Musical theatre students at Central Collegiate Institute are working on the finishing touches of their fall production — The Addams Family musical comedy will hit the stage at the A.E. Peacock Collegiate Centennial Auditorium, 7 p.m. on Nov. 14, 15, and 16.
Tickets are available exclusively from cur8.com (site recently re-branded from ShowTix4U). They are $25 per person.
“The background story is that the Addams Family ancestors came over from ‘the old country’ hundreds of years ago, and they settled on a plot of land — long before it became Central Park,” explained Brian Bowley, CCI’s drama teacher and the play’s director.
“The idea is that tonight, they are performing this yearly ritual where they celebrate the ancestors and the future success of the family. And so, that’s why they’re there, and we walk into their ritual, basically. ... They dance on the graves of their ancestors and the ancestors are raised from the dead, and they come out and dance with the family.”
The complication is that Wednesday Addams has brought her ‘normie’ boyfriend and his parents, leading the family to request their ancestors ‘stay up’ for a bit to help them all get along.
“It’s really a show about family and love,” Bowley added. He said the cast, numbering about 20, have been working hard to prepare the show and he’s been impressed by their motivation and taking responsibility for their parts. He also predicted audiences will be blown away by the set and costume design.
“Our team is loaded, like, we have such talent here in this school. Honestly, I love being here,” he said.
“Wednesday has now grown up in the show, and she’s marrying this guy named Lucas and the parents are coming to meet each other,” explained Ollie Pollock, who is playing Fester Addams. “Everyone’s falling in love, everyone’s fixing their relationships.”
“We’ve been working on it around two months now, since the start of school in September,” added Jonas Pollock, who is playing Lucas Beineke. “We have put a lot of work into this, it’s going to be a really good show, so if you can — come out and support us.”
Paul McCorriston is the band teacher and band director, Holly McCorriston is the choreographer and hand-drew the promotional poster and some of the props and painted some of the set pieces, Derek Porter is in charge of the set and backstage, taking care of technical details, and worked with Wayne Dirkson to create the set design.
Chantel Mack is in charge of the costumes, Chloe Ramm created the program, and the school administration have supported the musical theatre program however they can.
“The Addams Family are such a classic group that people have heard of, and it’s just fun to put a musical spin on it,” said Esme Breker, who plays Morticia. “You can expect some comedy in there, too.”
