Costars Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth lead an expert Broadway company

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

BROADWAY REVIEW

First Charles Addams' macabre cartoons in The New Yorker seeped into the cultural mainstream, next came the much-rerun TV sitcom derived from his characters, and later on two popular films. Many people are thus fondly acquainted with the Westfield artist's ghoulish folks.

So it wasn't much of a surprise that the audience at a preview for "The Addams Family," which bowed Thursday at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, enthusiastically clapped in rhythm to the sinister six-note sitcom theme quoted in the opening bars of the new Broadway musical's overture.

Next they screamed with delight at the initial reveal of the entire Addams clan in a typically seedy pose, perfectly incarnated by a priceless company led by Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, who are dead-ringers for dear Gomez and Morticia.