The Addams Family Musical
at
Broadview Heights Spotlights’
The Broadview Heights Spotlights
Community Theater’s production of the musical, The Addams Family, will
run September 18 through October 4, 2015. Friday, and Saturday
performances are at 7:30PM; Sunday matinees on September 27 and October 4 begin
at 3:00PM. All shows will be at the Broadview Heights Cultural Arts
Building (Spotlights Theater), 9543 Broadview Road, next to the Police Station.
Tickets are $14 for adults and $13 for seniors and students. Reservations
may be made on-line at www.broadview-heights-spotlights.org
The musical version features the
well-known macabre characters of the movies from the 1990s, which were based on
the television series of the 1960s, which was based on cartoons originally
published in The New Yorker in the 1930s and 1940s. Opening
in 2010, the original Broadway production starred Nathan Lane and Bebe
Neuworth. With an original storyline, the musical tells how Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of
darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man
from a respectable Ohio family. She confides in her father and begs him not to
tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done
before — keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything changes
on a fateful night when they host a dinner for Wednesday’s 'normal' boyfriend
and his parents.
The Spotlights’ production features a
very talented cast of local actors, including Broadview Heights residents Ryan
Bergeron and Melanie Hauer as Gomez and Morticia Addams. Their children,
Wednesday and Pugsley, are played by Courtney Hostettler and James
Newton. Rounding out the Addams’ clan are Kevin Cline as Fester, Peggy
Newton as Grandma, and Daryl Kelley as Lurch. The cast also
features Keith Joritz, Pam Matthews, and Tim Schurger as the visiting Beineke
family. Rounding out the cast are an ensemble of ghostly Addams’
ancestors: Adam Bowers, Delia Brennan, Tara Corkery, Lexi Frendak, Dylan
Grosh, Natalie Joritz, Maggie Majercik, Daniel Weddell, and Decklin Newton.
The Spotlights’ production team is
drawing on the long history of these characters and their various incarnations
for inspiration for sets, props, and costumes. “These characters are so
well-known in American culture, largely because they represent an interesting
counter-culture. The musical version is very funny, but very touching,
too. Our goal is to emphasize the love that all families have, no matter
what they look like to others,” says the director, Tim Anderson who is also the
Education Director for the Spotlights, and a Broadview Heights resident. Music direction
is provided by Ryan Bergeron, and Zac Hudak is the choreographer. Stephanie
Giammarco is costuming this show and Sharon Joyce is serving as the stage
manager. The show is produced by Amy McSweeney and Tara Shooks.