Mundelein Theatre stages creepy, kooky 'Addams Family'
It has been nearly three years since Mundelein Theatre has been able to stage a fully produced musical at Mundelein High School. That will soon change, as they will be presenting "The Addams Family - A New Musical Comedy."
The show runs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 28-30, and 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30. Tickets are $14 for adults and $8 for students and seniors.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.mundeleintheatre.org or at the door 45 minutes before each performance.
The "Addams Family" characters, with an affinity for all things macabre, were designed by Charles Addams in 1938 for a series of single panel cartoons in The New Yorker Magazine. Through a subsequent television series and several major motion pictures, they have become iconic and beloved characters in American popular culture.
In 2010, The Addams Family was turned into a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It has now become one of the most often produced musicals by high school and college theaters in the country.
"I can't think of a better way to end our season," said Jonathan Meier, director of "The Addams Family." "The show is pure joy. It has a very sweet story that deals with the importance of family, acceptance, and love. It is also hilarious, filled with lots of dark humor, as well as songs and dances from a multitude of different styles."
"Playing characters who are well known to most in the audience comes with a particular set of challenges," said senior Lance Evans, who plays Lurch. "It has been both fun and challenging to honor the history of the characters, while at the same time finding ways to make them unique to us."
Others playing principal characters are seniors Addison Salski as Morticia, Tori Collins as Grandma, Chris Nacion as Pugsley, Eli Walter as Lucas, Katie Myrant as Alice and Kessler Young as Mal; juniors Will Gonzales as Gomez and Josh Jaffe as Fester; and sophomore Taylor Gates as Wednesday.
Playing the Addams Ancestors are Stephanie Aquino, Alex Benassi, Jake Canela, Gloria Cruz-Cisberos, Grace DiMilio, Madeline Demuth, Martin Guillen, Gianna Horcher, Lia Kagan, Achille Kim, Andy Lacroix, Savannah Lynn, Abigail Marquardt, Juliana Myrant, Hadyn Nuttall, Leandro Ocampo, Sydney Olorvida, Sarah Page, Rey Palacios, Grace Sciortino, Marissa St. Clair, Zoë Van Krey, Megan Van Engelenhoven, Violet Wark and Sam Zwiefelhofer.
The production stage manager is Meghan Matthys; assistant director is Jack Salit.