The Addams Family has made the world a more “creepy and kooky” place since creator Charles Addams published the original comics in the late 1930s. Over the years, the Addamses would soon dominate television through both live action and cartoon interpretations, with an arguable heyday in the 1960s and 70s. The beloved 1991 film starring Anjelica Houston and Raul Julia as Morticia and Gomez Addams, respectively, would once again put the strange and loveable Addams Family onto the world stage and imprint them into the hearts and imaginations of peoples all over the globe, kicking off a slew of new film and television series, and would eventually inspire this musical stage version that, according to the Educational Theatre Association (ETA), counts as one of the currently top listed full-length musicals chosen to be performed by high schools across the nation. Also interesting to note, the Netflix popular series, Wednesday, based on the adventures of the eldest child of the same name, has been renewed for a second season and, at the time of this writing, counts as one of the highest performing and most popular original series for the streaming service. The creative life of the Addams Family is going strong.
We all know the Addams Family to be the macabre, fun-loving, and charmingly strange people that tend to shun social trends and defy societal expectations, a point of admiration in and of itself. But what is it about the Addams Family that makes them so beloved and arguably more popular today than they were when they debuted on a small comic strip over 80 years ago? As “weird” as others who encounter them may find the Addamses, there is a deep and unyielding family love that lies at the foundation of their house. The unbridled passion of Morticia and Gomez is a romance that all lovers could only hope to aspire to (and, especially after over 80 long years together, is impressive); the adoration between siblings Pugsley and Wednesday is clear, when they aren’t affectionately trying to cause pain and torment to one another; and who doesn’t love the fun-loving grandma or uncle to help bring new perspectives, like Grandma and Fester do? Of course, the running joke with Grandma is that the family has forgotten whose side she actually comes from - is she mother to Gomez? Morticia? No one either remembers or wants to admit. To ground them all, is Lurch – ironically the most “monster” of the bunch who also is always quick to share his thoughts through a series of observant grunts and moans, and, yet, who remains fiercely loyal and protective of the family, regardless of his opinion of their antics. I would argue that not only do we see a little of ourselves in the Addams Family, we kind of want to aspire to be a little more like them. They are cool in their un-coolness. They are forever hopeful and eternally optimistic, even though they surround themselves amidst graveyards, death, and “sorrow”.
Due to some circumstances beyond our control, we were not able to rehearse, nor build our set, in the Joanna Ramsey Theatre until just two weeks before show time. Two. Weeks. What was asked of student technicians and actors would have been hard even for the most experienced of professional theatre companies – yet, like the amazing humans they are, with that profound sense of Westy spirit, and with no small amount of help from our friends, every single one of them rose to the challenge and to the occasion. I am so grateful to each of them, to the staff who have worked hard to put the show on, and to all of those who have supported the process along the way – I couldn’t list everyone even if I tried.
And, of course, our sincerest thanks to you, our patrons. Thank you for supporting arts and theatre education. We couldn’t do this without you. Thank you for being a part of our family. Thank you for being a part of our Addams family.
“It’s family first and family last
And family by and by,
When you’re an Addams….”
Because, at the end, it's ALL about family.
In gratitude,
Dr. Davis
