Special Guest Show Review: “The Abrams Family” by Matty Day
9/14/24
As the 25th season of Let Me Be Frank Productions “waves” aloha to the summery surf of “Bay Beach Boys”, Frank Hermans and his troupe bravely take their talents into cooler weather, shorter days, and decidedly kookier, spookier, and (oh yes) “ooky”-er territory with their fall show, “The Abrams Family”.
The story features the infamous family as they (un)settle into their new home of Abrams, Wisconsin. Gomez finds work (and dinner) collecting road kill for the Oconto County Highway Department. When his new boss, Jim Naseum, accepts an invitation to dine with the family, how will he handle the bizarre bunch? Can he stomach what Grandma’s cooking? Can he keep his eyes off Morticia? Better question: can he keep his eyes, period—and make it out in one piece? …Or, will he make out like a bandit, after discovering the house’s secrets? With the likes of Lurch, Fester, Wednesday, and Pugsley so eager to “play” with him it may not be easy—but it sure is funny, in this all-new musical comedy.
It’s an honor to share some thoughts on this new show, and to write for Frank again—something I used to get to do regularly for Frankly Green Baymagazine. I’ve also been enjoying Frank’s work going back to his performances at the SC Grand. Attending this show also gave me a chance to finally purchase Frank’s biography, Simply Frank, chronicling his life and adventures in entertainment, co-written by a dear friend, editor of Frankly Green Bay, the late Andrew Kruse-Ross. The book makes for a great snapshot of this local legend, and if you haven’t bought a copy yet, make sure you snag one at the next show you attend—which should very well be “The Abrams Family”!
“The Abrams Family”’s opening performance was fittingly on Friday the 13th of September, and for a debut, let alone a finale, this show is seriously dialed in. It was totally apparent how much the cast members enjoy their unique roles. Frank nails the unusually spirited Gomez of the original 1960s TV show, while Kasey Schumacher embodies the deadpan, hilariously joyless Wednesday of the 1990s films, with a dash of the more recent reboot to boot. I mention that as a casual fan—one can go into this show with zero knowledge of “The Addams Family” and fully enjoy it, particularly thanks to the tidy overview Frank provides in the show’s introduction.
The elaborately creepy stage set and the troupe’s costumes immediately immerse the audience in this charmingly bizarre world. Everyone on stage just owned his or her look. Huge credit to Bev Riemer for bringing these characters to life—if you can call it that, with this family.
As Frank also explains in the introduction, vocal director and arranger Amy Riemer selected the songs for this show from the mid 1960s era when “The Addams Family” originally aired. In keeping with the subject matter, the songs were chosen for their eerie themes, often featuring minor keys, and resulting in a number of (fittingly) deeper cuts. Among some of my favorite musical moments:
- Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” was a great choice, with a compelling vocal from Kasey. Throughout the show she maintained her strong character, certainly while acting, but perhaps even more impressively during the songs—both those which featured her on lead, but also in her dance style.
- Ross Loining’s lighting was highly effective all night, such as mimicking an electrical outage, but it was particularly during the groovier, more psychedelic song choices where I appreciated his light design. He completely yet tastefully evoked the era with brightly colored swirls and the like.
- “Strange Brew” by Cream was one of those well-lit tunes, featuring a fantastic vocal from Lisa Borley and stellar guitar work from John Singer getting his Clapton on, and Andrew Klaus ginning up his best Ginger Baker beats.
- Lurch was always my favorite character on the TV show, and Tom Verbrick was well up to the challenge. (Well, perhaps not all the way up, as Lurch’s character was gargantuan—though it looked like Tom was wearing the original oversized suit.) All the way down, too, as his surprisingly low bass range was displayed on Halloween classic “The Headless Horseman”.
- The rendition of The Zombies’ “Time of the Season” was outstanding! Frank’s lead vocal, full-on backing harmonies, graceful choreography, more of that groovy lighting, and masterful keys from Tony Pilz—who shined all night with plenty of great tones, from soulful to menacing to elegant.
