REVIEW: The Addams Family Young@Part - Second Star Youth Theatre

The Addams Family Young@Part

Presented by: Second Star Youth Theatre

Book: Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice

Music and Lyrics: Andrew Lippa

Based on characters created by: Charles Addams

Director and Musical Director: Lauren McNamara

Choreographer: Isabella Maric

Date attended: 3 October 2026

“That’s a good distance for romance.”

Uncle Fester is talking about the moon. Naturally.

The Addams Family Young@Part is packed with gloriously odd lines, and Second Star Youth Theatre’s young cast has a good feel for the comedy. A pause here, a look there, one perfectly dry response, and suddenly I’m cackling at children discussing torture, marriage, death, and the unbearable humiliation of having parents.

That last one is what the story comes down to. Wednesday Addams has fallen in love with a normal boy and would very much like her family to behave themselves when his parents visit for dinner. Her parents proceed to do what parents do best: embarrass their child spectacularly. Led by director Lauren McNamara, this show's premise is particularly well suited to this age group - where the horror of your family being weird in front of someone you like probably rivals anything the Addamses keep in the basement!

Sacha Fleming as Gomez Addams gets plenty of laughs with his accent, drawn-on moustache, and melodramatic delivery. He knows how to find the always find the joke without forcing it. “When You’re an Addams” quickly introduces both the family and the considerable talent spread through the company. Chloe Colesman as Morticia has suitably formidable presence, although perhaps her greatest threat is a high kick performed in those heels. Lethal! Her quieter tango moment with Gomez during “Live Before We Die” gives the pair a chance to step away for a softer scene together.

Harper MacGregor gets an early chance to show off her lovely voice in Wednesday’s solo “Pulled”, a tricky number that she handles with impressive ease and no visible nerves. There’s plenty of strength in her sound, and she has just as much fun with Wednesday’s permanent exasperation outside the songs. Once the Beinekes arrive, Harper wears the growing frustration of realising that absolutely nobody is going to cooperate.

Ronin Cooper-Jackson is completely adorable as Pugsley, whose main worry about Wednesday growing up is that she might stop torturing him and ruin all their sibling fun. Ronin gets a lovely vocal moment in “What If”, showing off a powerful, blossoming young voice with plenty of promise. Sacha’s own version of the song gives Gomez his turn to show off his rich voice too. In true Addams fashion, both characters are basically saying “I love you” in their own strange way.

Harry Zappert is a particular highlight as Uncle Fester. His wig may leave him looking slightly more Voldemort than Addams on occasion (sorry, Harry), but his performance is so entertaining! There’s a gentleness to his singing, including a soft vibrato that suits Fester’s utterly sincere romantic ballad. With little glowing spherical props, the Moon Dancer (Victoria Rezende), and Harry singing earnestly about his celestial beloved, the number becomes one of the sweetest oddities in an already very odd musical.

Leo Crowther is hilarious as Mal Beineke and gets some of my biggest laughs of the show. Isabel Notari-Markey as Alice Beineke acts peppy and sweet, while Nate McKenna as Lucas is simply trying to survive introducing his girlfriend to his parents. The fun is watching this supposedly normal family get dragged further and further into Addams territory. By “Crazier Than You”, both couples are embracing the hullabaloo, with Wednesday/Lucas, and Alice/Mal, all getting their turn to prove that “normal” was never going to last very long!

Around them all, the Ancestors have plenty to do rather than becoming decorative ghosts parked at the back of the stage. Choreographer Isabella Maric gives them featured moments through almost every number, while “Full Disclosure” uses the whole company particularly well, with energetic choreography and group tableaux built around the long dinner table.

Visually, the production keeps things gothic with red velvet curtains, projections, and that long, dark table. The costumes and wigs add to the characterisation: Morticia’s sleek silhouette, Gomez’s snappy suit, the pale Ancestors, and Fester’s very committed bald look.

Also, one useful lesson for any young performer wearing a microphone: assume it is always on! We can hear you backstage darlings. That’s an easy technical habit to learn, though, and it hardly dents the fun of watching this company tackle such character-driven comedy. The jokes depend heavily on timing and delivery, and these young performers understand far more of that rhythm than I was expecting!

Second Star Youth Theatre’s The Addams Family Young@Part is full of dry one-liners, odd family affection, strong young voices, enthusiastic dancers, and children discussing torture with alarming casualness. For a family this obsessed with death, they’re having a very good time.