Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice; Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa
Based on Characters Created by Charles Addams.
You are parsimoniously invited to an eerie, eccentric evening hosted by the most macabre family in the neighborhood. Wednesday Addams, daughter to the delightfully spooky Gomez and Morticia, has invited her new boyfriend, Lucas, and his parents over for dinner at the Addams Family’s ancestral and ethereal Central Park mansion. There is only one catch, and it’s not the giant octopus skulking in the basement! Lucas is a well-mannered, unostentatious lad from Ohio who doesn’t have a grisly or ghoulish bone in his body. Musical comedy carnage ensues as Gomez tries to persuade the family to act “normal” for Wednesday’s sake while alienating his “Cara Mia,” Morticia. Join Uncle Fester, Grandma, Pugsley, Lurch, and a ghastly ensemble of ancestors as Gomez tries to help his daughter and save his marriage without shattering the phantasmagoric Addams joie de vivre.
Based on Characters Created by Charles Addams.
You are parsimoniously invited to an eerie, eccentric evening hosted by the most macabre family in the neighborhood. Wednesday Addams, daughter to the delightfully spooky Gomez and Morticia, has invited her new boyfriend, Lucas, and his parents over for dinner at the Addams Family’s ancestral and ethereal Central Park mansion. There is only one catch, and it’s not the giant octopus skulking in the basement! Lucas is a well-mannered, unostentatious lad from Ohio who doesn’t have a grisly or ghoulish bone in his body. Musical comedy carnage ensues as Gomez tries to persuade the family to act “normal” for Wednesday’s sake while alienating his “Cara Mia,” Morticia. Join Uncle Fester, Grandma, Pugsley, Lurch, and a ghastly ensemble of ancestors as Gomez tries to help his daughter and save his marriage without shattering the phantasmagoric Addams joie de vivre.
Auditions December 2
Cast LIst:
Gomez: Nick Marquez
Morticia: Reanna Fornash
Wednesday: Juliette Indergard
Pugsley: Sarah Provencal
Fester: Charlie Jay
Lurch: Randy Dockendorf
Grandma: Rachael Clark
Lucas: Eduardo Perez
Mal: Ethan Truman
Alice: Izzy Weaver
Ancestors: Jason Sanchez, Jake Arnold, Jeremiah De Leon, Alex Hedrick, Brendan Phipps, Rigel Orion, Angel Ntenyi, Lanie Norris, Grace Ates, Jessa Miller, Isabel Murphy, Keke Chadwick, Skylar Farney, Maddison Gray, Faith Allen.
Morticia: Reanna Fornash
Wednesday: Juliette Indergard
Pugsley: Sarah Provencal
Fester: Charlie Jay
Lurch: Randy Dockendorf
Grandma: Rachael Clark
Lucas: Eduardo Perez
Mal: Ethan Truman
Alice: Izzy Weaver
Ancestors: Jason Sanchez, Jake Arnold, Jeremiah De Leon, Alex Hedrick, Brendan Phipps, Rigel Orion, Angel Ntenyi, Lanie Norris, Grace Ates, Jessa Miller, Isabel Murphy, Keke Chadwick, Skylar Farney, Maddison Gray, Faith Allen.
Costume Research
Costume Design ideas
Production Meeting Notes
Dec 7 Wednesday 1pm. How appropriate.
Today we made decisions about the ancestors characters and how they would be costumed.
The Pope Provincial VI: Skylar Farney. Provincial VI did his fair share of excommunicating important people back in the day which made his Cardinals rise up against him. He had them seized, tortured and put to death. He famously complained that their screams weren't loud enough. Suprisingly, he was poisoned.
The Maid of New Orleans: Grace Ates. Determined to succeed in a man's world, Jean donned armor and won a few battles against the English trying to drive them out of the New World. Unfortunately, she left her flanks exposed so the English burned her as a witch. Jean said the flames tickled.
The Second Wife--Jan or Nan Boleyn Addams: KeKe Chadwick. Nan had the misfortune of falling in love with a married man. Things didn't turn out well for her, even though she got the guy, she lost her head.
The Conquistador-- Hernando "Bizzaro" Addams: Jason Sanchez. Made his fortune raining down genocide on the Indigenous people he found sitting on top of all of Spain's gold. Was assassinated by his own countrymen.
The Plotter--Guido or Goy Fox: Alex Hedrick. Guido, or Foxy as he was known, was both clever and a barrel of laughs, unfortunately, he planned to use the barrels to blow up the government and wasn't foxy enough to see the plot to its completion and got caught.
The Scarlet Woman--Pearl Prynne Addams: Lanie Norris. Pearl was born out of wedlock which made her a very forgetful and careless girl. Her mother Hester had to sew the letter A onto all of her clothes so after bathing she knew which ones to put back on. Unfortunately it didn't always work and she died of exposure.
The Marquis--Marquis de Libertine: Brendan Phipps. The Marquis was perhaps a little too enthusiastic with his chambermaids in his "playroom". Imprisoned in The Bastille, the French Revolutionaries left him there to rot
The Queen--Soiree Bernadette Addams: Faith Allen. Soiree loved to give parties and host salons. Her guest list included the most sought after personalities in all of Europe. She tended to go overboard in the decorations and catering and lost her head when the guests ran out of cake.
The Author--Francine Stein nee Addams: Maddison. Francine was a novelist and got such a charge out of doing book signings. They always brought her back to life, until they didn't.
The Melancholy Poet--Edgar Allen Addams: Kaz Arnold. Edgar's death is one of the world's greatest mysteries. Unlucky in love, his wife died of tuberculosis, To fill the gap left by her, he often took in stray birds, cats, frogs, bugs, and worms. He also had an extensive collection of bells. The circumstances of his death are still a mystery, but experts agree that he was definitely buried alive.
The Burlesque Beauty--Kitty Tyrell Addams: Jessa Miller. Kitty lived her life on the stage, performing in numerous Pantos and Burlesques with her husband. She trod the boards for twenty years until she collapsed backstage one night and although her husband acted quickly, cutting her corset laces to free her from its fatal embrace, she could not be revived. With her dying breath she whispered, "The show must go on!" And so it did.
The Soldier-- Lt. Colonel "Mad" Jack Addams: CJ Martin. Lt. Col. Jack Addams got his nickname from charging the enemy with a Scottish claymore, killing an enemy soldier with a longbow, and playing his bagpipes while being shelled by mortars. In true Addams spirit he survived being captured, interrogated, and imprisoned. He tunneled out and walked 100 miles to Paris where he was able to find an Allied unit.
The Flapper--Evangeline "Bananas" Addams: Angel Ntenyi. Underappreciated in her own country, Evangeline went abroad to France to shake her moneymaker to great acclaim. Unfortunately in the middle of her show stopping routine, one of her bananas lost its grip on her costume causing her to slip and fall. She may be dead, but her appeal lives on.
The Aviatrix--Cordelia "Air Heart" Addams: Rigel Orion. Cordelia was an aviatrix whose plane was last seen circumnavigating the globe and was never heard from again. It was theorized for many years that she died when she crash-landed her plane in the South Pacific. However, Addams are not so easy to kill. She actually made it to shore, and started a Cargo Cult.
