The Addams Family: A Creepy, Kooky Good Time
Summoning ancestors from the dead for a line dance in a cemetery? A mansion with a dungeon, torture rack and chair? Sounds like some pretty strange stuff. Welcome to the weird and wacky world of “The Addams Family,” a creepy but fun musical comedy about who else, the eccentric Addams Family.
Adapted from the macabre “New Yorker” cartoon created by Charles Addams, the musical begins with daughter, Wednesday, announcing she is engaged and her fiancée and his family are coming to dinner. She implores her family to act normal, which is no easy task for a family as unique as this one. Plenty of surprises await them. The song “When You’re an Addams” spells it out for the audience exactly what to expect from the family, with lines such as, “You have to see the world in shades of gray. You have to put some poison in your day.” But in the end, love conquers all in this must-see production. “The Addams Family” is a fun musical romp, which explores themes of family, relationships, and embracing individuality. Audiences had a ghoulishly good time.
Director Sarah Figoten selected “The Addams Family” as this year’s Upper School musical for the opportunity to showcase many characters. It features a large 26-person cast and each unique and quirky character is part of an unusual ensemble. “The world of the Addams Family is dark and macabre,” Figoten said. “They are a family with a lot of heart, but the things that bring them together are sinister and twisted.”
The music plays an integral part of the show. Sarah Shapiro ’02, the music director, is responsible for the entire musical plan of the show, which includes teaching harmonies to the ensemble, coaching principals on their numbers, and working on vocal technique with the entire cast. During the performance she conducts the live orchestra of professional musicians. Shapiro noted that Andrew Lippa’s score is a musical character study and each character is supported by a score meant to match their personality. Gomez sings Flamenco inspired music, Fester is more Vaudevillian. Morticia’s music is one part sultry and one part whimsical, and Wednesday and Lucas feature more contemporary pop-style tunes. The music reveals the inner voices of the singers.
“These characters are cartoon expressions of the same passions and interests, and fears and insecurities, that we all carry in our hearts,” said Shapiro. “Through songs that are fun to sing and harmonies that open a door into the dark world of the Addams, we have found a means to express our own joys, sorrows, desires, and frustrations. We love the Addams Family because they embrace their strangeness, which we should all do.”
Costume Designer Allison Dillard wanted to keep to a small color palette when choosing the characters’ attire. The main family is dressed in blacks and greys, while the visiting family is dressed in the opposites, pastels and more saturated colors. The Addams’ ancestors each represent a family member through the ages and are all dead, back from the crypt, so they are all in white and grey with little notes of pastel violet, green, and yellows. Their makeup and wigs also contain these notes of slight color to give depth and keep them from just being all white/grey.
“The Addams family is so iconic that it is tough to stray from the looks that people associate with them, while also wanting to design a unique show,” said Dillard. “There are certain silhouettes that must be kept, but I can still put my detailed touch to each iconic idea. The main goal is to support the story we are telling and to create characters that the audience just believes in, rather than noticing their costumes; the audience should just be able believe that is the clothing that character wears every day.”
The close-knit cast relished their experience performing in the show. They enjoyed inhabiting the unusual characters they portrayed and found ways to connect with their roles.
“I can't say Morticia is someone I connect to wholly, but I do notice parts of her value system and personality that align with some of my own traits,” explained Megan Larian ’19. “Preparing for Morticia just took lots of channeling those aspects, and then intensely magnifying them to match her extremity.”
“Getting to play Wednesday has been so amazing and interesting. In many ways Wednesday is very different from myself, her dark demeanor and love for the darkness is not something I can personally relate to,” said Ellie Schiff ’20. “However, the part of Wednesday in this show that I love portraying is that she is just a normal teenager, who is still finding herself while navigating through the hardships of love and family.”
“Working on Addams family has been an incredible experience,” remarked Elijah Dardashty ’20, who plays Uncle Fester. “The relationships created during rehearsal just make everything better. Being able to work with people you love and admire almost every day is such a privilege.”
“The Addams Family” is on stage now with performances on Sunday, March 11 at 2:00PM and Monday, March 12 at 7:00PM. Purchase your tickets here.
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