‘Drop Dead Gore-geous’
Does putting on ‘The Addams Family Musical’ require a beautician… or a mortician?
With the upcoming release of Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s ‘The Addams Family’ October 11th (be sure to check out the trailer), it is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the musical incarnation of Charles Addams’ famous kooky clan, and the efforts required to bring this morbid family to life.
Despite the familial resemblance of dark eyes and pasty faces, there are various elements to take into consideration when bringing each of the beloved Addams to the stage. From costume to props to make-up, each character has their own unique look, and each look has its own characteristics.
The Ancestors
Most conventional musicals have an ensemble; ‘The Addams Family Musical’ is no exception. The ensemble in its entirety are the Addams’ ‘Ancestors’, long-dead relatives of the principle characters, each with their own extravagant costume that ties in with their individual backstories. Different stage adaptations of the show utilise different characters amongst the ancestors, but the 2017 UK Tour cast featured an Emperor, a ballerina, a matador and a Viking.
In the UK Tour the make-up caters to these individual characters and their decided backstories. For example, the UK Tour’s ‘Emperor’s make-up features blood down his nose and mouth, adding to the backstory that he died by overeating, explained by Scott Paige in a video from a vlog series for Carrie Hope Fletcher’s — who plays Wednesday — Youtube channel. Further attentions to detail are shown in the other ensemble costumes, such as a bloodied neck to represent beheading, adorned by the Queen ancestor. Costume also contributes to this, such as the period clothing each ancestor wears — indicating the time period they come from, as well as props (the Emperor eats grapes during the opening number, the Viking has an axe, the geisha a fan…)
Thus, like snowflakes, each member of the ensemble is unique.
Addams’
Being a part of the original comics, the principle ‘The Addams Family Musical’ characters display more iconic appearances. Let’s take a look at a few of the most eccentric looking characters in the show…
Wednesday
Wednesday is known for her pale face and two dark braids, so the wig department play an important role in helping physicalise her character. In one of Fletcher’s vlogs in which she shows her process to get into character for the performance, she walks the audience through the different make-up she wears, the layers to her costume, as well as the process ‘pin-curling’ and putting her wig cap and eventually her dark wig on. The procedure requires a lot of white base, followed by an array of blacks and purples around the eyebrows, eyes and lips, as well as the cheeks to give the ghostly, skeletal impression Wednesday is known to have. Fletcher does her own make-up but is guided by the production team and even given some products to use. As well as help with her wig, Fletcher also has an assistant (‘Jocelyn’, in case you were wondering) who helps her to get her corset on as part of her costume. Smaller details, such as spider earrings and a necklace featuring a vital prop (spoiler alert: it’s an engagement ring) are also used. In the video she states she usually begins to get ready earlier, but in the case of the vlog she gets ready five minutes before the half hour call and is finished in time for the five minute call, so the process takes around thirty-five minutes in total.
Fletcher states in her video that she does her own make-up, as with other actors in the show, to prevent the need for other people to help with make-up — which would cost more money and cause backstage to be overcrowded. Therefore, we can assume that the ensemble are, with guidance from the creative team, in charge of their own make-up.
Grandma
Another fierce female in the Addams clan is the cantankerous and eccentric grandma. old, wrinkly and slightly crazy, Grandma’s make-up and costume perfectly encapsulates the wild spirit of the character. The use of dark lines across the forehead wrinkles and around the mouth, chin and cheeks place emphasis on the actress’ natural facial crevices, adding age and an exaggerated skeletal appearance. Another main feature of Grandma’s look is her hair — in cases such as the UK Tour the crazy white mane is a wig, but amateur productions have a much smaller budget so usually the unfortunate actor’s real hair would be teased and back-combed and in some cases spray painted white to achieve the same crazy look.
Fester
Now there are some very kooky looking men in the Addams gene pool, but Uncle Fester is indisputably the most peculiar in appearance; with his iconic bald head, dark eyes and hunched shoulders, his look is hard to forget.
In the UK Tour, the original Fester — Les Dennis — was fortunately bald so thus his transformation was slightly less complicated. However, when his understudy took over his role part way through the tour, his curly locks were concealed under a bald cap — the case for most amateur productions of the show. These can be tricky as in some cases they can malfunction, cause issues with make-up, and just look painfully unprofessional. The make-up for Fester is fairly straightforward; a load of white base makeup all over the face and head, followed by dark circles under the eyes. The only issue with make-up is that, depending on the quality, it can cause issues with the microphone if it gets on it. However, for such an easy process it looks so effective and just adds to the craziness that is Uncle Fester — the man’s in love with the moon for Pete’s sake!
The process to bring all the characters to life is a long and tricky road — we haven’t even discussed pre-production. Yet the careful guidance and care taken by the production and creative teams, who provided certain aspects of the costume and make-up, as well as the cast paid off in the long run. The show received praise from critics featured in the show’s advertisement; five stars from the Edinburgh Evening News, four from Londonist, and another five from The Scotsman.
It goes without saying that a humungous amount of work went into every aspect of this show, from costumes, to props to make-up and everyone involved played a highly important part in reviving this undead family. So as for whether you need a mortician or a beautician?… the answer is neither! Just a hard-working cast and creative team who know how to get the job ba-da-da-done!
*click click*
All professional photographs featured of ‘The Addams Family Musical’ courtesy of http://www.theaddamsfamily.co.uk/addams-family-production-photography/
Bibliography:
· The 2019 trailer for ‘The Addams Family’ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1620981/videoplayer/vi461946649?ref_=tt_pv_vi_aiv_1
· Charles Addams and the origins of ‘The Addams Family’ https://dansmediadigest.co.uk/an-addams-family-history-eb270f90a19b
· About musical https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/1413/the-addams-family
· Cast & creative http://www.theaddamsfamily.co.uk/cast-creative/
· Photos http://www.theaddamsfamily.co.uk/addams-family-production-photography/
· Emperor’s backstory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAi9Ylc4pPc&list=PLfuWu_9IeKiQimS_44hFlxwk7alZYJ97W&index=16
· Scott Paige Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/BbhVb1sl1io/
· Get Ready with me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtqbrvO1-WU&list=PLfuWu_9IeKiQimS_44hFlxwk7alZYJ97W&index=7
· ‘The Addams Family Musical’ trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2s-JUmx0jo
