A DROP-DEAD DELIGHT

Fall is officially here. Kids are back in school and Halloween is just around the corner. Thus it feels like the perfect time for Berkeley Playhouse to open their new season with the hilarious hit musical The Addams Family, appropriate for all the ghouls in your family. Post-pandemic, Berkeley Playhouse has become an ethereal force to be reckoned with in the Bay Area, consistently putting on first-rate musical productions. With howlingly smart direction by Mel Martinez, The Addams Family succeeds on all levels.

Ariel Anderson (Lurch), Jeanine Louise Perasso (Grandma Addams), Serene Hammami
(Wednesday Addams), Christian Arteaga (Gomez Addams), Tielle Baker (Morticia Addams),
William Spitz (Pugsley Addams), and Billy Raphael (Uncle Fester)

Everyone knows the Addamses: suave, scheming Gomez; his statuesque, gothic queen Morticia; their morbidly precocious daughter Wednesday; troublemaking little brother Pugsley; the eccentric Uncle Fester; cackling Grandma; and looming manservant Lurch. Spooky, kooky, and irresistibly devoted, the Addams clan has been a part of American popular culture since 1938, when Charles Addams’s macabre cartoons first appeared in The New Yorker. Their offbeat humor delighted readers for decades before TV brought them to life in the 60s. Later, Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston took on Gomez and Morticia in the hit films The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), with Christina Ricci’s unforgettable Wednesday stealing many a scene. Today, Netflix has the smash series Wednesday, where Jenna Ortega’s teen goth heroine faces life at Nevermore Academy, alongside Luis Guzmán and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Gomez and Morticia.

Serene Hammami (Wednesday Addams) and William Spitz (Pugsley Addams)

This is the splashy Broadway musical version with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (of Jersey Boys fame) and songs by Andrew Lippa. The show was retooled before going on national tour, so this is a much better version than Broadway.

Tielle Baker (Morticia Addams) and Ancestors

The plot centers, as ever, on straight-laced society colliding with the kooky Addams worldview. Here, Wednesday (Serene Hammoni) shocks her family by falling for her nerdy, buttoned-up boyfriend Lucas (Jesus Pedroza-Morena). Marriage is on their minds, so both sets of parents agree — reluctantly — to meet for a “normal” dinner. The problem? Normal is the last thing on the Addams’ agenda. Fresh off their Día de los Muertos celebration, the household teems with spectral visitors — the Ancestors — spooks, ghosts and zombies who function as a ghoulishly funny Greek chorus all decked out with ghostly features and mannerisms, frequently breaking into lively numbers staged by Cat Delos Santos Reyes.

Jeanine Louise Perasso (Grandma Addams) and William Spitz (Pugsley Addams)

Tosca Bloom (Alice Beineke) and company members

As far as the rest of the Addams family goes, younger brother Pugsley (William Spitz, alternating with Keenan Moran) is very threatened by the idea of potentially losing his sister to marriage. He bemoans his plight and tries several ways to sabotage the family dinner. Uncle Fester’s (Billy Raphael) eccentricities entertain both the family and the guests with his stream of consciousness thinking and self-expression. Grandma Addams (Jeanine Louise Perasso) has a small but steady presence as an endearingly crazy old bat. The butler Lurch (Ariel Anderson) mumbles and growls but has his moment to shine. Robert Lopez as Lucas’s uptight father Mal is appropriately shocked and horrified about this crazy family his son is thinking of marrying into and Tosca Bloom is effective as his submissive wife who undergoes a transformation as the dinner progresses.

Ariel Anderson (Lurch) and company members

Billy Raphael (Uncle Fester) and Ancestors

With so many iconic images of Gomez and Morticia from the past, casting is key. Every actor in a Berkeley Playhouse show is always a “triple threat” — even the youngest kids can sing, dance, and act — but Christian Arteaga is stunning as Gomez Addams. With slicked-back hair and his signature black pin-striped suit, he epitomizes the suave, sexy Latin lothario. His spectacular voice shines whether he’s serenading Morticia or narrating the action, and his presence commands the stage. He’s equally matched by Tielle Baker’s Morticia. Beautiful and sensual, she conveys volumes with just a raised eyebrow or a hand on her hip. Add in a powerful singing voice and sharp precision in the complex choreography, and it’s no wonder all eyes land on her — especially in the tango sequence, clearly the audience favorite.

Tielle Baker (Morticia Addams) and Christian Arteaga (Gomez Addams)

The show before, during, and after the infamous dinner is imaginative and engaging. The musical numbers keep the story moving with clever lyrics, and “One Normal Night” is especially memorable as the full cast fills the stage. The production design heightens the fun: Tricia Teseson’s scenic design transforms the Addams mansion (opening up ingeniously for big dance numbers), Cameron Pence’s lighting throws in moody shadows and lightning bolts, Andrea Gorham’s costumes give every character—from principals to Ancestors—a spooky-ooky flair, and Lyre Alston’s hair and makeup rival any big-budget fantasy film.

Maximillian (Max) Cordoba, Emily Frantz, Madison Charles, Sean Hoffman,
Hannah Martinez-Crow, Phillip Leyva, Shelly Mcdowell, Liam Cody,
Casey De La Cruz, Amanda Kang, and Ayani Dorsey (Ancestors)

Finally, Erika Oba’s music direction keeps the evening afloat with a tight onstage orchestra: Jessica Igarashi (keyboard), Douglass Lippi (drums), Kendra Kop (bass), Sonja Lindsay (trumpet), Larry De La Cruz (reeds), and Danny Cozart (guitar, banjo, ukulele). Together, they provide the perfect underscore for this darkly comic romp, keeping the show moving with playful bite.

Billy Raphael (Uncle Fester) and Maximillian (Max) Cordoba, Emily Frantz,
Madison Charles, Sean Hoffman, Hannah Martinez-Crow, Phillip Leyva, Shelly Mcdowell,
Liam Cody, Casey De La Cruz, Amanda Kang, and Ayani Dorsey (Ancestors)

Ultimately, as every Addams Family fan knows, beneath the graveyard humor and gothic gloom, this is a story about family — despite their outside appearances and dark ways of seeing the world. Loyalty and love — however delightfully twisted their version may be — always win out in the end.

Jesus Pedroza-Moreno (Lucas Beineke) and Serene Hammami (Wednesday Addams)

photos by Ben Krantz Studio

The Addams Family
Berkeley Playhouse
Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. in Berkeley
ends on October 5, 2025
for tickets ($19-$55), call 510.845.8542, ext. 351 or visit Berkeley Playhouse

Christian Arteaga (Gomez Addams) and Serene Hammami (Wednesday Addams)