The Musician--Kitchie Venezuela Addams: Jeremiah De Leon. Kitchie was a beloved musician who left us all too soon when he boarded a plane that was infested with gremlins.
The Bride --Karen-Kate Addams: Isabel Murphy. Karen-Kate's groom was forced into a shotgun wedding. Unfortunately, Karen's dad was a little over excitable and the gun went off before the wedding did.
Today we made decisions about the ancestors characters and how they would be costumed.
The Pope Provincial VI: Skylar Farney. Provincial VI did his fair share of excommunicating important people back in the day which made his Cardinals rise up against him. He had them seized, tortured and put to death. He famously complained that their screams weren't loud enough. Suprisingly, he was poisoned.
The Maid of New Orleans: Grace Ates. Determined to succeed in a man's world, Jean donned armor and won a few battles against the English trying to drive them out of the New World. Unfortunately, she left her flanks exposed so the English burned her as a witch. Jean said the flames tickled.
The Second Wife--Jan or Nan Boleyn Addams: KeKe Chadwick. Nan had the misfortune of falling in love with a married man. Things didn't turn out well for her, even though she got the guy, she lost her head.
The Conquistador-- Hernando "Bizzaro" Addams: Jason Sanchez. Made his fortune raining down genocide on the Indigenous people he found sitting on top of all of Spain's gold. Was assassinated by his own countrymen.
The Plotter--Guido or Goy Fox: Alex Hedrick. Guido, or Foxy as he was known, was both clever and a barrel of laughs, unfortunately, he planned to use the barrels to blow up the government and wasn't foxy enough to see the plot to its completion and got caught.
The Scarlet Woman--Pearl Prynne Addams: Lanie Norris. Pearl was born out of wedlock which made her a very forgetful and careless girl. Her mother Hester had to sew the letter A onto all of her clothes so after bathing she knew which ones to put back on. Unfortunately it didn't always work and she died of exposure.
The Marquis--Marquis de Libertine: Brendan Phipps. The Marquis was perhaps a little too enthusiastic with his chambermaids in his "playroom". Imprisoned in The Bastille, the French Revolutionaries left him there to rot
The Queen--Soiree Bernadette Addams: Faith Allen. Soiree loved to give parties and host salons. Her guest list included the most sought after personalities in all of Europe. She tended to go overboard in the decorations and catering and lost her head when the guests ran out of cake.
The Author--Francine Stein nee Addams: Maddison. Francine was a novelist and got such a charge out of doing book signings. They always brought her back to life, until they didn't.
The Melancholy Poet--Edgar Allen Addams: Kaz Arnold. Edgar's death is one of the world's greatest mysteries. Unlucky in love, his wife died of tuberculosis, To fill the gap left by her, he often took in stray birds, cats, frogs, bugs, and worms. He also had an extensive collection of bells. The circumstances of his death are still a mystery, but experts agree that he was definitely buried alive.
The Burlesque Beauty--Kitty Tyrell Addams: Jessa Miller. Kitty lived her life on the stage, performing in numerous Pantos and Burlesques with her husband. She trod the boards for twenty years until she collapsed backstage one night and although her husband acted quickly, cutting her corset laces to free her from its fatal embrace, she could not be revived. With her dying breath she whispered, "The show must go on!" And so it did.
The Soldier-- Lt. Colonel "Mad" Jack Addams: CJ Martin. Lt. Col. Jack Addams got his nickname from charging the enemy with a Scottish claymore, killing an enemy soldier with a longbow, and playing his bagpipes while being shelled by mortars. In true Addams spirit he survived being captured, interrogated, and imprisoned. He tunneled out and walked 100 miles to Paris where he was able to find an Allied unit.
The Flapper--Evangeline "Bananas" Addams: Angel Ntenyi. Underappreciated in her own country, Evangeline went abroad to France to shake her moneymaker to great acclaim. Unfortunately in the middle of her show stopping routine, one of her bananas lost its grip on her costume causing her to slip and fall. She may be dead, but her appeal lives on.
The Aviatrix--Cordelia "Air Heart" Addams: Rigel Orion. Cordelia was an aviatrix whose plane was last seen circumnavigating the globe and was never heard from again. It was theorized for many years that she died when she crash-landed her plane in the South Pacific. However, Addams are not so easy to kill. She actually made it to shore, and started a Cargo Cult.
The Musician--Kitchie Venezuela Addams: Jeremiah De Leon. Kitchie was a beloved musician who left us all too soon when he boarded a plane that was infested with gremlins.
The Bride --Karen-Kate Addams: Isabel Murphy. Karen-Kate's groom was forced into a shotgun wedding. Unfortunately, Karen's dad was a little over excitable and the gun went off before the wedding did.
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Over Christmas break I started pulling costumes from storage for the ancestors and then began buying some of the costumes as well. We didn't have a tuxedo that would fit Randy, we didn't have a grey bomber jacket and flight hat and aviator goggles for Amelia Earhart, and although we had plenty of 1920's dresses from Chicago, they were mostly black, I bought a new silver flapper dress for Josephine Baker. I also bought a yellow dress for Alice, and a shirt for Ritchie Valens. Then I went to Goodwill and found an awesome Pleather dress for Wednesday and a small black jacket.
The Build
I had hoped to use three period dresses we already had to some of the female ancestors, but as it turned out none of them were the right period for what we wanted or the right size. So, I bought fabric from Fabric Empire.com and we're building both the Anne Boleyn and Marie Antoinette characters, as well as the Hester Prynne and the chasuble for the Pope. We have to build a Candy Striper pinafore for Grandma, and a boy scout merit badge sash and kerchief for Pugsley.
Gomez
Morticia
The script says specifically that Morticia's dress is supposed to be cut down to Venezuala which made me think of Mia Sara's dress in Legend. The still photos from the film do not do it justice. You have to see it in motion from all angles to really appreciate it.
I ordered a black underbust corset from Corset Story to cinch in Reanna's waist. They were having a buy one get three more free sale, so I bought one corset for Kitty Tyrell and then ordered three black ones in successively smaller sizes for Reanna to rehearse in. The more you wear a corset in rehearsal, the more your body adapts to it and the smaller your waist gets, thus you need to lace it tighter. Assuming that would happen over the course of six weeks, I bought a 34, 32, and 30 so that Reanna could go down a size or two if she needed to.
To tackle the challenge of having Morticia's dress cut down to Venezuela without her breasts falling out of it, I'm using flesh colored nylon to cover the gap. To address the tango where Morticia now miraculously has legs, I've made the black dress in two pieces. The top is actually a leotard, the skirt is separate and will be attached to a corselet belt that will be easily removed right before the tango by the ancestors and replaced with her tango skirt.
