Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Mary-Mitchell Campbell's coming back to Broadway


I’m so excited to learn that Mary-Mitchell Campbell will be the music director for the new Broadway musical version of The Addams Family, coming to the Great White Way next spring. Mary-Mitchell is one of my favorite people in show business, and certainly one of the most impressive because she’s not just gifted, but she’s an extraordinary humanitarian. I met her a couple of years ago when I interviewed her for NCR (click here to read that feature) and by the end of our time together she had volunteered to take part in that year’s Broadway Blessing. She was MD for the recent Broadway revivals of Sweeney Todd and Company, for which she won a Drama Desk Award.

Congratulations Mary-Mitchell!

The musical — based on the kooky family of characters created by cartoonist Charles Addams — should be fun. I loved the TV show when I was a child. Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth will star as Gomez and Morticia, Terrence Mann as Mal Beineke, Carolee Carmello (one of my favorite musical theatre actors) as Alice Beineke, Kevin Chamberlin as Uncle Fester, Jackie Hoffman as Grandmama, Zachary James as Lurch, Adam Riegler as Pugsley, Wesley Taylor as Lucas Beineke and Krysta Rodriguez as Wednesday.

According to the producers, "In this original story, the famously macabre Addams Family is put to the test when outsiders come to dinner, hurling Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Fester, Grandmama and Lurch headlong into a night that will change the family forever."

During a career spanning six decades, illustrator Charles Addams created several thousand cartoons, sketches and drawings, many of which were published in The New Yorker. By far the most loved were The Addams Family characters.

"With a unique style that combined the twisted, macabre and just plain weird with charm, wit and enchantment, Addams' drawings have entertained millions worldwide and served as the inspiration for multiple television series and motion pictures," according to production notes.

For more information visit www.theaddamsfamilymusical.com.

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