Fri Oct 31, 2008 — by Robert Greenberger

'Addams Family' Musical Arrives in Chicago Late 2009

Out-of-town Ooky Tryout Before Haunting Broadway

Charles Addams’ immortal family of kooks will be singing and dancing in the Windy City come late 2009. The performances for the yet-to-be-cast musical will begin November 13, 2009 at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre according to The Chicago Tribune. The formal opening date is expected to be a few weeks later in early December.

When The Addams Family production was first announced May 21, 2007 by Elephant Eye Theatrical they anticipated it being ready for the 2009-2010 Broadway season but that date may now slip a year.

The production is being written by songwriter Andrew Lippa and Jersey Boys writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Improbable Theater founders Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch will direct and design.

“Chicago has instructive and enthusiastic audiences,” lead producer Stuart Oken told the paper. “Given our roots in the Chicago theater community, this was the only place we ever imagined doing our first production.”

Workshop productions to help shape the show have included Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia with the producers hoping to land the famed performers for real.

Rights to the characters, first seen in the New Yorker before coming to fame as an ABC sitcom, were granted by the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation.  While the characters have been seen in print in addition television and film, this marks the first time they will be seen on the stage.

"With a unique style that combined the ghoulish, macabre and just plain weird with charm, wit and enchantment, Addams' drawings of Gomez, Morticia, Fester, Wednesday, Pugsley, Grandmama, Lurch and Thing have entertained millions worldwide and served as the inspiration for multiple television series and motion pictures," according to the Elephant Eye announcement.

Of course, the television theme song has become a recognizable part of popular culture with its familiar finger-snapping now used in sports stadiums around the country.

The Charles & Tee Addams Foundation was founded in 2000 by the late Tee Addams, widow of Charles Addams. The Foundation's purpose is "to interpret and share the artistic achievement of Charles Addams' life through programs developed from the artist's work and archives."

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