A preview of this year’s production of “The Addams Family”
They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re altogether ooky, and, get ready, because they’re coming to town! The Addams Family!
By Sophie Feldman ‘20, a member of the cast
“Aaaaahhhhhh!” shrieks Catlin Gabel School (CGS) ninth grader Dylan Beckett, who plays Pugsley Addams, strapped to a torture device.
Senior Libby Rouffy, cast in the starring role of Wednesday Addams, paces across the stage, ignoring her brother Pugsley’s cry. She sings excitedly about her love interest, Lucas Beineke, played by none other than real-life love interest senior Ezra Rich. The set stands tall behind the actors, painted a black, gray, and violet brick wall. The stage is painted a whirlwind of blue and white.
They rehearse in the CGS Cabell Theatre, the bright lights shining down on them. The rest of the cast sits in the seats ahead, where their audience will soon be seated, looking over lines, doing homework, or scrolling through their Instagram feeds. Director Kym Herbst stands at the stage’s edge, vigilantly taking notes, pressing play and pause on the music tracks, and giving the cast directions.
CGS junior Dylan Lian emerging from the crypt. Photo by ninth grader Zoie Calora.
Rehearsals are in full swing for this year’s production of “The Addams Family.” The cast whirls across the stage, bunny-hopping from one scene to the next. Set pieces fly on and off stage in a flash. In the wings, the prop tables are neatly organized, with objects ranging from cheerleading pom poms to a ukulele and a set of medieval goblets. This meticulously planned organization is thanks to CGS senior Audrey Daniels, the production’s Stage Manager.
As actors run their scenes, cast members slip away for costume fittings. Backstage, senior Lucy Walrod stands before a mirror in a dressing room, a row of costumes hanging adjacent to her. The wall is packed: there are 28 cast members, which makes for a whole lot of costuming! Walrod wears a beige corset over a frilly lavender collar; she will be playing a saloon girl ancestor in the show. The pieces will end up being painted white.
The goal is to try to get “as much white and silver on stage as we possibly can,” said Mia Bane, Director of Technical Theatre at CGS.
Bane takes on a mammoth workload for each theatrical production at CGS. She manages set design and construction, lighting design, the sound system, poster-making, props, and costuming. According to Bane, with such a large cast, there was more work than expected. There have been three full set-builds, as the originally envisioned set could not have handled the volume of actors.
There has also been the task of costuming the cast; costuming entails not only the clothes, but also makeup, hair, and accessories. Nilla Persson, CGS Upper School parent volunteer, has been helping Bane with this enormous undertaking.
Of the 28 cast members, 18 are Addams family ancestors. The ancestors are departed members of the Addams clan. Even in death, they participate in Addams family traditions, but in order to distinguish the dead from the living on stage, their costumes must be painted a ghostlike white. (Unexpectedly, in the Addams household, white represents death and black life; but, then again, things are far from normal in the Addams’ world.)
When asked about the biggest challenge thus far, Bane discussed the production’s constraints of time and money. A theatre veteran, Bane referenced a time-tested theatre expression: “You can have it good, fast, or cheap. Pick two!”
Along with the logistical challenges of a large cast, there are the performative aspects. As a musical production, “The Addams Family” has a good deal of singing and dancing. Kelly Ballard, who has stepped in as CGS Upper School Music Teacher while Damien Geter is on an operatic leave, directs the cast through complicated songs and harmonies.
On the dancing side, the process started off with more uncertainty as the initial choreographer was suddenly unable to work due to medical issues. Fortunately, CGS Upper School Theatre Teacher Elizabeth Gibbs, currently on maternity leave, was able to step in as choreographer.
Gibbs directed last year’s production of “Newsies,” a very dance-heavy musical. Ready to assist her were Co-Dance Captains sophomore Chris Whalen and yours truly, senior Sophie Feldman. Whalen and Feldman were also Co-Dance Captains of “Newsies.”
“Our role is to make sure everybody knows their dance, their spacing, and where they should be at what time,” Whalen explained.
Of course, a musical is not only about singing and dancing. It’s also about acting! So what draws these actors to the stage?
Whalen and senior Abby Halperin both referenced the adrenaline rush of being onstage. “I get nervous before I go onstage, and seeing something go [well] is a great feeling,” explained Halperin.
Whalen echoed this sentiment, adding, “I obviously love performing but I think the people that you perform with are what makes it really special.”
