Image Credit: Joan MarcusAfter a Chicago run that garnered mixed reviews, the much-ballyhooed Addams Family musical, starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, finally opened on Broadway this past Thursday. EW’s Thom Geier thought it was worthy of a B grade—he both praised it, saying “the look is perfect, from the lavish set to the monochromatic makeup and costumes,” and poked a little fun at it, remarking that “if you have a high tolerance for corn on the macabre, this is the show for you.” Lane, it appears, knows how to milk a punchline.
Elsewhere in NYC, the Stanley Tucci-directed revival of Lend Me a Tenor—starring Anthony LaPaglia, Tony Shalhoub, and Justin Bartha—also opened and received a rave review from Tanner Stransky, who awarded it an A– and said that Tenor “feels like a throwback, in the vein of the physical laughs the Three Stooges conjured.” Simon Vozick-Levinson reviewed the Off Broadway musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, giving it an A and saying that the biographical show is “a complicated, contradictory tour-de-force whose true meaning could be debated for days. How Jacksonian.” Indeed!
If you’re looking for some live theater, check out the EW.com Stage hub for up-to-date news and reviews; or consult this handy guide, which includes links to all of our stage reviews of current shows. (Note: The reviews are typically of performances with the show’s original cast.)
BROADWAY
The Addams Family — Musical; opens 4/8/2010; EW grade: B
American Idiot — Musical; opens 4/20/2010
A Behanding in Spokane — Comedy starring Christopher Walken; opened 3/4/10; EW grade: B+
Billy Elliot — Musical; opened 11/13/08; EW grade: B+
La Cage aux Folles — Musical Revival starring Kelsey Grammer; opens 4/18/10
Chicago — Musical Revival; opened 11/14/1996; EW grade: A+
Collected Stories – Drama Revival starring Linda Lavin; opens 4/28/10
Come Fly Away — Musical created, choreographed, and directed by Twyla Tharp; opened 3/25/10; EW grade: A-
ENRON — Drama starring Norbert Leo Butz; opens 4/27/10
Everyday Rapture — Musical starring Sherie Rene Scott; opens 4/29/10 – 7/11/10
Fela! – Musical; opened 11/23/2009; EW grade: B+
Fences — Drama Revival starring Denzel Washington; opens 4/26/10 – 7/11/10
God of Carnage — Comedy starring Jeff Daniels and Lucy Liu; opened 3/22/2009 (original review); EW grade: A-
Hair — Musical Revival; opened 3/31/2009; EW grade: A-
In the Heights — Musical starring Corbin Bleu; opened 2/14/2009; EW grade: B+
Jersey Boys — Musical; opened 11/7/2005; EW grade: A
Lend Me a Tenor – Comedy Revival starring Anthony LaPaglia, Tony Shalhoub, and Justin Bartha; opens 4/4/10; EW grade: A–
The Lion King — Musical; opened 11/13/1997; EW grade: A+
A Little Night Music — Musical Revival starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury; opened 12/13/09; EW grade: B+
Looped — Drama starring Valerie Harper as Tallulah Bankhead; opened 3/14/10 – 4/11/10; EW grade: C-
Love Never Dies — Musical sequel to Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber; opens spring 2011
Mamma Mia! — Musical; opened 10/18/2001; EW grade: B+
Mary Poppins — Musical; opened 11/16/2009; EW grade: A-
Memphis — Musical; opened 10/19/2009; EW grade: C+
Million Dollar Quartet — Musical; opens 4/11/10
Next Fall – Drama; opened 3/11/10; EW grade: A-
Next to Normal — Musical; opened 4/19/2009; EW grade: A
The Phantom of the Opera — Musical; opened 1/26/1988
Present Laughter — Comedy Revival starring Victor Garber; opened 1/21/2010 – 3/21/10; EW grade: B-
Promises, Promises — Musical Revival starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth; opens 4/25/10
Race — Drama starring James Spader and Kerry Washington; opened 12/6/2009; EW grade: C
Red – Drama starring Alfred Molina; opens 4/1/10 – 6/13/10; EW grade: A-
