Review | The Addams Family Musical at The Kings Theatre, Southsea: They’re creepy and they’re kooky – and lots of fun

There were TV shows in the 1960s and ’90s, a recent Netflix hit focusing on daughter Wednesday, as well as various animated iterations on small and large screens.

However, I can’t be alone in having the 1990s films – starring Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston as Gomez and Morticia – as my defining image of everyone’s favourite creepy and kooky family.

So, I was a little cautious going into this production of the musical version by Benchmark Theatre. And I’ll admit, for the opening few minutes it took me a while to ‘tune in’ to this Addams Family.

But once I did, I was fully onboard – Luke Henley as swashbuckling smoothy Gomez and Laura Bowler’s Morticia, with the perfect degree of detached froideur, are excellent.

And they are of course not the only family members. Fresh from her role as the obnoxious Veruca Salt in The Kings’ own production of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Megan Parkes makes misery look fun as Wednesday.

Martin Bristow gets plenty of laughs as the particularly unhinged Fester.

The recreation of the family mansion is nicely done and allows full use of the Kings’ stage.

Credit to Bee Anderson’s choreography, particularly when all 13 of the ghoulish ancestors are on stage with the rest of the cast. It can get rather busy, but the dance sequences are well executed.

The plot involves Wednesday falling in love with the ‘normal’ Lucas Beineke, and his family being invited to dinner at the Addams’ for the first time, while Gomez tries to avoid spilling the beans that the young couple are engaged to the disapproving Morticia. There’s ultimately a message about accepting people for who they are, etc, but you can skip that if you want.

It’s all far more funny than scary, and will put a smile on even the grimmest of goth’s faces.

There are one or two jokes that I was hoping my kids wouldn’t ask me to explain (mercifully they didn’t), but that aside, this is a great pre-Halloween family show.

Finishes tonight (Saturday, October 26).