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  • 1.  Addams Family Ancestors

    Posted 06-08-2023 12:43
    Hello!

    I am leaning towards Addams Family Young @ Part for next year's musical.  I typically work with a cast of 36 middle schoolers grades 5th-8th.  

    Is it crazy to have 25-ish Ancestors?  Anyone else have a large cast of Ancestors?  If so, how did you create a few stand out moments for your most talented Ancestors?  

    Also, in regard to the Ancestors, we usually have our students purchase their own costumes.  With the Ancestors having a specific "look," I'm worried that leaving it up to the families might make the characters look inconsistent.  Should we just rent?  We have never done so before.  Do they even make the costumes small enough for 10 to 14 year olds? Who do you recommend?


    Thanks for taking the time to read my post!  I hope everyone had a great year!!
    Bridget DeVivo
    Director, Drama Program
    Oak Hill Academy
    Lincoft, NJ


  • 2.  RE: Addams Family Ancestors

    Posted 06-14-2023 13:23

    I recently saw a high school production with a TON of ancestors. They had 10ish ancestors on stage for the main parts, but lots of ancestors in their first song. I really liked how they costumed it. Every ancestor was in white, but were different characters/stereotypes. One was prom queen, one was a cowboy, one was a tennis player, etc. I'm sure it made costuming easier for them and it worked well to represent all the generations. 



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    Andee Klusman
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  • 3.  RE: Addams Family Ancestors

    Posted 06-15-2023 09:44
    We had about 16. And would have had many more because the Ancestors are such a fun part of the show. Echoing what was already said, we chose stereotype characters that would be recognizable then matched the makeup design to their character (i.e. how they died--baseball player had baseball thread design in his forehead, bride had tear stains, caveman had wild animal claw marks across his face). We had people donate or bring in white articles of clothing and we upcycled every costume with minimal sewing.