UNI-BASED REVIEW: Ateneo Blue Repertory’s ‘The Addams Family’

UNI-BASED REVIEW: Ateneo Blue Repertory’s ‘The Addams Family’

“This production of the 2010 Broadway show boasts visually striking design and plenty of musical talent on stage, even as its second act loses momentum.”

With The Addams Family having become such a recognizable franchise across all sorts of media, it can be easy to forget its humble beginnings as a series of satirical single-panel New Yorker cartoons. And interestingly enough, amid countless new versions and expansions to the source material, the 2010 Addams Family Broadway musical is one adaptation that returns to the scaled-down simplicity of the original. Taking place almost entirely in the Addams’ gothic Central Park residence, the show sees the blissfully morbid Addamses hosting a dinner for the family of the “normal” boy with whom daughter Wednesday is secretly in love.

Working within this limited scope, Ateneo Blue Repertory still manages to build quite the spectacle inside Areté’s Doreen Black Box Theater, in an undeniably visually impressive production that also boasts a brilliant starring performance from one student actor in particular. At the same time, there are odd things built into the material that this show can’t quite make work—leading to an experience that begins in a far stronger place than where it ends, even with all the promising talent on display.

Spirited spirits

What’s immediately striking about this production is how its design sets up and quickly defuses the stereotypes one might associate with the Addamses. After the musical opens with a dynamic light show (designed by Jethro Nibaten), the skeleton of the Addams house is revealed through fog and shadow—pillars, arches, and curtains, and two levels joined by a staircase (production designed by Paw Castillo). The ensemble first emerges as eerie specters, their pale, ghoulish make-up and black-and-white costumes (by Frances Cagurangan) standing out from the darkness. But as soon as the lights come up and the characters introduce themselves, what initially seems frightening and foreboding begins to look festive and handsomely antique instead.

Key to the appeal of The Addams Family has always been the characters’ general decency despite their love for the macabre and their distaste for anything overly cheerful. Director Jillian Ita-as understands the tonal balance required to make them peculiar without necessarily having them be off-putting or turning them into the butt of the jokes themselves. Ita-as has a great ear for both tenderness and humor, with throwaway lines often landing just as effectively as the more overt comedic set pieces, and smaller character moments managing to become convincing in their sincerity. There’s no shortage of personality here, down to the expressive ensemble of ancestor spirits who react to scenes and assist the characters from the background, often through Paul Atienza’s energetic choreography.

Strange story

That The Addams Family has all this personality is essential, given that its narrative admittedly isn’t the most profound thing in the world. And it certainly helps that Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice’s book is a little more nuanced than if it simply espoused vague notions of individuality. More than anything, the Addamses value authenticity in their family. So Wednesday’s confession of love for a “regular” person becomes the impetus for them to examine their own resistance to change, not so they can learn to be normal or force others to conform to their ways, but to recognize inconsistency and imperfection as authenticity, too.

However, after a fun, spectacle-heavy first act—in which Ita-as brings plenty of infectious enthusiasm to the stage with big ensemble numbers, culminating in a chaotic dinner scene—the plotting of the second act slows to a crawl. The climactic act-one closer doesn’t raise the stakes so much as it leads to rather tepid drama devoid of all the wonder that came before it. Choosing to focus on the characters’ relationships isn’t a bad choice in itself, but Brickman and Elice strand these people in one mostly static conversation after another, where they arrive at reconciliations far too quickly and cleanly. And while the characters aren’t meant to be incredibly complex, these hastily resolved conflicts only make their bonds with each other feel more two-dimensional than they should be.

Full disclosure

Where the book stumbles, Andrew Lippa’s score (with musical direction by Matthew Chang) is able to make up for through ample wit and a distinct range of musical influences. The cast is also beyond capable of handling themselves vocally—be it in Riri Dauigoy’s full lower register (alternating with Dia Papio as Morticia), LJ Bala’s clarity of tone (alternating with Maria Prats as Wednesday), or Eli Pueblo’s surprising high notes (alternating with Sara Sicam as Alice Beineke).

Still, not every character choice pans out. As the more conservative Beinekes, Pueblo, RJ Paderayon, and Anthony Lucas are still somewhat held back by how limited the characters are. Rona Layne Badilla’s energetic Grandma Addams is amusing in moderation but can also overwhelm a scene. And while character-appropriate, Dauigoy and Bala’s deadpan approach also stops short of revealing something richer under the surface.

Meanwhile, as the jovial Uncle Fester, Steven Hotchkiss makes a generally peripheral character feel like the family’s heart and soul, especially through the adorably sincere “The Moon and Me.” But the true revelation in this Addams Family is Ron Balgos, who completely vanishes into the role of Gomez (alternating with Rafa Jimenez). It’s a performance so assured in voice, physicality, comic timing, and emotional clarity that Balgos only needs to stand there to communicate the weight of what Gomez fears losing. But there is never resentment towards his family’s questionable choices; there’s only ever pride. That’s the Addams way. 

This reviewer watched the 7 PM, April 23 press preview.

 

Tickets: P1,550 (Premium), P1,250 (Regular), P850–1,300 (Students and Scholars)
Show Dates: Apr 24 – May 3 2026
Venue: Doreen Black Box Theater, Areté, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City
Running Time: approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes (with a 15-minute intermission)
Company: Ateneo Blue Repertory
Creatives: Marshall Brickman (Book), Rick Elice (Book), Andrew Lippa (Music, Lyrics), Larry Hochman (Orchestrations), Jillian Ita-as (Direction), Matthew Chang (Musical Direction), Paul Atienza (Choreography), Paw Castillo (Production Design), Frances Cagurangan (Costume Design), Jethro Nibaten (Lighting Design), John Robert Yam (Sound Design), Nilo Beriarmente (Sound Engineering), Nathaniel Leonardo (Technical Direction), Regina de Vera (Intimacy Direction)
Cast: Rafael Jimenez, Steven Hotchkiss, Katie Bradshaw, Dane Sarabia, Sebastian Katigbak, Miguel Salaya, Edith Garcia
Student Cast: Ron Balgos, Riri Dauigoy, Dia Papio, Maria Prats, LJ Bala, Aleczandra Luna, Rona Layne Badilla, Anthony Luna, Eli Pueblo, Sara Sicam, RJ Paderayon, CJ Isip, Aly Pascual, Audrey Caitlin Sy, Chinna Victoria, Enrico Figueroa, Euree Lamayo, Marco Castaneda, Rielle Enriquez, Sabel Lamadrid, Sasha de Jesus, Shasha Lee, Zalino Gutierrez