“Dun dun dun dun, snap snap…dun dun dun dun… snap snap”, with only a few notes and two famous snaps, this iconic jingle brings the excitement of the fall and the Halloween season. Last night, MN Drama premiered the musical “The Addams Family” and will perform three more shows this Halloweekend.
The Addams Family was originally a TV show in the 1960s. It was later made into several different movies as well as a Netflix series called Wednesday, focusing on the daughter of the family. The musical production is based on the original show and movie, following the creepy family as they navigate various challenges.
“The Addams Family is kind of this dark, macabre family that relishes in the darkness and monsters. They are looked upon as strange, weird, and creepy, but they love each other as a family. Essentially, the theme is about acceptance even though you’re different and dark and creepy,” director Michelle Williamson said.
This year’s selection shifted to a darker tone in contrast to the cheerful musicals that MN drama has put on in the past.
“This is something a little bit different and dark. We’ve done ‘Grease’ and ‘Mean Girls’, which are popular but a little more upbeat and happy, and this is just a little bit different because it’s more of a challenge as far as the darker themes and a little bit more intense,” Williamson said.
With auditions held the second week of school, the MN drama department has been hard at work with over 100 students involved including the cast, theatrical technicians, crew members, and pit orchestra. Putting these parts together can be difficult.
“Not only the piecing of all the choreo and songs and blocking together, but also the characterization is a little challenging with this show. Adding all the aspects like choreo, music, acting, and then also the props and stuff like that can be hard,” junior Lily Sanow, who plays Wednesday Addams, said.
A crucial part of any show is the costumes, which help bring the characters to life (or death). The Addams Family will be in their iconic black clothing along with 30 ghostly ancestors in white from various time periods.
“There’s a caveman ghost, a conquistador ghost, and a ghost from the Renaissance period,” Williamson said. “The makeup will also look kind of ghostly and have a lot of contouring gray scale and blackout eyes because they’re supposed to be dead.”
One of the actors took the role of a character to the next level and dyed his hair.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to dye my hair just because I wanted to see how it looked, and with the play going on, I thought it’d be fun to give it a shot. Not only is it more comfortable than a wig, but I also feel like it gives me a lot more range of motion without needing a wig,” senior Nicholas Pravecek, who plays Gomez Addams, said.
Another key aspect of the musical is the score. From the overture to the bows, the 23 songs performed help tell this musical’s theme of acceptance and family.
“The music for this show is really cool. You wouldn’t expect there to be a lot of pretty songs, but there are some really heartwarming songs, so I am excited to hear the full music come together,” stage manager Clara Giggee said.
With rehearsals every day after school, MN drama has become a close-knit community and has bonded over shared passions.
“We have all been with each other in other musicals as well as in other plays. For this musical, I am now in the lead cast so being part of this new group of people has given me a lot of insight of who these people are and what they’re like both on and off stage,” Pravecek said.
Since one of the fall musical dates landed on Halloween, there was some uncertainty about whether to move forward and perform a show that day. But in the end, the program decided to embrace the Halloween spirit.
“We were contemplating what to do because normally we would do a show on Friday night, but we have Halloween. We went ahead and decided to do it anyway and encourage people to dress up because the Addams Family is dark and creepy and kind of a Halloween-esque anyway. We thought that would be kind of fun to bring that into the audience,” Williamson said.
With all the effort and preparation the drama program has poured into this musical, they are proud of and excited to finally perform the production.
“After all the hours after school and so much time put into the production for all the directors, actors, musicians, and crew members, just getting to actually get to the performance and to watch them do their thing is the most exciting part,” Williamson said.