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Why The Addams Family?

  • 1.  Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-23-2017 13:09
    Hello, all!

    Anita Manderfield here, managing editor of Dramatics and Teaching Theatre magazines. In light of this year's EdTA Play Survey results, would love to hear from H.S. theatre directors who chose the Top Produced Musical The Addams Family for our Dramatics survey coverage. 

    If you produced this show at your school, on what criteria did you choose it? Why do you think this such a hit for high school theatre? I would also be interested in photographs of high school productions of The Addams Family for consideration for the magazine.

    If you have thoughts/images to share, please respond to this thread, or email me directly at amanderfield@schooltheatre.org. Thanks!

    Anita

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    Anita Martin Manderfield
    Managing Editor of Publications
    Educational Theatre Association
    Cincinnati, OH
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 03:11
    I am not an HS teacher but we chose the MS version (young@part) for our school because it really deals with issues the kids are experiencing.  This includes the secrets of their everyday life, worry about what a parent will think, <g class="gr_ gr_436 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar multiReplace" id="436" data-gr-id="436">being</g> different from others, sibling relationships, and so much more.  It is a fun show with different types of characters that add variety to a performance, with The Addams' being cooky and the <g class="gr_ gr_282 gr-alert gr_spell gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace" id="282" data-gr-id="282">Bieneke's</g> being more "normal".  This is why we chose it.

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    Dee Norman
    American School of Dubai
    MS Drama
    dnorman@asdubai.org
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 10:01
    I am about to sign the contract for this show today for our spring High School show. I saw it at a local university and the music is still stuck in my head ("When you're an Addams..", "One normal night" etc). Hoping it will be a popular choice!! Would love any suggestions on costumes/cousin it, etc!!!!

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    Diana Driver
    Crozet VA
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 08:24
    We just closed a production of The Addams Family School Edition, and I think it's popular for all the reasons given by Dee, as well as the fact that it's short and moves quickly.  Frankly, I was surprised at how popular it was with our audience -- we had much bigger audiences than for many of our other recent shows.

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    Monica Williams-Mitchell
    Cincinnati OH
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-25-2017 12:42
    We chose The ADDAMS FAMILY and at first I wasn't thrilled.  I truly was not familiar with the show and had doubts.  It turned out to be one of our best productions and every finale I cried at the closing number.  THE ADDAMS FAMILY grows on you.  The production is not too complicated, the staging the same. Sometimes you have to let go of what the critics have called a show and look deeper.  This is a great show for high schoolers - being different is ok, and the show is edgy enough to appeal to teens.  I loved this production and I loved all the angles of it, from the costumes to the makeup, the music to the quirky dancing. So much fun and a crowd pleaser.

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    Kristin Duerr
    Director of drama
    Notre dame academy
    Los Angeles CA
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 10:55
    I am also interested in knowing why people choose this show with high schoolers.  All I remember when I saw the Broadway production was how much I disliked everything about it from the music to the overall book.  Why is this piece a good high school show?

    --
    Justin Indovina
    Theatre Department Chair
    The Berkeley Carroll School



    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 14:52
    Hi Justin,

    The production that you saw on Broadway is not the show that everyone is producing. The authors rewrote the book, cut songs and added new songs before the first national tour went out. The national tour version is the only version that is available. The "School Edition" is the full tour version with director's notes added throughout and a few small cuts. The "Young@Part" version is the 70-minute Middle School adaptation of the tour version. 

    I hope that helps.

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    Jim Hoare
    Vice President, Education & Community Initiatives
    TRW
    New York NY
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 19:30
    We did Addams 2 years ago. We had a blast and the kids loved it. It is quite different than the shows we normally do and we loved the dark humor. It is obviously not a show that appeals to the little kids, but our adult audience really enjoyed it. It also really tested our costume crew. I do recommend it, and TRW was great to work with.