While Rouffy, who has been performing since she was five years old in professional productions at the Northwest Children’s Theatre, acknowledged both these reasons to love the stage in her organized three-point response, her final point shifted the perspective from onstage to the audience’s.
“Theatre is really about the audience and less about the actors,” voiced Rouffy. “It’s about creating a story and making the audience feel something, feel anything, even if they hate it.”
Based on the iconic 1964 black-and-white television show, which fell into the sitcom comedy horror genre, “The Addams Family” musical stays true to the original quirk factor and ghoulish humor of the show. The original family members, Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Uncle Fester, Lurch, and Grandmama, are all featured in the musical. “Thing,” a disembodied hand which often shows up throughout the Addams’ mansion to offer a helpful hand or friendly salute, did not make it to the main stage, however, as “The Addams Family” musical, composed by Andrew Lippa, did not include it.
The Addams Family. From left to right, ninth grader Dylan Beckett playing Pugsley, junior Braden Wells playing Grandmama, senior Lauren Mei Calora playing Morticia, senior Luke Aitchson playing Lurch, ninth grader Malcolm Grant playing Gomez, senior Madeleine Herbst playing Uncle Fester, and senior Libby Rouffy playing Wednesday. Photo by ninth grader Zoie Calora. Photo from Portable Press
Instead, three additional leads join the stage: the Beinekes. A traditional American family from Ohio, their dynamic acts in stark contrast to the Addams family’s. The two families differ in their values and traditions and butt heads in a series of laughable contradictions and unisons.
“A lot of the characters I’ve played are really flamboyant,” said Halperin, who has been acting since the sixth grade. Comparatively, her current role as Alice Beineke “has definitely been a more reserved character - until I go insane,” she laughed.
Insanity is certainly a theme of the production, and a defining trait of the Addams family. But then again, “normal is an illusion, darling.”
Senior Abby Halperin and ninth grader Soren Cowell-Shah, playing couple Alice and Mal Beineke. Photo by senior Lauren Mei Calora.
The show opened on Friday, Feb. 28 at 7pm at the Cabell Theatre with a second show on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 7pm. It will be running next weekend on Friday, March 6 at 7pm, and the closing performance will be a matinee on Sunday, March 8 at 2pm. Tickets are $10 for students and senior citizens and $15 for adults. Faculty and their families can enjoy free admission.
As the lights dim on the house and the show begins with its opening number, “When You’re An Addams,” anticipation will be high. Director Herbst offered her advice to future audiences.
“Take a deep breath and fully embrace the joy and silliness, the off-kilter world of the Addams,” said Herbst. “Appreciate all the hard work the students have put into it. Recognize that we’re all there working hard to bring them a beautiful piece of theatre.”
“I think on Feb. 29, I will lay down and fall asleep,” joked Bane. After the thrill of performing has worn off, the rest of the cast will surely lay down and fall asleep as well.
Senior Lauren Mei Calora and ninth grader Malcolm Grant dance the “Tango de Amor.” Photo by senior Sophie Feldman.
Cast List (your classmates, come support them!)
Class of 2020:
Luke Aitchison
Lauren Mei Calora
Sophie Feldman
Abby Halperin
Madeleine Herbst
Maya Holman
Aarushi Phalke
Ezra Rich
Libby Rouffy
Lucy Walrod
Caelyn Walton-Macauley
Class of 2021:
Riley Hart
Dylan Lian
Emma Mac Neill
Braden Wells
Sasha Zeidman
Class of 2022:
Megan Cover
Marcus Ho
Chris Whalen
Class of 2023:
Stella Alvarez
Dylan Beckett
McKenzie Compton
Soren Cowell-Shah
Malcolm Grant
Reese Hart
Ryan Jan
Nadya Poisac-Nguyen
Dugan Sanford
Theatre Tech Crew and Members of the Theatre Tech Class
Class of 2020:
Luke Aitchson
Audrey Daniels
Advay Koranne
Emma Latendresse
Ezra Rich
Libby Rouffy
Erik Smith
Class of 2021:
Kristin Cohrs
Maddie Gadbaw
Emma Lindner
Patina Todd
Class of 2022:
Kyle Blackburn
Marin Bourlon
Shiv Renjen
Alexis Smart
Chris Whalen
Class of 2023:
Annabel Baskin
Zoie Calora
Bradley Eddington
Alex Proksch