I had to alter the leotard pattern considerably. It was low cut in the back rather than the front, so I switched the top halves of the two pieces. Even though I patterned a yoke to cover the gap and inserted it into the black leotard, the overall visual impression was that she was half naked, so I had to adjust the neckline by adding in more black fabric and cutting away more nude fabric. Then we decided to scrap the nude fabric in the black and just recut the yoke out of black instead, since her wig was going to cover the entire back of her leotard. I put in a black zipper down the center back since the yoke and collar made it impossible for her to get in and out of it, in the way the original pattern intended her to.
We had to take the pencil skirt pattern in a lot so that it better fit Reanna's curves. I attached a circle skirt to the hem to give it that mermaid shape. I used a black net crinoline from Little Shop to give it more poof as well as sewing horsehair braid into the hem to make it stand out. That still wasn't floofy enough, so I cut another layer of ruffle from the chiffon that Jason was using for Wednesday's wedding dress. I cut out 8 roses from the sequined fabric to put around the circle skirt, to carry that design element all the way down the dress. The only mistake that I made was not adjusting the circle skirt length for Reanna's five inch heels that I bought her. It bothered me that you could see her feet when the costume was on stage but the director and I decided that if we made it any longer, she wouldn't be able to go up and down the stairs as easily and we certainly didn't want her to be unsafe. If she hadn't had to navigate steps, I would have added a yoke to the top of the waist and dropped the whole thing down another 5 inches. If she hadn't had to change costumes for the tango, I would have made this as a complete dress with a longer zipper. It would have been easier.
I had black piping that I used on the belt. I also had some bugle bead fringe that I used around the neckline, but it just wasn't enough. I ordered 25 yards of some really nice chiffon ribbon trim for Morticia's neckline and to finish off the sleeve hems. To my horror, it came vaccuum sealed, so I had to steam the whole thing for an hour to bring it back to life. I ended up using it almost everywhere there was a seam. I only had a few inches left when I was done. All of the trim was handsewn onto the neckline but machine sewed onto the sleeves and skirt. I had a tiny bit of black stretch sequin trim that I used as a collar to disguise the transition between the nude nylon and her face, which also functioned as a necklace.
To tackle the challenge of having Morticia's dress cut down to Venezuela without her breasts falling out of it, I'm using flesh colored nylon to cover the gap. To address the tango where Morticia now miraculously has legs, I've made the black dress in two pieces. The top is actually a leotard, the skirt is separate and will be attached to a corselet belt that will be easily removed right before the tango by the ancestors and replaced with her tango skirt.
I had to alter the leotard pattern considerably. It was low cut in the back rather than the front, so I switched the top halves of the two pieces. Even though I patterned a yoke to cover the gap and inserted it into the black leotard, the overall visual impression was that she was half naked, so I had to adjust the neckline by adding in more black fabric and cutting away more nude fabric. Then we decided to scrap the nude fabric in the black and just recut the yoke out of black instead, since her wig was going to cover the entire back of her leotard. I put in a black zipper down the center back since the yoke and collar made it impossible for her to get in and out of it, in the way the original pattern intended her to.
We had to take the pencil skirt pattern in a lot so that it better fit Reanna's curves. I attached a circle skirt to the hem to give it that mermaid shape. I used a black net crinoline from Little Shop to give it more poof as well as sewing horsehair braid into the hem to make it stand out. That still wasn't floofy enough, so I cut another layer of ruffle from the chiffon that Jason was using for Wednesday's wedding dress. I cut out 8 roses from the sequined fabric to put around the circle skirt, to carry that design element all the way down the dress. The only mistake that I made was not adjusting the circle skirt length for Reanna's five inch heels that I bought her. It bothered me that you could see her feet when the costume was on stage but the director and I decided that if we made it any longer, she wouldn't be able to go up and down the stairs as easily and we certainly didn't want her to be unsafe. If she hadn't had to navigate steps, I would have added a yoke to the top of the waist and dropped the whole thing down another 5 inches. If she hadn't had to change costumes for the tango, I would have made this as a complete dress with a longer zipper. It would have been easier.
I had black piping that I used on the belt. I also had some bugle bead fringe that I used around the neckline, but it just wasn't enough. I ordered 25 yards of some really nice chiffon ribbon trim for Morticia's neckline and to finish off the sleeve hems. To my horror, it came vaccuum sealed, so I had to steam the whole thing for an hour to bring it back to life. I ended up using it almost everywhere there was a seam. I only had a few inches left when I was done. All of the trim was handsewn onto the neckline but machine sewed onto the sleeves and skirt. I had a tiny bit of black stretch sequin trim that I used as a collar to disguise the transition between the nude nylon and her face, which also functioned as a necklace.
And then Morticia and Gomez do a tango, which always reminds me of the Pasa Doble scene in Strictly Ballroom. That led me down a rabbit hole, so here's a bunch of video clips of famous Latin dancing.
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Joe picked a very skimpy asymmetrical tango skirt shape which will be open all the way up her right leg and take very little fabric. I'm making it up in the same crushed stretch velvet as her leo, but in red and using the sequined lace from her sleeves as an overlay. It will be lined with the satin. I used more of the vaccuum sealed trim to do three rows down the side of her tango skirt. The whole skirt was sewn into another lace/sequined belt waistband and fastened with velcro.
Wednesday: Act I
This dress came from Goodwill by way of my sister, Charlesanne Rabensburg, who bought it to cosplay as Wednesday for a Halloween party two decades ago. She moved a lot, so she gave it to me instead of packing it up again. It has been in costume storage this whole time just waiting for a chance to make it onstage and it fit Juliette PERFECTLY!!! I was so excited to tell my sister.
Wednesday: Act I The Yellow Dress
I bought two dresses because the first one looks kind of dumpy on her but since I inteded to dye to second one and you never know with dye how it's going to turn out, I wanted to have a backup. Joe doesn't like the black collar and cuffs on the dress but I think it is in keeping with her character. I am a bit disappointed in how the dyeing went. I used Idyepoly because the dress was 100% poly, but it wasn't changing color at first. I had already left it in the pot an hour and it was just barely yellow, so I ignored it for another hour and it came out almost green. I'm hoping it washes out under the light a little bit.
Wednesday Act II Dress
The black stretch velvet dress fit her perfectly but it was too boring alone. The vintage sweater top was too small, so I ripped the collar and sleeves off and turned it into a larger size collar and cuffs and attached them to the stretch velvet dress.
Wednesday: The Wedding Dress
I immediately thought of Hermione's Yule Ball dress as inspiration for her wedding gown, but since Wednesday came out, I knew I had to give the audience a version of the Rave'N dress. It had to be soft and sweet but at the same time, more grown up than in the show, since our Wednesday is older and getting married. I did some research on the Rave'N dress and turns out it was an Alaia original from their fall 2020 collection. The designer had to make a lot of alterations to it, mostly because we shouldn't see Wednesday's breasts on the show. But also, Jenna Ortega is tiny and the dress was too much on her small frame. I had recently seen the Susan Hilferty Wicked exhibition at the McNay Museum in San Antonio and got a good close up look at the Elphelba dress. I saw Wicked in Edinburgh in 2018 and you don't notice how much color it has onstage, what you do notice is that it has a lot of texture and moves very well. I wanted to incorporate that into the dress as well. You can look at all the awesome photos I took here on my blog.