    ---------------------------------
    Susan Cates
    Teacher/Theatre Director
    Madison Southern High School
    Berea KY
    ---------------------------------



    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 10:55
    We are doing Addams Family in the Spring. We did a version of Cinderella last year and our music director begged for something not "happy and fluffy". Not only that we struggled with getting students to smile and act like they were enjoying the ball; this is something that their serious faces will fit in perfectly for. The Students are super excited because its more of a dramatic piece although it's still kind of fun (in a kooky way). Besides I feel like this is somewhat of a classic, almost everyone has watched the movie. It also deals with some great issues. I'm excited to see how the audience receives it.

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    Kelley Lester
    Thespian troupe 1699
    Pearcy, AR
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 11:50
    We are in production for the Addams Family right now, as a mater of fact we open next week.  Our school board decided they wanted to do away with the fall play and instead have two musicals.  We chose a fun musical for fall show.  We feel that it fits the students we have, that we had the right kids for the roles.  As it is a shorter musical we felt it was good for this time slot as we had less production time for this show, then we do for our spring musical.  So far our students love it, and there is a lot of buzz about the show not only at the school but in the community.   

    We will have production photos available later this week early next week.

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    Michael Kurhajec
    Techincal Director
    Union Grove High School
    Union Grove, WI
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 12:23
    Hi Anita,
    We are currently in the middle of our production of "The Addams Family" and are having a wonderful time with it!  I primarily chose this show for a couple of reasons.  1) It's just plain funny.  2) The ancestors are used very well in the story telling, which gives the ensemble more to do. 3) The music is relate-able to teenagers. 4) The plot is something that the audience can easily follow and understand.

    I have a fairly big Musical Theatre program and am always looking for shows that I can expand in some way to include more students.  The ancestors were the perfect vehicle to do this.  I could add more people into the ensemble, vary when they are on stage, utilize the talent pool better, etc.  

    I also think the popularity of the 1990's movies make this an easy sell to students.  They are familiar with the movie versions, which made introducing them to the original 1960's TV show even more fun.  We talked a great deal about the different interpretations that have happened in the past (TV, movies, Broadway) and how we can really learn from them and make our production unique while still honoring the roots of the characters.

    ------------------------------
    Mike Hancey
    Musical Theatre, Drama, Theatre Guild, & Theater Manager
    Laramie High School
    Laramie, WY
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    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 12:28
    We produced The Addams Family in Spring of 2016, and had sold out crowds almost every night. I selected the show ultimately because of the strong female leads, and the topical themes for our students. To me the show is about acceptance, communication, and how important they are to successful relationships. Whether it's parent-child, husband-wife, or fester-moon. :)  
    Ultimately I would choose this show again in a heartbeat because of this number one reason - my students LOVED working on this show. They worked harder than I've ever seen. The typical issues I have with students not memorizing lines, not staying focused, being flakey, etc. were not present AT ALL with this production. I think this is because they genuinely loved the show, and were excited to do it. 
    The script is very well written, and the songs are catchy. It's also beneficial that they allow you to play down the more "adult" jokes without seeking special permission. It's always a challenge for high schools when there are lines that really shouldn't be part of a high school production. The script boxes these lines and tells you it's ok to leave them out making my life so much easier! 
    I also think it helps that The Addams Family characters are so iconic, and reach over several generations. It's appealing to the old and young. 


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    Kristi Jacobs-Stanley
    New Orleans LA
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    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 13:56
    Thanks, everyone, for all the insights! I really appreciate the responses. Also, it's a neat thought experiment: trying to remember how I felt about family and peers (relationships, belonging, etc.) and apply that to this particular, comically bizarre, musical comedy show.

