The Post’s Michael Riedel reports today that Bebe Neuwirth is “fuming” that her role as Morticia in Broadway’s The Addams Family was reduced during an overhaul to the show prompted by crappy reviews for its Chicago previews. “She doesn’t yell or throw tantrums,” says one anonymous co-worker. “But she’s icy. Cold, icy, knife-in-your-heart.” Neuwirth is reportedly asking for more scenes and songs (composer Andrew Lippa has already given her one, which Riedel says she “does with flair”), but another source claims a recent hip-replacement surgery has affected the actress’s dancing. Well, as luck would have it, New York’s Mike Flaherty spoke with Neuwirth for a piece in Monday’s magazine, in which she confirms some of the above, and co-star Nathan Lane helpfully calls Riedel Satan.

Neuwirth tells Flaherty that Morticia in the Chicago production was “deeply, deeply unhappy from the middle of the first act through the end of the show,” but that she’s being written a more upbeat song and “more wisecracks” in advance of Addams’ opening next month. And as for earlier reports that she wasn’t getting along with Lane (who stars as Gomez), Lane would like to refute them. He tells New York: “I was told Cindy Adams reported that we had a frosty relationship. And then [Post theater columnist] Michael Riedel — or as I like to call him, Rosemary’s Baby — picked up on that. The most shocking thing about that is that Cindy Adams is still alive. God bless her, still trying to stir it up, and I wish her well. But it couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Her Kooky Destiny [NYM]
Bebe B’way house of horror [NYP]

Bebe Neuwirth Angry About Reduced Addams Family Role, Says Satan