Arnell, Eula bagay na love team sa ‘Addams Family’ the musical

Must have been this season talaga dahil in a month’s time, we were able to watch three plays (four if you add the repeat of Grease) we get from friends’ invitation.

Last Friday night, it was the Atlantis production of “The Addams Family” sa Meralco Theater sa invitation ni Arnell Ignacio. Opened last Nov. 15, it will end on Dec. 1 so secure your tickets now by calling Atlantis at 8927078 or sa Ticketworld at 8919999.

Kasabayan namin sina Rachelle Anne Go who has just been announced to play Gigi in the West End revival of “Miss Saigon” this 2014, direk Mark Reyes na nagbu-Broadway watch din as ang next in line niya naman was “The Producers” ng Repertoire and Nyoy Volante who was there as a guest being the alternate Grandma in the play.

Gomez (Arnell) and Morticia Addams (Eula Valdez) eldest child and only daughter Wednesday (K-La Rivera) is growing up and getting a boyfriend, the very middle American Lucas Beinecke (Ryan Gallagher) of Ohio. Isa lang ang request ni Wednesday sa ama: huwag itong sabihin sa ina dahil baka raw ito mag-panic.

May isa pang request si Wednesday, have a normal dinner with the Addams sa pagdating ni Lucas and his parents Mal (Calvin Millado) and Alice (Carla Guevara-Laforteza) para hindi sila maisipang weird and so the family will try that from Fester (Jaime Wilson) to Lurch (Ikey Canoy), Grandma (Jimmy Marquez in our show) and Pugsley (Warren Saga in our show with Anton Posadas as alternate).

We have no expectation sa “The Addams Family”. Hindi maganda ang feedback ng original Broadway production nito noong 2010 and its stars multiple Tony winners Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth (and later replaced by Brooke Shields) were not even nominated and so was the book and the play itself.

It closed after 725 performances lang and did the US tour and that’s just about it. What we didn’t know, during the US tour pala, it was heavily rewritten and restructured that the Atlantis production is this na and since we’re basing our review on what we saw, maganda naman pala ang “Addams Family”.

The play has no anthem song to speak of like “Music of the Night” ng “Phantom of the Opera”, ang title song sa “Anything Goes” or “Memory” of “Cats” and its nearest hummable tune was “Full Disclosure” but for sure, it has a lot of memorable dance performances from the “Full Disclosure” nga to the “Tango de Amor” nina Gomez and Morticia and the opening song “When You’re An Addams”.

What it lacks in memorable song, fully compensated by the funny dialogues and strong performances headed by Arnell and Eula.

We’ve seen both Arnell and Eula in different musicals in the past; si Arnell sa “The Full Monty” with fellow “Addams” cast Jaime Wilson at si Eula twice as Zsazsa Zaturnnah.

Hindi si Arnell ang bida sa “The Full Monty”, that would be Mark Bautista samantalang si Eula naman, may kahati sa stage time sa Zsasza kahit siya ang title role.

In “Addams Family”, both shine tremendously. Arnell is not a big man but onstage, he’s a giant. He can stand in the middle of the stage with no other backup or even a set design and yet he will hold you while he sings.

Very clear ang boses ni Arnell from his singing to his acting and since this is comedy, his timing is perfection. Eula is really a revelation.

The moment she sashayed onstage with that trademark long black dress (na nakakatuwa ang gimmick sa hemline na may alambre para mas maganda ang galaw) hanggang sa nagsayaw na sila ni Arnell sa dulo showing her curvy legs and tangga, delight to watch ang actress and again just like Arnell, she can carry the whole stage on her own.

You will not think na pagsamahin ang dalawa in a movie or TV project but onstage, napakalakas ng chemistry nila and that’s good acting.

The rest, sumasabay na lang sa kanila but may special mention si Lurch, si Ikey Canoy. He captured the mala-Frankenstein butler of the Addams Family sa movie pati ang kaniyang gurgling sounds lang and lurching moves but the surprise part is that when he sings in the end (Lurch never talks kasi) and he has a great voice, almost baritone Il Divo quality.

Ang ikalawa naming idadagdag, si Pugsley played by Warren. Sa playbill, the kid is cute and looks healthy so his transformation as the pudgy boy is a delight.

As to the dialogue, hindi ka aantukin sa musical dahil if they’re not singing or dancing up a storm, the lines are so funny and updated even Charlie Sheen is part of the line.

May isang very funny situation sa second act kung saan nagtanungan ang mag-asawa kung kaninong nanay si Grandma and that gave us a big laugh out loud talaga specially sa action and reaction nina Arnell and Eula.

“The Addams Family” once again showed us why the Filipino stage performers are really world class kaya nga nakakapasok ang mga tipo nina Lea Salonga and now Rachelle Anne Go sa international productions.

We may not comment on Jaime and K-la and Calvin and Carla and Jimmy’s acting but that doesn’t mean they’re bad, talagang nai-eclipse lang sila nina Eula and Arnell but when they do their solos they also shine.

Start watching musical plays pag may time and money. There is nothing better to watch the magic onstage believe us whether in Broadway or in Manila and certainly “The Addams Family” weaves a lot of stage magic.