    Justin Indovina -- It would seem that most critics agree with you, which is precisely why I asked this question. According to stagegrade.com, its initial reviews averaged at about D+. Still, it was an audience hit with regular sell-out shows. A lot of (though not all) professional/bloggy criticism seemed rooted in generational nostalgia -- namely "That's not how those characters would behave!" -- based on the original television series. Of course, that consideration does not color the perspective of today's high school kids. Generally speaking, they don't know the original, but clearly this version speaks to them. (I was a kid when The Addams Family movie came out, and I definitely feel most affectionate toward that Christopher Lloyd/Anjelica Huston adaptation than anything.) Why didn't you like it, specifically? Do you think nostalgia affected your aesthetics at all?

    It will be interesting to see how long the Addams trend continues!

    Thanks again, all! (And keep it coming; this is fun!)

    Anita

    ------------------------------
    Anita Martin Manderfield
    Managing Editor of Publications
    Educational Theatre Association
    Cincinnati, OH
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-25-2017 12:36
    I think idea of the show was strong. I saw it on broadway and yes the story line lacked a bit, but overall I think it was a fun idea. I personally think that kids are really struggling to find new musicals that they can work with that fits many different voices too. Some of these new rock musicals are great, but not every kid can sing rock ballads, and half the musicals coming out now are old retired rockers putting on a musical, whats that all about? Something like addams family really can be latched onto.  I think this will/hopefully happen if Wonderland every decided to make money and release its rights. When that came out, it flopped, and I saw it, and I actually thought it was brilliant with some great music, bringing it back to the classic style of musicals, but clearly critics didn't, but you know who did, the kids, and not that many could have even seen it! The rights would explode with the numbers of kids who want to do it. 

    This is a great study and idea.  I think once something like Margaritaville closes, its gone, no one is going to produce it, but something like addams family, the kids have listened to it, they can sing it, they know when it closes it will tour, and then the rights will be released and when they do, they will be all over it, come on, I bet this happened with RENT too. I mean it had a whole other content issue, but the only ones that seemed to have that problem were the adults. not the kids.

    ------------------------------
    Dan Mellitz
    Technical Director
    St Andrews School
    Barrington, RI
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 15.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-24-2017 20:48
    The Addams Family A New Musical turned out to be one of the best productions of my 40 year career as a theatre director! It was very well received! I chose it for several reasons: my music director saw it on Broadway and liked it, I loved the 60s TV show, I saw a promo with original Broadway cast member Krysta Rodriguez as Wednesday, I loved the one panel cartoons by Charles Addams, and I wanted to do something that would be a ton of fun for cast, crew, directors, and audience.

    Also, there are at least 10 leads---rare for a musical! I was blessed with a cast that virtually was top notch; all could sing! The Ancestors are on stage quite a bit; my ensemble loved that!

    Everyone knows Vic Mizzy's finger-snapping theme; everyone doesn't know about Charles Addams or the TV show. It was a great opportunity to educate my cast and crew of Bay City (Michigan) All Saints Catholic High School.

    We were the first school in the area to produce this musical (2014) and that was a source of pride!

    The costuming is mainly dark, and that fits the idea of it being a dark comedy. The contrast comes in when you have some role reversal and some of the principals wear yellow for a time. Our team thought that was intriguing.

    The music and lyrics were by Andrew Lippa, who also wrote the music for A Little Princess, a musical which we produced at the middle school the same season (We like to theme our seasons.) The music is catchy, dynamic, and just rock solid!

    The Addams Family is just pure fun! Above all else this production is really a love story. Inspite of the madness, this family really loves each other!  There is love between husband and wife, brother and sister, those who are betrothed, and between father and daughter. There are some genuine heart-tugging masterful scenes in this play!
    I witnessed audience members really tearing up at times!

    And that's what appealed to me most! The theme of love! Wednesday wants one normal night, and her family, with all of their insanity, gives it to her!

    Snap! Snap!


    ------------------------------
    Thomas Cole
    All Saints Central Catholic Middle and High School
    Bay City MI
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    Original Message


  • 16.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-26-2017 01:33
    We are producing this show this spring. Our number 1 reason was cost & customer service to be honest. MTI shows are twice as expensive for rights & materials. When we applied for Shrek, a community theatre more than 40 miles away was producing the show 4 months after we wanted it, so MTI would not release the rights and we ended up doing Big Fish (also written by Andrew Lippa) with TRW. the experience with TRW was such a wonderful experience that I wanted to do another show with them & Addams family is popular. The students are excited to do it. We are also tired of doing the same shows that have been done since the 1960's. Doing a show that is fresh & new, with updated music, good roles for women & gives opportunities for individuality in ensemble characters are all factors as well.

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    Jeana Whitaker
    Theatre Director
    Mesa AZ
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    Original Message


  • 17.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-25-2017 08:53
    I ended up directing because I had a student who asked about it, I had nothing else, and needed to do it in a shorter amount of time than usual. My initial impression of the show was that the show was fun even if the characters were inconsistent in some of their motivations and with original characters from the past.

    The ancestors offered a lot of flexibility cast size wise but ultimately I often times found that I had a ton of kids on stage looking like they had no purpose because ultimately the only reason they were on stage was to provide a couple of harmonies. They are an entirely unnecessary element in my opinion. 

    Ultimately a lot of it comes from people wanting to do new works but many new works have no ensemble to speak of making it hard for schools who need to cast a lot of kids to do them. Even if Addams is not the strongest piece, it ticks off a lot of boxes and is completely unoffensive out of the box without the need to get creative around any parts of the show. (ie. the portrayal of Asians in Anything Goes where you more or less have to illegally change the characters to something else (I had them Scottish)


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    Joseph Gels
    Theatre Teacher
    Boston Latin School
    Boston MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 18.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-25-2017 12:20
    are you including summer programs that took place at schools? Cause we did the young at part version this past summer at a summer camp at a middle school.  We loved it. The young at part version needs some work, as we had to do a lot of tweaking for sound effects and set changes, but the music is strong, the parts are great characters for kids to latch on to and it lends itself to a lot of fun moments.  We chose it because it had the right number of parts for one, but also because it was something even though the younger campers wouldn't get as audience members, it was fun to look at as well. 

    Full cast at dining table
    ------------------------------Pugsley and Wednesday
    Dan Mellitz
    Technical Director
    St Andrews School
    Barrington, RI
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 19.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-25-2017 12:35
    We produced Addams two years ago and while I would echo a lot of the sentiments as to theme and conflict-- topicality, etc-- we dd have to work a bit on staging Grandma's speech during dinner so as to avoid some of the innuendo, there.  Otherwise, I found it a beautiful play to work on-- it was a challenge scenically, and required character development work from my student actors.  I think one of the most beautiful moments of theater we have created in our troupe was Fester's song to the moon and the final moment as he launched to his love-- both fantastic moments.  I also found the work to have strong ensemble roles.  Pictures are available at our website through Flickr. 

    trinityhighschooltheater.org

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    Michael Johnson
    Trinity NC
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    Original Message


  • 20.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-27-2017 08:35
    Although I did not like the clips I had seen of the Broadway show, I have fond memories of the TV series and thought it would be a perfect flexible cast opportunity for my all female ensemble. I liked the music, loved the feel of the show, and it was popular enough to excite both the actors and audiences. We had a cast of 32! I used 6 ancestors for many of the smaller scenes and 15 Dancestors (as we called them) for the bigger, group numbers.


    ------------------------------
    Jennifer Jordan
    Director of Theater and Dance
    Miss Hall's School
    Pittsfield MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 21.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 10-27-2017 20:38
    Jennifer, I just have to say that this production looks AMAZING. I love that you do these major musicals with all-female casts instead of looking for material that's specifically single-gender friendly. (As someone who attended both an all-female high school and an all-female college, I wish more schools would fully embrace gender-blind casting!) Keep up the incredible work!