- Pat Hibbard hit us with The Yardbirds’ “Heart Full of Soul”—one of several songs that if everyone doesn’t know every word, it’s still a familiar song, and this one gave the full band a chance to jam some great ‘60s garage rock.
- Further representing all the great subgenres of the era was Paul Evansen supplying the Merseybeat sounds of Herman’s Hermits and Billy J. Kramer.
- No matter the type of music or arrangement, Kelly Klaus had the theatre perfectly balanced with warm audio all night.
- Frank cast his vocal spell with “Black Magic Woman”, with more killer backing from the band. (Have I mentioned drummer Andy Klaus is not only a great drummer, but a great guy—and he’s single? Because he mentioned I should mention that.)
- It just wouldn’t be feel right to parody “The Addams Family” without weaving in some French love language—not only for a great running joke between Gomez and Jim—but especially with Amy’s knockout, standout, all-out highlight, Vicky Leandros’ sultry “L’Amour Est Bleu”. I cannot overstate Amy’s vocal prowess (sincerely, she has that je ne sais quoi) as her voice simply soars from the Meyer stage. The onstage chemistry between Gomez and Morticia captured their ‘til-death-do-us-part (and beyond) passion so much a part of “The Addams Family”’s enduring dynamic.
- Blake Matthews by circumstance had, by my estimation, the longest duration between his lead vocal performances, and with all of his excellently zany acting in between, it blew my mind when he flicked the switch back into singing mode for “Bad Moon Rising”. He’s got a remarkable range of talent. It made for one of several moments where one had to marvel at the collection of skills accrued with LMBF.
- Truly the music for all of Act II was spellbinding, with some of the best singing I’ve ever heard in this city. I don’t want to try to pick favorites, nor mention any others to spoil the surprising impact.
After 25 years, the loose format for these shows is just a blast: show-stopping vocal performances throughout, only for these moving moments to be brought back to earth with irreverent humor.
Like “The Addams Family”, the comedic engine of “The Abrams Family” is the interaction of creepy characters with the normal townsfolk. In this case, it’s references to Abrams and its residents, but primarily and gloriously Paul Evansen’s Jim Naseum is the family’s foil. With a voice like Jim Ignatowski from “Taxi” and the morals of an alley cat, it’s only a matter of time before he clashes with the family—literally, as he bangs swords with Lurch in a captivating fight choreographed by Tom Verbrick.
Action, talent, humor (ranging from the corny style of the original show to a few more risqué bits), stunning visuals and sounds, and just in time to get you into the Halloween spirit, I can declare with hopeful confidence that “The Abrams Family” is the most fun you’ll have with voodoo dolls all season.
The show features: Frank Hermans as Gomez, Amy Riemer as Morticia, Lisa Borley as Grandma, Pat Hibbard as Uncle Fester, Tom Verbrick as Lurch, Paul Evansen as Jim Naseum, Kasey Schumacher as Wednesday, and Blake Hermans as Pugsley.
Band: John Singer (guitars), Pat Hibbard (bass), Tony Pilz (keyboards), Andrew Klaus (drums)
Lights: Ross Loining
Sound: Kelly Klaus
“The Abrams Family” continues:
Saturday, September 14th at 7:30pm
Thursday, September 19th at 7:30pm
Friday, September 20th at 7:30pm
Saturday, September 21st at 7:30pm
Thursday, September 26th at 7:30pm
Friday, September 27th at 7:30pm
Saturday, September 28th at 7:30pm
Thursday, October 3rd at 7:30pm
Friday, October 4th at 7:30pm
Saturday, October 5th at 7:30pm
Thursday, October 10th at 1:00pm & 7:30pm
Friday, October 11th at 7:30pm
Saturday, October 12th at 1:00pm & 7:30pm
Tickets are available at meyertheatre.org, ticketstaronline.com, or by calling Ticketstar at 920-494-3401. Doors open to the box office inside the Meyer Theatre for day of tickets one hour prior to each performance.
An out-of-town performance will be held at the Capitol Civic Centre in Manitowoc on Wednesday, September 25th at 7:00 pm. Head to cccshows.org or call 920-683-2184 for tickets and more information.
