A musical production is a machine that requires all hands to be included in the process. This year brought different experiences for the students involved. The directors stepped back and allowed the set, costumes and creative direction to be student-led. 

Our theatre department hosts an annual musical open to all grades. This time, “Addams Family” was chosen for the 2019 school year, comprised of a cast full of the main Addams family, their meddling ancestors and the Beinekes, a normal contrast to the unusual Addams. In early November, the cast took their talents to the stage.

“I made so many memories with old and new friends,” Sailor Ancestor Sophie Parmenter said. I’m glad that we got to experience all the great bonds. Being in the musical has impacted me by giving me a space to be myself and make friends without fear of judgement. It’s made me realize that no matter how small of a role you have that you can rock it.”

Musicals are a chance for those involved to flourish in their craft, whether a comedic or serious role. The cast read through the musical script once before, which allowed them to become passionate about their chosen role. 

“I was really glad to be Gomez because I’ve been wanting the role and I’ve been begging Morton to do this musical since freshman year,” Gomez Addams, Jaiden Collier said. “Gomez has layers to him and I could portray his different sides a lot with my acting. Honestly, this is one of the best productions we’ve ever done, the ensemble is fantastic, the costumes were perfect and it was overall a great time.”

The cast brings the characters to reality, but the true story doesn’t come to life without the aid of a crew. It took a group of people to help make the set and characters look as dead as possible, but the process wasn’t always smooth sailing.

“Working on costumes was really fun but stressful at the same time,” sound engineer and seamstress Zoe Newberry said. “It was hard to get certain aspects of distressed greyscale look for the ancestors, but it came out better than I thought it would.” 

The mechanics of putting a good show together requires effort from all sides of the department. The coalition of bringing these aspects together united the students and gave them validation for their hard work. 

“My favorite aspect was definitely watching the actors wear the costumes on stage and hearing how much everyone loved them,” Newberry said. “To me, it was really rewarding to know all our literal blood, sweat and tears paid off in the end. Watching how the actors looked on stage was really a moment that made me feel like, ‘we did that.’”