Roosevelt Theater brings love and laughs to The Addams Family musical

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Things go a little awry during a dinner party with The Addams Family. (Photo by Jill Boogren)

By JILL BOOGREN

They might be creepy and kooky, but there’s also a whole lotta love in The Addams Family, and the cast at Roosevelt High School laid it bare during their recent performances of this dark musical comedy. (I’m careful not to say they poured their hearts out because knowing this family, that would take on a most literal meaning). There, in the gothic chill of their decrepit old house and graveyard—the dusky gray offset by splashes of blood-red drapes and table cloth—was a tremendous amount of warmth.

In the opening number “When You’re an Addams” (snap snap), this mysterious family emerges from behind iron gates. They awaken their ancestors by dancing on their graves and drawing them into a full-blown line dance.

The plot is quickly revealed: Wednesday is engaged to be married. Her dad, Gomez, is trying to come to grips with it (“She’ll be Thursday before you know it!”). Her younger brother, Pugsley, wants nothing to do with it, and her mother, Morticia, has no idea, a secret Gomez cannot bear to keep. As the Addams get ready to host a dinner party with Wednesday’s beau, Lucas, and his parents, the two young lovers urge their parents to give them “one normal night.” That leads to another rousing musical number with the full company. Of course, the night is anything but normal: Grandma’s got some mad potions, the ancestors are restless, Lurch merely grunts, and Fester’s in love with the moon!

But here’s the trick: as zany as the setup is, the play isn’t afraid to go deep. Gomez’s expressions of love and potential loss in “Trapped” and “Happy/Sad” (performed by Sam Albright) were truly heartfelt. Even though Wednesday (Kate Anderson) and Lucas (Jade Vick) seem to have never been on a date—an allowance we’re okay with in musical theater—their love for each other and the intensity of their frustration with their parents shone through. The sultry Morticia (Carrine St. Aubin) schools Alice (Shayana Scott) in the dangers of keeping secrets. Even Pugsley’s (Km Boogren) tortured sentiments were born of love for his sister and the sorrows of loss. And oh my goodness, who didn’t shed a tear when Fester (Sebastian Gonzalez) serenaded the moon?

Costumes and makeup (Ana Misna-Lubin, Olivia Mallery, Katherine Quackenbush, Zander Thomas) were a delight, with basic black for the Addams, an assortment of dusty whites for the ancestors, and bright yellow (of course!) for the “normal” family. The otherwise crossbow wielding Wednesday entering the stage in her bright yellow dress is as absurdly out of place as Lucas’s dad, Mal, sitting awkwardly in Gomez’s favorite chair. Fester’s white orb of a head, Grandma’s wacky wig, and Lurch’s perfectly sculpted hair were terrific.

The Addams Family may have bone-chilling antics, but they were delivered with warmth. The Roosevelt Theater Company has been together for two years now, after having been dormant for over a decade, and cast and crew brought the energy of a close-knit, well...family.

The Addams Family musical was directed by Kristi Johnson, with choreography by Darrius Strong, set design and direction by Shy Iverson, and piano accompaniment by Jay Albright.

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