Hermione's dress for the Yule Ball
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The Alaia 2020 fall collection dress that was the basis for Wednesday's costume.
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Wednesday's Rave'N dress.
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I initally found a great stretchy pleather dress at Goodwill that I thought we could use for her Act 1 costume. As it turned out, the pleather dress is really too small. I went to other Goodwills to find it in a larger size, but no luck. I think instead of going back and getting a second one and Frankensteining them together, I'm just going to cut the skirt off, use it to make the bodice bigger, take the sleeves off and recut them to be both bigger and short sleeved like Wednesday's Rave'N dress but taking inspiration from Elphaba's dress and Hermione's Yule Ball dress. Then use a black 1950's crinoline from Little Shop, to make a new skirt with the addition of the fabrics I just bought. And then use that for her wedding dress instead of the white and black plaid one. Jason Sanchez is building this costume. I have an old black petticoat that was made for a crinoline that I used in Christmas Carol, 1998 on Dicken's wife. That will be the foundation garment for the skirt. Jason very cleverly sewed all the ruffles onto the crinoline and then sewed that onto the bodice so it was all one piece for her lightening fast costume change. I removed all the buttons from the center front plackett and sewed velcro instead, and then restitched the buttons on top of the button holes to fake a button plackett. If I had been thinking about it, I would have replaced the plain plastic buttons with fancier rhinestone buttons. This left one small problem, the belt.
The belt went around her body and tied in a bow in the front initially, but it needed to be quicker for the costume change, so I tied the ties in front and sewed them down and then added velcro to the back of the belt and to the back of the dress so it could be velcroed onto one side before the change and then just patted into place on the other side after the change.
The belt went around her body and tied in a bow in the front initially, but it needed to be quicker for the costume change, so I tied the ties in front and sewed them down and then added velcro to the back of the belt and to the back of the dress so it could be velcroed onto one side before the change and then just patted into place on the other side after the change.
Grandma
I pulled Grandma's base costume, Rachael is doing all the alterations to her costume herself, including putting a ruffle on the petticoat. I bought yarn to make her crocheted shawl. Our director's wife, Allison, volunteered to crochet it for me. Then we have to make her Candy Striper pinafore for "One Normal Night". I ordered red and white striped seersucker from Joanne's for that. Rachael would have done it herself, but she was out sick all last week, so I started it and she finished it when she got back. I think it still needs some trim to make the seams more prominent where the stripes change direction.
Pugsley
In "One Normal Night", Pugsley appears in a Boy Scout uniform. For his merit badges, I'm using all the patches that my daughter has been getting with her mail order recipe kits. We had to replace the elastic on his black shorts, and hem them because they were way too long. We also hemmed his boy scout shorts and his wedding shorts. We pulled a snazzy vest for his wedding costume.
Uncle Fester
Lurch
Lurch is played by Randy Dockendorf. We ordered 7" platform boots from Demonia and a tuxedo from Amazon. I took one of our crappies wigs and gave it a hair cut.
Mal
I pulled a dark suit for Mal, and then ended up pairing it with a light blue shirt and a red tie. For the wedding I bought him a Grateful Dead 30th Reunion tour T-shirt. They played Ohio in 1993, and paired it with a black paisley suit coat and black jeans and combat boots. I gave him a blonde Axl Rose wig with a skull headband.
Alice
The script requires that Alice be dressed in yellow. Our idea of her character is that she's become a 1950's housewife in her marriage to Mal, which is not at all how their relationship started. I'm using the crinolines that I bought last year for Little Shop as well as the foundation garments to go under these dresses. I had to buy 2 of each style because this particular manufacturer didn't make the dresses in a large enough size. Compared to the alterations I had to do to similar dresses for Little Shop, this is much easier. I'm ripping the side seam of the original dress up all the way from the hem to the underarm seam of the sleeve on both sides. Then I'm cutting 3 inch strips out of the side seams of the second dress and inserting them into the side seams of the first dress. I ended up having to completely rip off both sets of sleeves and sew them together to make a tulip sleeve and then resewing it back into the armseye. I started with the black dress that she wears for the finale because it's only onstage for a few minutes to figure out exactly how it was going to look before I did the yellow one that she wears the whole show. Not only did I have to order a different size in the yellow because they were out of the 3X, when it came, it was a different dye lot. So not sure what I'm going to do about that. I ended up using the darker yellow dress for the inserts in the side seams so it would look like a shadow instead of a different color.
Lucas
Lucas was played by Eduardo Perez. Eddie wore clothes from his own wardrobe.
The Pope Provencial VI
The Pope is played by Skylar Farney. Jeff, Destiny, and Dolly are building this costume. I pulled the white tunic from the ones Shanna Tucker made for the angel choir in Too Many Sopranos to use as a base costume. I had some grey cotton with a cross pattern that I used for the alb. Jeff cut that out and put it together. Anahi sewed on all the silver trim and the frogs. Destiny and Dolly made the hat. We stitched it onto a black coif that we pulled from storage so it would stay on his head better.
The Maid of New Orleans
The Maid was played by Grace Ates. We had just made this armor for She Kills Monsters and it was still in great shape. The only thing we had to do was lengthen the cuirass and greaves straps to fit Grace's body. She wore the same grey undershirt and white leather gloves, but we had to order her larger tights and boots.
The SEcond Wife: NAn Boleyn nee Addams
I was going to use this commercial pattern for the bodice and sleeves, but those pieces were missing, so I ended up draping the pattern on her. I came in over spring break and cut all the pattern pieces out of the fashion fabric. Reanna sewed her two skirts together, Rachael sewed the bodice together. Destiny started assembling her hat and Rachael finished it. I had just enough leftover trim from a costume from Pride and Prejudice and it fit perfectly around her neckline. I also had a Christmas ornament that worded perfectly as a pomander that we stitched to the bottom of her bodice. Anne is famous for her B necklace, so I bought Keke one with an A for Addams.
The Conquistador: Hernando "Bizzaro" Addams
The Conquistador was played by Jason Sanchez. He wore the pumpkin pants and ruff that Matt Smith made for Nearly Headless Nick in Puffs, the helmet that was made for Royal Hunt of the Sun, and the leather doublet that was made for Richard III, and the chain mail sleeves and collar made for Henry V with the boots we bought for Pirates of Penzance. We had already started to paint over the red leather for Tristan and Isolde. It was worn underneath a tunic, so we only had to repaint the sleeves and the armseye. Hallie finished painting black acrylic over the red leather, and then painted metallic blue over the black. Dollie painted FEV with silver bronzing powder over the blue. The helmet was made from thermoplastic and was a bit dented in from its life in and out of costume storage for the last twenty years. Jason had to resteam it into its proper shape. Then we replaced the elastic and the felt and padded it out with some 1980's shoulder pads on the inside to make it fit his head better. The only thing I bought was grey leather gloves with gauntlets.
