From their origins in New Yorker cartoons to sitcoms both live-action and animated to movies not to mention spin-offs such as books, comics and a pinball game, Charles Addams' merrily macabre mob have endured for generations and in 2010 made their debut as a Broadway musical. And their appeal has transcended changing times and tastes.

This was brought home to director Stephen Pike says when he saw The Addams Family's original Australian production which had an audience ranging widely in age.

"When I went to see it in Sydney a couple of grandparents sat in front of me with a four-year-old child," he says.

"I have to admit I thought at the time it was a waste of money bringing a four-year-old to the show but then the theme music started up - Da-da-da-dum! - and the kid clicked her fingers."

Pike says the show is "hilariously funny" and presents the Addams Family people will remember from the movies and TV shows - though there are some similarities to another Broadway musical, La Cage Aux Folles, in the storyline.

The show - with score by Andrew Lippa, whose previous works include The Wild Party and additional songs for the revival of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown - and book by the writers of Jersey Boys - is narrated by Uncle Fester (played by Tim Stiles). Wednesday Addams (Rachel Thornton), now a young adult, is worried about the strange new feelings she's experiencing.

Thornton says, "She's very confused - she's going through all these strange feelings all of a suden."

She's fallen in love with a young man, Lucas Beinecke (Liam Downing), who's asked her to marry him - but he's - shock, horror! - perfectly normal, unlike the Addams Family.

"They have a warped sense of humour, a dark sense of humour," Thornton says. They revel in death and darkness.

"They're kinky in that way."

How will she ever tell her mother, Morticia (Lainie Hart) about what's happened? She's worried about the reaction her news will provoke and confides in her father, Gomez (Gordon Nicholson), who's having his own problems with Morticia. Could it be the spark is going out of his own once-passionate union? He doesn't like having to keep Wednesday's secret from his wife. And Wednesday's brother Puggsley (Callum Doherty), now a teenager too, isn't happy about the changes in his sister, either.

"He's afraid she's not going to torture him any more," Thornton says.

Matters come to a head at a joint family dinner with the boyfriend and his parents Mal (Joseph McGrail-Bateup) and Alice (Deanna Gibbs).

The Addams Family had a respectable original Broadway run of more than 700 performances and has had a number of international productions and a successful US tour although it's been rewritten a couple of times - Pike says the Queanbeyan production is the most recent version.

"A lot of companies are doing the show," he says. And, he adds, they - and their audiences - always love it.

The Addams Family. Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa.Based on Characters Created by Charles Addams. Directed by Stephen Pike. Musical director Matthew Webster, Choreographer Annette Sharpe. Queanbeyan City Council. The Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre.

Charity preview $25 on March 2 at 8pm. Season March 3 to 18. Tickets $59/$54, Bookings: 6285 6290 or theq.net.au.