That’s the question going around Rochester this week with Next to Normal finishing it’s run at GEVA and The Addams Family playing at the Auditorium Theatre. I missed the former, but saw the latter last night. Even with a minimum of special effects and over the top musical numbers, it was wonderfully entertaining.

The Addams family works because, despite all the macabre scenes and talk, at it’s heart, it’s a love story. The story line revolves around Wednesday Addams trying to get her family to act “normal” when her fiance and his family come to dinner. One of my favorite characters is Alice Beineke, the fiance’s mother, who arrives at the haunted mansion dressed in bright yellow (my favorite color) and continually spouts bad poetry. (You can draw your own conclusions there.) My favorite line was when Uncle Fester comes on stage at the end of the show wearing an aviator’s hat and with a rocket attached to his back. When Mrs. Beineke asks him where he’s going he says, “I’m going to the moon, Alice.”

We left the theatre feeling good despite the snow that was starting to fall and the stormy forecast. Snow in February? Now, that’s normal for Rochester. But so is uplifting entertainment and great love stories. What’s yours?