Pearl Prynne Addams
Pearl is played by Lanie Norris. Austan is building this one. I used the Tinker of Tivoli bodice pattern which was based on the Laker Girls from Spamalot. Austan stitched up the skirt, put in the placket and waistband, and cut and sewed the bodice together, as well as did the alterations and the hemming after the fitting. Then he made the apron. We still have to make a hat and the removeable A. By the time we made the applique A and velcroed it to the bodice, we were out of time, so we just cut a piece of lace and she wore it like a scarf.
The Queen: Sorie Bernadette
The Queen is played by Faith Allen. I draped a bodice pattern on Faith and trued the seams. Alyssa is building this one as well. She has already cut out the bodice pieces and stitched them together. I came in over spring break and cut out her skirts and sleeves. Reanna stitched together both skirts. I cut out the lace ruffles for the sleeves and stitched them on, as well as the ribbon flowers for the stomacher. Each one was hand stitched on individually, as well as the ribbon trim on the sleeves. Austan serged the ruching and Alyssa gathered it and sewed it on.
There was a famous piece of jewelry associated with Marie Antoinette. It was originally commissioned for Louis XV's mistress, Madame du Barry but the King died before it was completed, causing the jewelers to become desperate to sell the necklace to regain their investment. When his grandson Louis XVI ascended the throne it was offered to his wife Marie, but she didn't want it because she hated du Barry and was smart enough to know that it would look bad for her to buy such an expensive item when the people were starving. The jewelers were unsuccessful in selling it outside of France and again tried to sell it to Marie after she had her first child, but she again refused. A scam artist, Jeanne de Motte, convinced her lover, the Cardinal, that she was "in" with Marie, and would try to get him promoted. Part of the deal was that he would secretly buy the necklace for Marie and she would pay him for it afterwards. Jeanne forged Marie's signature, the Cardinal bought the necklace, Jeanne took it apart and sold it piecemeal on the black market. When the Cardinal went to Marie for his money, she had him arrested and put on trial. The Cardinal protested his innocence. He was acquitted and Jeanne was found guilty. She was branded with a V on both shoulders (V for voluese which means thief), and sent to serve a life sentence in a prison for prostitutes. Even though Marie didn't order or pay for the necklace, the whole "affair of the necklace" damaged her reputation beyond repair and was one of the contributing factors that led directly to the French Revolution and her beheading. I ordered a few pieces from Amazon to recreate the necklace.
There was a famous piece of jewelry associated with Marie Antoinette. It was originally commissioned for Louis XV's mistress, Madame du Barry but the King died before it was completed, causing the jewelers to become desperate to sell the necklace to regain their investment. When his grandson Louis XVI ascended the throne it was offered to his wife Marie, but she didn't want it because she hated du Barry and was smart enough to know that it would look bad for her to buy such an expensive item when the people were starving. The jewelers were unsuccessful in selling it outside of France and again tried to sell it to Marie after she had her first child, but she again refused. A scam artist, Jeanne de Motte, convinced her lover, the Cardinal, that she was "in" with Marie, and would try to get him promoted. Part of the deal was that he would secretly buy the necklace for Marie and she would pay him for it afterwards. Jeanne forged Marie's signature, the Cardinal bought the necklace, Jeanne took it apart and sold it piecemeal on the black market. When the Cardinal went to Marie for his money, she had him arrested and put on trial. The Cardinal protested his innocence. He was acquitted and Jeanne was found guilty. She was branded with a V on both shoulders (V for voluese which means thief), and sent to serve a life sentence in a prison for prostitutes. Even though Marie didn't order or pay for the necklace, the whole "affair of the necklace" damaged her reputation beyond repair and was one of the contributing factors that led directly to the French Revolution and her beheading. I ordered a few pieces from Amazon to recreate the necklace.
The Libertine: The Marquis de Libertine
I used a frock coat that was made for Amadeus and dyed it grey. The vest and pants, shoes and stockings were all pulled from storage.
The Author: Francine Stein nee Addams
The Author is played by Maddeline Gray. This dress was made for the gossips in Sense and Sensibility, but it was not made well and was too big besides. So, I had the students rip the skirt and sleeves off from the bodice. We threw the bodice away and cut a new one from the scraps. I also had to add another skirt panel in the back to make the skirt wider at the hem so that Maddy could climb stairs in it. Eden stitched the bodice together, added the panel in the CB of the skirt. It still need to have the bodice and skirt gathered and stitched to a waistband and have the sleeves reinserted.
Edgar Allen Addams
The Burlesque Beauty: Kitty Tyrell
The Burlesque Beauty is played by Jessa Miller. I ordered her corset which will be worn on the outside. It fits really well. We are making the bloomers and blouse out of floral fabric that I'm dyeing grey. Dolly sewed up the blouse and Jeff sewed up the bloomers. I'm using a bustle under the skirt in the back to give it more fullness which I made using a pool noodle. I had a bunch of white eyelet and lace trim that I dyed grey to decorate the blouse and bloomers with. I sewed all the long lace onto the inside of the bustle and Jeff sewed the trim onto the blouse. I used elastic to fashion a belt for the bustle that would go underneath her corset so we couldn't see it. Rachael sewed it all together and covered it with fabric just in case it peaked out while she was dancing. Jessa made a choker out of the leftover trim herself.
WWI Soldier
I had the white jacket in stock and just dyed it grey. I ordered the insignia and hat and spray painted the gold eagle silver, and used grey puff paint and silver paint pen for the hat piping and the shoulder boards.
The Aviatrix: Cordelia "Air Heart" Addams
We used pants and a blouse from storage and gloves that I bought new as well as goggles and a hat. The scarf was donated. The jacket we already had as well. Rigel wore his own boots. We had to remove most of the fur lining from the gloves just leaving the fur cuff visible. The hat was entirely too large, so we went through the lining and took it in in all three seams and then sewing it back together. We had to hem the pants and then did a cuff to make them look more period.
The Pop Star: Kitchie Valenzuala
The Bride
I also did some research on 1960's wedding dresses, found my mom's wedding photo, and designed that dress to look like hers. I bought the fabric from Joanne's. Rachael and Austan put this dress together. She's wearing it over a pregnancy pad stitched to a leotard that we need to make bigger so it shows more. When I cut the pieces out I added some extra allowance in each seam to help it fit over the pregnancy pad and as it turned out, I really didn't need to, so Rachael ended up taking out all the extra I added after the fitting. I bought her grey lace gloves. We recovered a black felt pillbox hat in her silver fabrics and the lace and then added a net veil to it with a silver rhinestone pin. We also had to make her a bridal bouquet out of pale pink flowers and then I sprayed them with a dusting of blue and grey and used several different ribbons to make it more festive.
Headshots
Makeup, hair and wigs are being designed by me. We lost almost three class days of rehearsals and build time due to a winter storm, so I used that time to do the makeup and hair designs for the show. I bought a special 12 pack of grey colored pencils just to do the ancestors but forgot to bring home regular colored pencils to do the "normies" so that will have to wait until we go back to school tomorrow.
I'm taking photos in their makeup for the lobby display which will also feature the epitaphs that Nick Webb made out of my bios, which I have included below:
The Pope Provincial VI played by Skylar Farney.
Provincial VI did his fair share of excommunicating.