Rock of Ages — Musical; opened 4/7/2009; EW grade: C+
Sondheim on Sondheim — Musical Revue; opens 4/22/10 – 6/13/10
South Pacific — Musical Revival; opened 4/3/2008; EW grade: A
Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark — Musical starring Alan Cumming; opens 2010
A View From the Bridge – Drama Revival starring Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson; opened 1/24/2010 - 4/4/2010; EW grade: B+
West Side Story — Musical Revival; opened 3/19/2009; EW grade: B
Wicked — Musical; opened 10/30/03; EW grade: B
OFF BROADWAY
Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps – Comedy; reopened 3/25/10; EW grade: B+
Avenue Q — Musical; reopened 10/21/2009; EW grade: A
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson – Musical; opened 4/6/10 – 4/25/10; EW grade: A
Blue Man Group — Special Performance; opened 11/11/1991
The Fantasticks — Musical Revival; opened 6/16/2008; EW grade: B+
The Glass Menagerie — Drama revival; opened 3/24/10 – 6/13/10; EW grade: A
Love, Loss, and What I Wore — Drama; opened 10/1/2009; EW grade: B+
North Atlantic — Play starring Maura Tierney; opened 3/23/10 – 4/25/10; EW grade: B–
The Orphans’ Home Cycle, Part I — Drama; opened 11/20/2009 – 5/8/10; EW grade: A-
The Orphan’s Home Cycle, Part II – Drama; opened 12/17/09 – 5/8/10; EW grade: B+
The Orphan’s Home Cycle, Part III — Drama; opens 1/26/10 – 5/8/10; EW grade: A
The Scottsboro Boys – Musical starring John Cullum; opened 3/10/10 – 4/18/10; EW grade: B
Stomp — Special Performance; opened 2/27/1994
Stuffed and Unstrung — Comedy for adults featuring Henson puppets; opened 4/1/10; EW grade: A
When the Rain Stops Falling — Drama starring Victoria Clark and Mary Beth Hurt; opened 3/8/10; EW grade: B-
ELSEWHERE
The 101 Dalmatians Musical (National tour) — Musical; EW grade: B-
August: Osage County (National tour with Estelle Parsons) — Drama; EW grade: A
Brief Encounter (Minneapolis) — Drama With Music; 2/11/10 – 4/10/10; EW grade: A
Dreamgirls (National tour with Syesha Mercado) — Musical; EW grade: B+
Kà (Las Vegas) — Special Performance; opened November 2004; EW grade: A-
LOVE (Las Vegas) — Musical Revue; opened 8/24/2006; EW grade: A-
Love Never Dies (London) — Musical from Andrew Lloyd Webber; opened 3/9/10; EW grade: C
Mary Poppins (National tour) — Musical; EW grade: B
Mystere (Las Vegas) — Special Performance; opened 5/25/1993; EW grade: A
O (Las Vegas) — Special Performance; opened October 1998; EW grade: A-
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family (National tour) — Drama with Music; opened 1/6/10; EW grade: B-
Zumanity (Las Vegas) — Special Performance; opened September 2003; EW grade: C
More Stage coverage from EW.com:
‘Phantom of the Opera’ sequel Broadway debut delayed due to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s health
Colin Redgrave dies
FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saw The Addams Family in Chicago, it was not good. A waste of an extremely talented cast. It seemed to miss half the fun that was the Addams Family – not enough on the macabre, way too much on typical “musical” stuff.
I saw it in Chicago as well and was disappointed. From the performance on Letterman last week, it looks like they worked on some of the issues (Neuwirth’s very strange accent as Morticia), but didn’t change others (too much reliance on traditional Broadway musical devices).
Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is on my to-see list, and the cast of Lend Me a Tenor is great, so I’ll probably see that as well.
I saw a scene from The Addams Family on Letterman and as much as I love Nathan Lane, he seems miscast in this role. After enjoying the original TV show and the first movie, I really have no wish to see this version.
I hope they perform at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade