From the creators of “Jersey Boys,” Book writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, along with Drama Desk Award-winning Composer and Lyricist Andrew Lippa, “The Addams Family – A New Musical” is based on the morbidly witty Addams Family cartoon. Created by Charles Addams, the Addams stories typically find patriarch Gomez and his beloved wife Morticia guiding their clan through the perils of living singularly in a world of uninteresting “normal” people.
GCA Addams Family portrait” – In rehearsal, the Addams and Bieneke Families pose for a portrait together. Pictured are (front) Natalie Hagan as Morticia, Dylan Lyles as Gomez, (middle) Stevie Lyles as Wednesday, Dominic Delcoco as Lucas, JW Ruth as Uncle Fester, Melissa McGlynn as Grandma, Russell Laing as Pugsley, (top) John Mann as Mal, Annie Sparks as Alice, and Todd Steffes as Lurch.
The original plot of the musical is every father’s nightmare. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family – a man her parents have never met. And if that weren’t upsetting enough, Wednesday 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 will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.
The musical captures the essence of the original cartoon — love and beauty are seamless, and stronger than anything opposing it. It opened on Broadway in April, 2010, starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, and it enjoyed a successful run of 722 shows followed by a national tour. The show garnered several Broadway’s accolades, including the Drama League Award for Nathan Lane for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre.
In the Garfield Center production, Gomez and Morticia will be played by actors familiar to Garfield Center audiences. Dylan Lyles will inhabit the eccentric suave bravado of
“GCA Addams Family Tango” – Natalie Hagan and Dylan Lyles, as Morticia and Gomez Addams, rehearse the tango.
patriarch Gomez Addams. Lyles has been seen in many recent GCA productions, including “Shrek,” “The Laramie Project,” “The Good Doctor” and “Short Attention Span Theatre.” Bringing the sultry and elegant Morticia Addams to the stage will be Natalie Hagan, who has been seen on the GCA stage in “Prescription: Murder” and “Shrek,” in which she was also the choreographer.
Wednesday and Pugsley Addams will be performed by GCA newcomers Stevie Lyles and Russell Laing. Melissa McGlynn will play Grandma, and JW Ruth appears as Uncle
Fester. Rounding out the Addams household is Todd Steffes as Lurch and Olivia Coppage as Cousin Itt. Playing members of the “normal” family, the Bienekes, will be Annie Sparks and John Mann as the parents, Alice and Mal, and Dominic Delcoco as Lucas, Wednesday’s love interest.
The Addams ancestors will be performed by Alan Coppage, Averie Hitzges, Margaret Hitzges, Jim Johnson, Andrea Neiman, Steffi Ricketts, Heather Robuck, Izzie Squire Southworth, Ian Stotts, Mallory Wheatley, and Wendy Wiseman.
The production team, headed by its director Jennifer Kafka Smith, includes Assistant Director and Music Track Engineer Max Hagan, Music Director Michael Casey, Choreographer Natalie Hagan, and Stage Manager Jordan Dixon. The Scenic Designers are Nic Carter, Butch Clark and Jennifer Kafka Smith, the Set Painter is Beverly Hall Smith, the Lighting Designer is Nic Carter, Properties are by Samantha Branham and
Jennifer Kafka Smith, Costumes are by Barbi Bedell, and the Technical Director and Set Builder is Butch Clark. The production Photographer is Steven Arnold, the Program is by Francoise Sullivan, and Producing the show for the GCA are Steven Arnold and Nic Carter.
The production opens September 22nd and runs weekends through October 8th, with performances at 8:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00 PM on Sundays. Tickets are available online at www.garfieldcenter.org, or via Eventbrite, or may be purchased by stopping in or calling during Box Office hours on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, at 410-810-2060.