And about whom he purged from the church, he wasn’t discriminating.
As his expulsions became increasingly whimsical,
There was a secret coup hatched among his Cardinals.
Yet, not secret enough because when Provincial found out
He seized and cruelly tortured the lot,
Famously proclaiming, “I want their screams to be heard all the way to Vigo.”
Curiously, he later met his maker after drinking poisoned communion vino.
The Maid of New Orleans: Jean of Ark played by Grace Ates.
Determined to succeed in a man’s world,
Joan donned armor and took to the battlefield.
She led the French armies against the invading Brits.
Brave and bold, she fought filled with God’s spirit.
Unfortunately, she left her flank vulnerable to attack.
When her forces fell, Joan was tried and condemned as a heretic.
As her captors stoked the flames of her pyre,
Joan giggled, saying that she was merely being tickled by the fire.
The Second Wife--Jan Boleyn Addams played by KeKe Chadwick.
Nan had the misfortune of falling in love with a man in a crown,
And their romance became a matter of great renown.
In the end, it’s a sad tale to tell; things didn’t turn out so well.
When the executioner’s axe fell,
She lost more than her crown.
He head was cleaved from her gown.
The Conquistador-- Hernando "Bizzaro" Addams: played by Jason Sanchez.
Hernando made his fortune far and wide,
But in the New World, his thoughts turned to genocide.
Acting on the maxim that “Fortune favors the bold,”
He conquered the indigenous tribes and boxed up all their gold.
Fittingly, his own soldiers shared “Bizarro’s” lack of honor.
They assassinated Hernando and fed his body to the piranhas.
The Plotter--Guido Fox played by Alex Hedrick.
Guido, or Foxy, as he was known, was a barrel of laughs.
Unfortunately, his plan to blow up those barrels was too clever by half.
All around the Parliament building, he placed 20 casks of gun powder.
But, there was one thing that Foxy didn’t consider.
The damp London fog made his fuses a soggy mess,
And Foxy’s grand plot fizzled out, ending in his arrest
The Scarlet Woman--Pearl Prynne Addams played by Lanie Norris.
Pearl was born out of wedlock which created certain pitfalls,
One of which was that the girl was very forgetful.
To help the poor child, her mother Hester devised a sartorial solution,
One that was sure to assist Pearl with her confusion
Hester sewed an alphabet letter on all of the girl’s clothes,
A large letter A, as vibrant red as a rose.
The letters helped Pearl know which clothes to wear
Until the day she forgot, and died of exposure.
The Marquis--Marquis de Libertine played by Brendan Phipps.
The Marquis was perhaps a little too enthusiastic
About all manner of things erotic and ecstatic.
He especially enjoyed his “playroom” games
With his whips, and ropes, and chambermaids.
In the end, the French Revolutionaries imprisoned him in the Bastille
Where he was simply left to rot, denied the swift kiss of the guillotine’s steel.
The Queen--Soiree Bernadette Addams played by Faith Allen.
Soirre loved to give parties and to host salons
Where everyone drank the finest French Champagne and nibbled on artisan Belgian bon-bons.
Her guest lists included the most-sought-after personalities in all of Europe,
Including every prince, princess, duke, duchess, and baron that she could round up.
She tended to go overboard in her dessert courses
With excesses of mille-feuilles, eclairs, petit fours, and croquembouches.
This all changed one July day, when all of Paris demanded to be fed.
When she ran out of cake, she lost her head.
The Author--Francine Stein nee Addams played by Maddison Gray.
Francine was a novelist who got quite a charge
From doing book signings, both small and large.
Sometimes it was exhilarating, and sometimes frightening.
When someone liked her writing, it always felt like she’d been hit by lightning,
Until the day when she was literally struck by a bolt from the sky.
Then, she knew one more thing, what it felt like to die.
The Melancholy Poet--Edgar Allen Addams played by Jake “Kaz” Arnold.
Edgar’s life was full of many calamities,
But his death is one of the world’s great mysteries.
For a very brief time, Edgar knew marital bliss,
But, ever unlucky in love, his bride died of tuberculosis.
To fill the emptiness that her loss left in his being,
He often took in stray birds, cats, frogs, bugs, worms—and other sorts of icky things.
The circumstances of his death remain a matter of folklore.
But there’s one thing for sure. You’ll see him “Nevermore.”
The Burlesque Beauty--Kitty Tyrell Addams played by Jessa Miller.
Kitty and her husband lived their lives on the stage
Performing Pantos and Burlesques and any other style that was the current rage.
She trod the boards for twenty years, until—one night--
She collapsed on stage. Her corset was laced far too tight.
Although her husband acted quickly, cutting her free from the constricting leather and lace,
It was too late. As she lay dying from her costume’s fatal embrace,
With a labored final gasp, she sighed,
“The show must go on.” And then she died.
The Soldier-- Lt. Colonel "Mad" Jack Addams played by CJ Martin.
“Mad” Jack Addams got his name by charging the enemy.
With Scottish claymore and longbow, he fought with great frenzy.
Adorned in a tartan kilt and tam, he always marched forward
Playing his bagpipes while being shelled with mortars.
In true Addams’ spirit, he survived being captured and tortured.
He tunneled out of that Nazi prison camp and found a brighter future.
After the war, he settled in Paris,
Making “Mad” love to all the mademoiselles.
The Flapper--Evangeline "Bananas" Addams played by Angel Ntenyi.
Underappreciated in her own country, Evangeline traveled abroad to France
And went on to popularize a new form of dance
She shook her moneymaker to great acclaim,
And she acquired great fortune and fame.
Unfortunately, in the middle of her show-stopping number,
One of her bananas lost its grip during her Samba.
First she slipped—and then she fell.
After that, there’s not much more to tell.
She may be dead, but her appeal lives on,
The first Addams to die, tripping on potassium.
The Aviatrix--Cordelia "Air Heart" Addams played by Rigel Orion.
Cordelia was an aviatrix whose aeroplane was last seen
Circumnavigating the globe—and was never heard from again.
It’s often theorized that she crash landed her plane somewhere in the South Pacific,
In the general vicinity of New Guinea, but no one is ever very specific.
However, Addamses are not so easily slain.
The truth is: she swam to the shore and there she remained,.
The Musician--Kitchie Venezuela Addams played by Jeremiah De Leon.
With friends Buddy and Bopper in tow, Kitchie boarded that ill-fated plane,
And the day after that, music would never be the same.
Brimming with musical creativity and passion,
Their all-to-brief careers left them as legends and icons.
What caused that plane to plummet into its deadly tailspin?
An Addams always knows—you can’t rule out gremlins.
The Bride --Karen-Kate Addams played by Isabel Murphy.
Karen-Kate’s wedding day didn’t quite go as planned.
Yes, everyone was in place: bride, groom, maid of honor, and best man.
And, presiding over all was Karen-Kate’s daddy, and his shotgun.
He was there, most of all, to make sure the groom didn’t run.
The only problem was that Karen-Kate’s daddy was a little overexcited,
And the gun went off before the wedding did.
