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Kooky, creepy Addams Family at COD

College of DuPage's College Theater celebrates a creepy, kooky, tight-knit family in a production of Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice's "The Addams Family - A New Musical" July 5-15.

Performances are at 7 p.m. in the McAninch Arts Center's Playhouse Theatre on the Glen Ellyn campus, 425 Fawell Blvd. There is a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 15, and no performance on Friday, July 13.

The play centers on Wednesday Addams, who has fallen in love with a sweet, smart boy from a respectable family. When her unique family meets his for the first time, a hilarious night ensues, where secrets are disclosed and relationships are tested.

For director and theater department Chairwoman Connie Canaday Howard, the script is a balance between the original comic, the television series and the movie adaptations, but with a softer version of the beloved Addams daughter.

"Wednesday is so much nicer in this piece," Canaday Howard said.

"She's still dark, but there's this softness to her. At the same time, you have this very odd, dark family, but at the root of it all is a great deal of love. One of the lyrics is 'Family first and family last,' which is really at the heart of the story."

"The Addams Family" marks the college's third consecutive summer musical following "Grease" and "Pippin." Committee members selecting the shows knew they wanted a musical.

"This is a big, big show with the involvement of a lot of people," Canaday Howard said. "It's deceptive, really, in how simple it looks, but it has many moving parts. The storyline also has complexities as it's looking not only at the differences between these two families, but also at the similarities."

Tickets are $16 for adults and $14 for students and seniors.

For details, call the MAC Box Office at (630) 942-4000 or visit www.atthemac.org.

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