent on the introductions, like it's still just kind of not enough, like.
• 26:16
  Because there's not enough time, we'd be here for hours like it just and we were there for hours, but.
• 26:23
  Twice as much you'd be there for five hours introducing 10 people.
• 26:27
  and you're still like, wait, he likes to get hurt.
• 26:30
  She likes death.
• 26:32
  know, like it's just too steep of a climb.
• 26:37
  So that being said, would you see it again?
• 26:38
  Probably not.
• 26:39
  End with that, people.
• 26:40
  uh That concludes part two of our The Addams Family discussion.
• 26:45
  If you've seen this musical before, let us know your thoughts in the comments.
• 26:48
  Stay tuned as we continue our weekly episodes covering productions both here and on Broadway.
• 26:53
  Thank you again for joining us here in our box seats till next curtain call.