MANASQUAN — Five performances of “The Addams Family” will be staged at Manasquan High School’s Jack Nicholson Theatre starting next week.
Presented by the Manasquan High School Drama Club, “The Addams Family” is based on the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, in turn based on the macabre cartoons by Charles Addams, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa.
“The Addams Family is a comical feast that embraces the wackiness in every family, features an original story that embodies 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 pleads with him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done: keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the entire family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s ‘normal’ boyfriend and his parents,” according to an event press release.
Director Maddi Schille told The Coast Star, “It just really seems like the perfect year to bring some lightness to the stage with The Addams Family.”
The Addams Family was selected following the drama department’s production of “Into The Woods,” of which Schille said, “The first half of the show, it’s very funny and lighthearted and then it ends quite dark and serious, so we wanted to do something that’s a total 180 from that, something that’s just all around silly and fun.”
The musical comedy is set to open on Wednesday, March 12, at 6 p.m. and will run on March 13 at 7 p.m., March 14 at 7 p.m. and close on March 15 with two performances at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The Addams Family cast includes Cameron Lieb as Gomez, Molly Grace McCarthy as Morticia, Gillian Eldredge-Silberstein as Wednesday, Abigail Shaw as Pugsley, Luke Rudo as Fester, Camryn Rothenberg as Grandma and Griffin Tomney as Lurch.
The musical features over 20 songs including “When You’re an Addams” and “Let’s Live Before We Die.”
The musical is directed by Schille. Assistant director is Gabrielle Galizio, Kerry McBride is set director, Brianna Yeager is the costume designer, Lawrence Chiang is the sound engineer, Jess Mackown is the stage manager and Lilith Fries is the lighting director.
This year, the drama department is providing advertisers a new, digital option. Instead of printed advertisements, prior to the show and during the intermission of all five performances, digital advertisements will be projected on the stage screen. Full-screen advertisements cost $50 and the dimensions are made to fit on a Canva or Powerpoint presentation slide. Those interested in purchasing an advertisement can email Schille at mschille@manasquannj.k12.nj.us with the intended image by noon on March 11.
To purchase tickets for the upcoming musical, find “The Addams Family” production on the Manasquan School District’s website, manasquanschools.org
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