“The Addams Family” made its first appearance in pop culture back in 1938, and ever since, has become a fan favorite. In recent years, Netflix came out with their own twist on the family with “Wednesday” and more and more people have been putting on the musical: “The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy.”
This year, John Brown University chose it as their fall musical, with the peculiar family gracing the stage of the Berry Performing Art Center on Oct. 27 and 28 and Nov. 2, 3 and 4.
The musical begins with an Addams family ritual. Each year they gather around their family’s crypt and dance on their ancestor’s graves. As the song continues, their ancestors go on and join them but at the end, instead of going back into the crypt, Uncle Fester, played by Seth Malone, enlists them to help out just in case a few family secrets are spilled that evening.
Meanwhile, the Addams Family prepares to have dinner with the Bienekes, a “normal” family from Ohio whose son has recently taken up with Wednesday (Madison Cartmill). However, Wednesday confides in her father Gomez (Xavi Maldonado) that she and Lucas Bieneke (Heath Stark) plan to marry. Gomez is torn between his vow to not keep secrets from his wife Morticia (Jillian Wendfeldt) and his love for his daughter. As the musical goes on, the audience sees just how secrets can tear families apart.
One of the best parts of the musical was the singing. The actors really brought out the emotion in each song whether it be one that meant to fill you with sadness or love. They also made the singing feel natural for their characters even though the Addams Family is more known to break out in dance rather than song.
The Addams Family was the first production in which the theater department was able to use their new projector. As the show went on, different pieces of furniture were wheeled on and off stage to show the changing of rooms but the backdrop changed as well. For every new scene, the backdrop starts pitch black and then fades away to show a drawing of the room that the characters are in. This added a whole other element to the show. It not only paid tribute to the origin of the Addams Family being a comic strip but also made everything feel a bit more eerie, allowing the audience to better picture the types of things that would be found in the Addams’ house without seeing it all cluttered on the stage.
This production is a terrific display of the talent within JBU. The musical is only showing three more nights on Nov. 2, 3 and 4 so go catch it while you have the chance!