I'm taking photos in their makeup for the lobby display which will also feature the epitaphs that Nick Webb made out of my bios, which I have included below:
The Pope Provincial VI played by Skylar Farney.
Provincial VI did his fair share of excommunicating.
And about whom he purged from the church, he wasn’t discriminating.
As his expulsions became increasingly whimsical,
There was a secret coup hatched among his Cardinals.
Yet, not secret enough because when Provincial found out
He seized and cruelly tortured the lot,
Famously proclaiming, “I want their screams to be heard all the way to Vigo.”
Curiously, he later met his maker after drinking poisoned communion vino.
The Maid of New Orleans: Jean of Ark played by Grace Ates.
Determined to succeed in a man’s world,
Joan donned armor and took to the battlefield.
She led the French armies against the invading Brits.
Brave and bold, she fought filled with God’s spirit.
Unfortunately, she left her flank vulnerable to attack.
When her forces fell, Joan was tried and condemned as a heretic.
As her captors stoked the flames of her pyre,
Joan giggled, saying that she was merely being tickled by the fire.
The Second Wife--Jan Boleyn Addams played by KeKe Chadwick.
Nan had the misfortune of falling in love with a man in a crown,
And their romance became a matter of great renown.
In the end, it’s a sad tale to tell; things didn’t turn out so well.
When the executioner’s axe fell,
She lost more than her crown.
He head was cleaved from her gown.
The Conquistador-- Hernando "Bizzaro" Addams: played by Jason Sanchez.
Hernando made his fortune far and wide,
But in the New World, his thoughts turned to genocide.
Acting on the maxim that “Fortune favors the bold,”
He conquered the indigenous tribes and boxed up all their gold.
Fittingly, his own soldiers shared “Bizarro’s” lack of honor.
They assassinated Hernando and fed his body to the piranhas.
The Plotter--Guido Fox played by Alex Hedrick.
Guido, or Foxy, as he was known, was a barrel of laughs.
Unfortunately, his plan to blow up those barrels was too clever by half.
All around the Parliament building, he placed 20 casks of gun powder.
But, there was one thing that Foxy didn’t consider.
The damp London fog made his fuses a soggy mess,
And Foxy’s grand plot fizzled out, ending in his arrest
The Scarlet Woman--Pearl Prynne Addams played by Lanie Norris.
Pearl was born out of wedlock which created certain pitfalls,
One of which was that the girl was very forgetful.
To help the poor child, her mother Hester devised a sartorial solution,
One that was sure to assist Pearl with her confusion
Hester sewed an alphabet letter on all of the girl’s clothes,
A large letter A, as vibrant red as a rose.
The letters helped Pearl know which clothes to wear
Until the day she forgot, and died of exposure.
The Marquis--Marquis de Libertine played by Brendan Phipps.
The Marquis was perhaps a little too enthusiastic
About all manner of things erotic and ecstatic.
He especially enjoyed his “playroom” games
With his whips, and ropes, and chambermaids.
In the end, the French Revolutionaries imprisoned him in the Bastille
Where he was simply left to rot, denied the swift kiss of the guillotine’s steel.
The Queen--Soiree Bernadette Addams played by Faith Allen.
Soirre loved to give parties and to host salons
Where everyone drank the finest French Champagne and nibbled on artisan Belgian bon-bons.
Her guest lists included the most-sought-after personalities in all of Europe,
Including every prince, princess, duke, duchess, and baron that she could round up.
She tended to go overboard in her dessert courses
With excesses of mille-feuilles, eclairs, petit fours, and croquembouches.
This all changed one July day, when all of Paris demanded to be fed.
When she ran out of cake, she lost her head.
The Author--Francine Stein nee Addams played by Maddison Gray.
Francine was a novelist who got quite a charge
From doing book signings, both small and large.
Sometimes it was exhilarating, and sometimes frightening.
When someone liked her writing, it always felt like she’d been hit by lightning,
Until the day when she was literally struck by a bolt from the sky.
Then, she knew one more thing, what it felt like to die.
The Melancholy Poet--Edgar Allen Addams played by Jake “Kaz” Arnold.
Edgar’s life was full of many calamities,
But his death is one of the world’s great mysteries.
For a very brief time, Edgar knew marital bliss,
But, ever unlucky in love, his bride died of tuberculosis.
To fill the emptiness that her loss left in his being,
He often took in stray birds, cats, frogs, bugs, worms—and other sorts of icky things.
The circumstances of his death remain a matter of folklore.
But there’s one thing for sure. You’ll see him “Nevermore.”
The Burlesque Beauty--Kitty Tyrell Addams played by Jessa Miller.
Kitty and her husband lived their lives on the stage
Performing Pantos and Burlesques and any other style that was the current rage.
She trod the boards for twenty years, until—one night--
She collapsed on stage. Her corset was laced far too tight.
Although her husband acted quickly, cutting her free from the constricting leather and lace,
It was too late. As she lay dying from her costume’s fatal embrace,
With a labored final gasp, she sighed,
“The show must go on.” And then she died.
The Soldier-- Lt. Colonel "Mad" Jack Addams played by CJ Martin.
“Mad” Jack Addams got his name by charging the enemy.
With Scottish claymore and longbow, he fought with great frenzy.
Adorned in a tartan kilt and tam, he always marched forward
Playing his bagpipes while being shelled with mortars.
In true Addams’ spirit, he survived being captured and tortured.
He tunneled out of that Nazi prison camp and found a brighter future.
After the war, he settled in Paris,
Making “Mad” love to all the mademoiselles.
The Flapper--Evangeline "Bananas" Addams played by Angel Ntenyi.
Underappreciated in her own country, Evangeline traveled abroad to France
And went on to popularize a new form of dance
She shook her moneymaker to great acclaim,
And she acquired great fortune and fame.
Unfortunately, in the middle of her show-stopping number,
One of her bananas lost its grip during her Samba.
First she slipped—and then she fell.
After that, there’s not much more to tell.
She may be dead, but her appeal lives on,
The first Addams to die, tripping on potassium.
The Aviatrix--Cordelia "Air Heart" Addams played by Rigel Orion.
Cordelia was an aviatrix whose aeroplane was last seen
Circumnavigating the globe—and was never heard from again.
It’s often theorized that she crash landed her plane somewhere in the South Pacific,
In the general vicinity of New Guinea, but no one is ever very specific.
However, Addamses are not so easily slain.
The truth is: she swam to the shore and there she remained,.
The Musician--Kitchie Venezuela Addams played by Jeremiah De Leon.
With friends Buddy and Bopper in tow, Kitchie boarded that ill-fated plane,
And the day after that, music would never be the same.
Brimming with musical creativity and passion,
Their all-to-brief careers left them as legends and icons.
What caused that plane to plummet into its deadly tailspin?
An Addams always knows—you can’t rule out gremlins.
The Bride --Karen-Kate Addams played by Isabel Murphy.
Karen-Kate’s wedding day didn’t quite go as planned.
Yes, everyone was in place: bride, groom, maid of honor, and best man.
And, presiding over all was Karen-Kate’s daddy, and his shotgun.
