By Kenzie Smith, Staff Writer
Cast of the Addams Family Musical (Photo Eric Lippe/The Gettysburgian)
On Friday and Saturday, Student Musical Theater performed “The Addams Family: A New Musical” in the CUB Ballroom. The musical was directed by Nicole Parisi ’23 and John Rosenberg ’24.
Student Musical Theater is a student-run club, so all aspects of the musical were managed by the students. “The Addams Family” is the first spring show that Student Musical Theater has performed since 2019, due to the disruptions caused by COVID-19.
Parisi spoke about what it meant to put on this show after the lapse in time.
“This also meant it was the first Student Musical Theatre production for every student who started school here over the last four years. While it was an honor to be part of the team that revived the tradition, there was a lot of pressure to make sure we were doing it the right way and that we would be able to produce more shows in the years to come,” Parisi said.
Rosenberg talked about the process behind the final production.
“The process was fun but a very complicated one. It was a really ambitious venture for sure and there were times where things didn’t look like they would work and times where the show really felt like an impossibility, but I guess when you get 30 talented people in the same room, impossibility becomes an afterthought. It was hard work and a lot of improvising for sure.” Rosenberg said.
“The Addams Family” contained all the beloved characters, with some new additions, as Wednesday ventured into the world of love. The Beineke family entered into the life of the Addams as Wednesday (Katie Poliero ’25) and Lucas (Elliot Wakefield ’26) planned to have a dinner to reveal to their families that they were engaged.
Wednesday, nervous about the chaos that might ensue after the announcement, revealed this secret to her father (Alex Sanchez ’23) beforehand, but forced Gomez to promise not to tell Morticia (Savannah Madeira ’25). Gomez’s promise to his daughter later created tensions between him and Morticia as he felt “Trapped,” which was emphasized by the musical number of this title.
Fester (Evan Hilborn ’25), being a big advocate for love, trapped the Addams family’s ancestors in the mortal world, and their only way back to the afterlife was to help Wednesday and Lucas be together. Fester also had a love story of his own in this play, as he later announced during the game of Full Disclosure that he was in love with the moon.
Although there were many on the side of love, Pugsley (Kelly O’Donnell ’26) was heavily against the relationship between Wednesday and Lucas. Pugsley was afraid of losing his sister and, in true Addams family fashion, not being tortured by her anymore. This fear later led Pugsley to slip a concoction into the Sacred Chalice during the game of Full Disclosure for Wednesday to drink.
Before Wednesday had a chance to take a sip, Alice (Sia Harrison ’25), Lucas’ mother, began to choke. Alice drank the potion, which was meant to reveal one’s darker self. Alice’s previously pleasant and passive nature was pulled aside to show the hidden anger and anguish caused by her loveless marriage.
At the climax of the musical, all the relationships were unraveling, but through a series of scenes, Gomez wooed Morticia back, Mal (Hayden Johnston ’25) and Alice rekindled their old flame, and Fester was united with The Moon (Kat Manchester ’26). The troubles faced by Wednesday and Lucas paid off, as the musical ended with their marriage.
The cast did a wonderful job at portraying the characters and had the audience constantly laughing. From Lurch’s (Henry Grinnell ’24) slow walk to answer the door as Wednesday was yelling at him, to the witty interactions between characters, there were plenty of humorous moments provided by all cast members. Hilborn’s portrayal of Fester really stole the show, as anytime Fester appeared on stage, there were laughs from the audience. Perhaps one of the funniest moments of the show was when Fester “flew” to the moon on his “rocketship,” which was depicted by the use of a skateboard. Fester zoomed around the audience before crashing into the side of the stage (the moon).
Although the show was filled with humor, it also was full of talented singing, acting, and dancing. A moment that intermingled aspects of humor and amazing singing was Alice’s “Waiting” performance. This song occurred as she drank from the Sacred Chalice and her passive demeanor melted away to reveal her true demeanor. Sanchez’s vocals were also noteworthy, with his very distinctive rich voice.
All the dance scenes were fantastic, but the tango between Gomez and Morticia was especially memorable. Sanchez talked about the difficulties the tango scene presented to him.
“The most challenging scene was easily the tango. I am not an experienced dancer. I’ve done minimal dancing in my 15 years of acting. However, I had to learn a 5-minute tango over the course of a month. It was one of the most difficult yet rewarding challenges I’ve undertaken onstage,” Sanchez said.
Overall, the performances from all the cast members were incredible, and their hard work was apparent. Leah Nath ’26 shared this perspective.
“The cast and crew’s hard work really paid off, they gave an incredibly engaging performance which highlighted the unique talent of students at Gettysburg,” Nath said.
