Good evening, and let me start out by welcoming you to our Mustang Mane Stage Theater for this evening's production of The Addams Family. As I always do when it comes to this stage of the production where deadlines have pushed me to sit down and construct my final thoughts leading into our production, I find myself going through the same old paces of thinking about how this particular production connects, first of all, with who we are as a theater troupe, and secondly, how the themes and messages of this production connect with the world in which we are putting it on at the present moment.
When we started this production, I did some background learning about the famous roots that this production has. Growing up, I remember watching this zany family in the famous TV version of The Addams Family. In the theme song for that classic series, the opening lyrics read “They're creepy and they're kooky, Mysterious and spooky, they're all together ooky…” This opening line gets right to the point of establishing that this is a different group of people, abnormal to say the least. Not only do I love and appreciate how our theater troupe reflects this same attitude, accepting and celebrating the craziness in each one of us, but not lost on me in the opening line is the phrase, “All together,” which I think poignantly expresses the most important aspect of our troupe, that it is not good enough just to be crazy individuals, but rather, we must come “all together” to build our theater community and family, and to successfully put on this production.
As for the show’s connection to our society, I think this production encourages us to refocus on the best parts of our society, and to truly celebrate how, when we approach those who are different than us with an open mind and heart, we can truly learn how to become the best versions of ourselves. As you will see in this production, even when we are forced to interact with those among us with whom we can’t fathom having anything in common, through our shared human experiences, we can always find a way to relate to, and care for, even the most different among us. This show is a pleasant reminder that, if you turn off the TV and put down your social media, the world is full of wonderful people.
As always, I am extraordinarily grateful to have the privilege of working with such an amazing cast and crew. The time and effort that all of these students and adults have put into putting on this production is a great testament to the culture that we’ve developed in our program. We hope that our passion for entertaining shines through our performance tonight, and that for the short while that you are guests in our theater, your minds can wander from whatever worries or concerns you have outside our theater, and that you leave a little bit more ooky than you came (whatever the heck that means…)
Thank you for supporting the performing arts in Little Chute, and enjoy the show!
Dan Van Eperen
Director