He was there, most of all, to make sure the groom didn’t run.
The only problem was that Karen-Kate’s daddy was a little overexcited,
And the gun went off before the wedding did.
Waco Tribune Herald Feb 22, 2023
Interactions with a normal human family disrupt the not-so-normal Addams Family, mother Morticia (from left, Reanna Fornash), father Gomez (Nick Marquez), Uncle Fester (Charlie Jay), Wednesday (Juliet Indergard) and Grandma (Rachel Clark) in McLennan Theatre’s musical “The Addams Family”.
Jerry Larson, Tribune-Herald
"The Addams Family" By McLennan Theatre
Performances: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at McLennan Community College's Ball Performing Arts Center.
Tickets: $8 and $10; sold out, but a waiting list will be held the day of show.
By Carl Hoover
McLennan Theatre continues its post-pandemic revival with a return to the large-scale musicals it did regularly before the pandemic, with the undead, near-dead and thinking-about-dead lending a hand in its production of “The Addams Family.”
A 25-actor company performs the 2010 musical, accompanied by a 12-piece orchestra, in performances tonight through Saturday at McLennan Community College, with tonight’s performance part of the Hearts in the Arts Gala.
For MCC choreographer Joseph Taylor, it’s a welcome opportunity to focus on the dancing end of things, with colleague Kelly Parker handling directing duties, Daniel Farris leading the music direction, Benjamin Mason on scenic design and Kathleen Laundy on costuming and makeup — a familiar division of directing duties for larger musicals.
“The Addams Family” is McLennan Theatre’s largest musical since “Chicago” in February 2020, performed weeks before the community college and theater shut down to slow COVID-19 spread, the first of what would be various disruptions over the next two years. The theater’s musicals since ”Chicago,” “Clue the Musical” and last year’s “Little Shop of Horrors,” have gradually increased in company size.
In fact, “The Addams Family” was large enough that the production had to draw on community talent to supplement the MCC student cast, with actors coming from the Waco Civic Theatre and Silent House Theatre Company.
The musical’s storyline by creators Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice takes the darkly whimsical characters created by Charles Addams’ cartoons and the 1960s television series “The Addams Family” and puts them in a plot recognizable to fans of both musical and romantic comedy.
Addams daughter Wednesday (Juliet Indergard) is contemplating marriage with normal boyfriend Lucas Beineke (Eduardo Perez). The thought of bringing a normal family into the circle of not-so-normal Addamses will not go well with her mother Morticia (Reanna Fornash), so Wednesday doesn’t clear her invitation of Lucas’ parents Mal (Ethan Trueman) and Alice (Izzy Weaver) to the house for dinner with Mom first.
She does tell Gomez (Nick Marquez), her dad, and swears him to secrecy. That little secret, when it becomes public, threatens the Addams parents’ marriage because Gomez had promised Morticia he never would keep secrets from her.
Putting that relationship in jeopardy threatens the post-dead part of the family, the Ancestors, who find themselves locked out of the family crypt until Morticia and Gomez patch things up. Meanwhile, Uncle Fester (Charlie Jay) has fallen in love, too: with the moon.
The jangled Addams family relations also affect Wednesday’s brother Pugsley (Sarah Provencal), Grandma (Rachel Clark), butler Lurch (Randy Dockendorf) and some 15 family Ancestors before there’s reconciliation — at least in an Addams Family way.
The Addams Family way — a sweetly macabre, genially morbid view of the world — proved a little challenging for the McLennan Theatre cast at first until they became familiar with the family characters as seen on television and film, Taylor said.
“The characters are so comic and some of our actors were not used to working that way,” he said. “But that’s what people are coming to see.”
Those familiar with the series and movies should listen closely to Andrew Lippa’s score as he works in sly musical references from those into the stage musical, the choreographer noted.
Editor’s note: The Friday and Saturday performances have sold out, but a waiting list will be held on each day.
Performances: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at McLennan Community College's Ball Performing Arts Center.
Tickets: $8 and $10; sold out, but a waiting list will be held the day of show.
By Carl Hoover
McLennan Theatre continues its post-pandemic revival with a return to the large-scale musicals it did regularly before the pandemic, with the undead, near-dead and thinking-about-dead lending a hand in its production of “The Addams Family.”
A 25-actor company performs the 2010 musical, accompanied by a 12-piece orchestra, in performances tonight through Saturday at McLennan Community College, with tonight’s performance part of the Hearts in the Arts Gala.
For MCC choreographer Joseph Taylor, it’s a welcome opportunity to focus on the dancing end of things, with colleague Kelly Parker handling directing duties, Daniel Farris leading the music direction, Benjamin Mason on scenic design and Kathleen Laundy on costuming and makeup — a familiar division of directing duties for larger musicals.
“The Addams Family” is McLennan Theatre’s largest musical since “Chicago” in February 2020, performed weeks before the community college and theater shut down to slow COVID-19 spread, the first of what would be various disruptions over the next two years. The theater’s musicals since ”Chicago,” “Clue the Musical” and last year’s “Little Shop of Horrors,” have gradually increased in company size.
In fact, “The Addams Family” was large enough that the production had to draw on community talent to supplement the MCC student cast, with actors coming from the Waco Civic Theatre and Silent House Theatre Company.
The musical’s storyline by creators Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice takes the darkly whimsical characters created by Charles Addams’ cartoons and the 1960s television series “The Addams Family” and puts them in a plot recognizable to fans of both musical and romantic comedy.
Addams daughter Wednesday (Juliet Indergard) is contemplating marriage with normal boyfriend Lucas Beineke (Eduardo Perez). The thought of bringing a normal family into the circle of not-so-normal Addamses will not go well with her mother Morticia (Reanna Fornash), so Wednesday doesn’t clear her invitation of Lucas’ parents Mal (Ethan Trueman) and Alice (Izzy Weaver) to the house for dinner with Mom first.
She does tell Gomez (Nick Marquez), her dad, and swears him to secrecy. That little secret, when it becomes public, threatens the Addams parents’ marriage because Gomez had promised Morticia he never would keep secrets from her.
Putting that relationship in jeopardy threatens the post-dead part of the family, the Ancestors, who find themselves locked out of the family crypt until Morticia and Gomez patch things up. Meanwhile, Uncle Fester (Charlie Jay) has fallen in love, too: with the moon.
The jangled Addams family relations also affect Wednesday’s brother Pugsley (Sarah Provencal), Grandma (Rachel Clark), butler Lurch (Randy Dockendorf) and some 15 family Ancestors before there’s reconciliation — at least in an Addams Family way.
The Addams Family way — a sweetly macabre, genially morbid view of the world — proved a little challenging for the McLennan Theatre cast at first until they became familiar with the family characters as seen on television and film, Taylor said.
“The characters are so comic and some of our actors were not used to working that way,” he said. “But that’s what people are coming to see.”
Those familiar with the series and movies should listen closely to Andrew Lippa’s score as he works in sly musical references from those into the stage musical, the choreographer noted.
Editor’s note: The Friday and Saturday performances have sold out, but a waiting list will be held on each day.