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After long wait, 'Addams Family' takes North Mason stage

‘The Addams Family’ debuts May 13

7 p.m. on May 13 marks the first of North Mason High School’s six presentations of its spring musical production “The Addams Family,” which NMHS Drama Club Adviser Hilary Gennaro noted is long overdue.

“We were set to produce this two years ago, right before COVID hit,” Gennaro said. “It’s been a long and winding road to get to this point. Some of the same students who were cast two years ago as sophomores now have the chance to play these characters as seniors, right before they graduate.”

“The Addams Family” was a production Gennaro had discussed with her students before COVID hit, since it was relatively new to the school performance circuit. It was released on Broadway in 2010, so “it feels fresh, it’s very fun and it has a wide appeal.”

Gennaro touted the production’s appeal to older audiences, who are familiar with the TV show, and younger audiences, whom she believes “will appreciate the modern storyline.”

Gennaro said it “references the original characters and their well-known traits, but Wednesday falls in love with a Midwestern boy and begins to lose her ‘dark edge,’ which seems disastrous to the Addams Family,” who meet the family of Wednesday’s love interest, “and shenanigans ensue.”

Gennaro promises attendees “tongue-in-cheek humor, fantastic songwriting and a heartwarming theme with a sardonic Addams twist,” all of which should “make for a great show. “

Originally scheduled for the spring of 2020, the show’s roles were already cast, and rehearsals were slated to start just as COVID hit and the schools moved to remote learning.

“Theater and the performing arts took a hit during the pandemic,” Gennaro said. “I worked with my students to put on a virtual production, but for the most part, theater was put on hold.”

Having already invested in the performing rights and staging for the musical, Gennaro and her students kept “The Addams Family” on their radar for a future spring performance.

“They were still excited to play the roles they were given two years ago,” Gennaro said. “It was a balancing act to make it fair to them and for new auditionees, but we opened up more than half of the lead roles to new auditions this year, as well as all the ancestor chorus parts, even as several seniors were able to keep their lead roles.”

Gennaro also pointed out this is a big production for a small school like NMHS, which lacks the numbers for “a massive cast” or dozens of people in its tech crew, but the people it does have put in “about 25 hours each week” to make this production happen.

The cast includes 10 main roles for the Addams and Beineke families, five Addams ancestors and special appearances by Cousin Itt, with a single fixed composite set for the Addams Family mansion, and half a dozen smaller sets for house interiors such as Morticia’s boudoir and Pugsley’s bedroom, plus a graveyard, Central Park and “a functioning torture rack,” according to Gennaro.

“There are a lot of small set changes to make between scenes, and we’re staging it without the use of major special effects,” Gennaro said.

Gennaro expressed enthusiasm for the production’s distinctive music, quirky “and hilarious” storyline, and the dances that she and her students have choreographed.

“Besides the show itself being a wonderful piece of art, it has been a true pleasure having the opportunity to salvage what felt like such a loss when COVID hit,” Gennaro said. “I’m getting the opportunity to work with students I was afraid I might not work with again. My tech crew has had fun painting flourishes on the house set, making set pieces, and even 3-D printing Wednesday’s crossbow and arrows. The ancestors’ costumes have also been a lot of fun to put together, as we’ve aged them with spray paint.”

In addition to such fine details, Gennaro expects audiences will be impressed by her cast’s singing and performing talents, each of which is honed via different methods.

North Mason senior Mamie Van Meter, who plays Mal Beineke, prepared by contextualizing her character within the broader story, studying other actors’ performances of the role and imagining herself as the character.

“Acting appeals to her because she not only enjoys pretending to be someone else, but she loves the community experience of working with other cast members,” Gennaro said of Van Meter.

Junior Terrell Vanorsby, who plays Fester, has researched his character “just enough to get the general idea of it,” then played him as he’s felt is appropriate.

“He enjoys all the hard work that’s put into a performance, from the acting to the set-building,” Gennaro said of Vanorsby. “It makes him feel happy and satisfied to see the final product.”

And freshman Grant Galbraith prepared for his role of Pugsley by watching live-action performances of “The Addams Family,” doing deep-breathing exercises to reduce any performance anxiety and leaning on his prior choir and band experience to prepare him.

“Grant has enjoyed developing the character of Pugsley and diverging a bit from the original source by making him sassier,” Gennaro said. “He also loves the supportive environment theater fosters.”

“The Addams Family” kicks off at 7 p.m. on May 13, 14, 19 and 20, and at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on May 21, in the Toni M. Smith Auditorium of NMHS. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, and $5 for NMHS students and children 12 years and younger.

Author Bio

Kirk Boxleitner, Reporter

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Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
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