    ------------------------------
    Victoria Chatfield
    Executive Director
    National Theatre for Student Artists
    www.nationalstudenttheatre.org
    vchatfield@nationalstudenttheatre.org
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 22.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 11-10-2017 11:47
    Gosh! Thank you, Victoria. It is amazing to work with these incredible girls. 80% is the belief that they can truly do anything. The other 20% is talent and casting ;).

    ------------------------------
    Jennifer Jordan
    Director of Theater and Dance
    Miss Hall's School
    Pittsfield MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 23.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 11-10-2017 12:55
    We did the show two years ago and one of my main reasons for choosing it was the theme of 'family: We're all weird'.  Loved the way the characters interact, that the ancestors were a part of the family and really loved the song Gomez sings to Wednesday (Happy/Sad).  We had a blast with it.

    ------------------------------
    Susan Cooper
    Theatre
    Blue Springs South High School]
    Blue Springs, MO 64014
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 24.  RE: Why The Addams Family?

    Posted 11-11-2017 06:03
    We produced The Addams Family in March 2017 and it was a terrific experience for everyone involved!   There are always those students that cry on closing night, but this was different.  The fact that the cast sings "family first and family last and family by and by" every night really drove home for all of us that our theatre family really is just that like the Addams:  quirky, lovable, unpredictable, with all the best intentions (though results may vary)...  This cast and crew bonded much deeper than other casts have.

    I selected the show because a friend had been bugging me to do it for years.  I wasn't familiar with it, but she took me to see a community theatre production of it in Southern CA and I thought it was really fun!   Addams closed my 15th season as Lompoc High's Drama Director, so in a tribute to my first 15 years of theatre students, I costumed the ancestors to reflect the musicals I'd directed.  I bet you can spot at least some of them in the photo below, but in case you're struggling, let me name a few: an Oompa Loompa from Willy Wonka, the White Witch from Narnia, Nellie from South Pacific (dressed for Honey Bun), Joseph (in his coat of many white and gray colors), Aladdin, a pirate girl from How to Succeed, the Baker from Into the Woods, a soldier from Pippin, a hippie from Godspell, and - perhaps my favorite - Dead Charlie Brown (do you see his kite?).  These theatre ancestors not only gave our long term audiences a little walk down memory lane, it also taught the current students that I don't forget about them when they leave!  They are a part of the long term theatre family at our school - a legacy that continues with their names on its family tree.

    I found casting to be a particularly exciting process.  I have a great singer who is high functioning autistic, but has always had some trouble connecting with scene partners onstage which has kept him out of lead roles in the past.  Fester was a perfect role for him!   His ballad to the moon was endearing!  One of my juniors was upset to hear we were doing The Addams Family because she is Latina and figured she wouldn't have a chance at any of the Addams roles.  Much to her surprise, I cast her as Morticia and she knocked it out of the park!  We talked a lot about what Morticia HAS to be... and white definitely NOT the most important part of her.  A freshman landed the role of Pugsley, a role that allowed him to show off his naturally terrific voice while giving him some time to watch others in the larger acting roles and learn from them. 

    The ensemble members enjoyed researching the musicals they represented and figuring out how they would interact with each other.   What does the Flapper think of Tarzan?  Those are some entertaining situations!  We used the ancestors for all the scene changes and tried to pick the most appropriate character whenever possible.   Always depressed Charlie Brown, for example, was the natural choice to catch the bird after Wednesday rips its head off.

    A colleague (another teacher) came opening weekend and said he really enjoyed the show.   He then asked how many parent phone calls I had gotten about the content.   None, I proudly proclaimed.  Though of course there's some innuendo (I left it all in!), most of the sexual talk is between the married couples.  Disturbing as it may be for high school students to think about their parents "doing it," I think it's terrific to have that model for once!  The show even deals with the awkwardness through Lucas' mortified line "Mom!"   It's hilarious!

    All photos below were taken by Bree Jansen, who also choreographed our production.





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    Sarah A. M. Barthel
    Drama Director
    Visual & Performing Arts Department Chair
    Lompoc, CA
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    Original Message


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