SHS Drama Club's "The Addams Family" A Huge Success
Written by Holli Welcker, No Bio on Sunday, May 5, 2019
The SHS Theatre department pulled off another spectacular production for this year’s spring musical The Addams Family. There were a lot of familiar faces in the cast this year as well as some new, budding talents. Overall, Saturday night’s musical was a huge success and loved by audience and actors alike.
The Addams Family is based around the characters from the mid-1900s single-panel cartoon series drawn by Charles Addams until his death in 1988. The musical starts with an opening number portraying the typical day in the household of this very atypical family, including a sword-wielding father, a cross-bow-wielding daughter, and a son whose main source of entertainment appears to be some type of medieval torture rack. The main conflict is quickly revealed, however, when the oldest child, Wednesday Addams, reveals her intentions to marry a very normal boy from an outwardly normal American family. The intended “One Normal Night” explodes in an outrageously hilarious evening when the two families finally meet, proving that when the Addams are involved, whatever that can go wrong will certainly end in disaster.
This year’s musical choice was a huge step up from last year’s Pippin, because while the performance level was still meeting previous standards, the popularity of Pippin was evident in the overall loss of money by the end of the showings. This year, the Drama Club chose a musical with an easily recognizable name, which inevitably led to an almost full house on opening night.
There was a lot of things that made this year’s musical special. It was the first time the live pit was released from under the stage and had its chance to shine onstage. The musicians were all dressed up as ancestors and visible for most of the musical. There was also a truly heartwarming moment towards the end of the musical where all the cast, crew, and orchestra had a moment to walk down memory lane. The iconic squeaky castor from a musical two years ago made a reappearance, much to the audience’s amusement. However, instead of hauling a barricade from Les Misérables, it showcased a beautiful two-story house that took up half the stage. While the sound system and the crew were still working out its kinks by the end of the third performance, the overall product was a hilarious, breathtaking performance with great vocals, impressive choreography, and stunning costuming.
Next weekend’s performances will be on Friday, May 10 at 7:00 pm and Saturday, May 11 at 1:00 pm (matinee) and 7:00 pm. For more photos and actor information, look in the “Gallery” section of our newspaper.
