The Addams Family

Directed by: Dan Spencer

Actor level: Volunteer
Nov/23/14
Gavin Soccorso

Plot Synopsis:
The plot of this particular play revolved around the induction of love into the always kooky
Addams family. The Addamss were a wealthy Spanish family whose lifestyle was engorged with
lust for the creepy. As such a family they embraced the dark side of human nature and became
creeped out by the normal side of life. The familys history with the dead and darkness was
expanded upon through various musical skits put on by each family member. Each skit accented
the performers character: Morticia and Gomez were inflamed with romantic passions that only
gothic love could quench, Uncle Fester seemed to be in his own little schizophrenic world,
grandma Addams was a skilled witch while Pugsley and Wednesday shared a sadistic friendship,
and Lurch just grunted as always. The play then opened up the road for interesting interactions
between the Addams family and the normal world through the introduction of love. Wednesday
befriends a boy from town and develops a love interest for him, this only serves to confuse her
due to the conflicting emotional and mental states that hold sway over the family household. The
situation begins to drag the family members of both Lucas and Wednesday in several emotional
directions, which combine to form a battle of normal lifestyles vs eccentric lifestyles.
Directing:
The directing was very tight (although the choreography was a mite off) and conveyed all main
points, nuances and emotions present within the story perfect. It was very interesting to see how
2 families can live completely different lifestyles but at the same time share the same feelings
and troubles. The play started with showing a day in the life of each family member of the
Addams family as well as the Beineke family. The set designs were tailored and fused with
specific lighting and music depending on what family was being portrayed. As the play evolved
you would notice that the lighting as well as music became the same for both families even
though the set designed remained the same. This implied that while the two familys lifestyles

differed they both had the same problems, ambitions and likes that became accepted by the
opposing family toward the end. To further explain the implication of the situation both
Wednesday and Lucas would break through the fourth wall and elaborate upon what was taking
place. There was one particular spot that got my attention (in a good way). The climax of the
play revolved around the two families meeting at the Addamss (go figure). The Beineke family
became disgusted and terrified of the Addamss lifestyle and wished Lucas to break off the
relationship. During this whole ordeal Pugsley became dissatisfied with Wednesdays growing
tolerance of normalcy. He decides to steal a potion that would cause anyone who drinks it to
fall in love with their dark side. He decided to poison her drink during the families meeting, to
which end he accidently taints Lucass mothers drink. This sets the stage for a very interesting
dinner date indeed! During this accidental poisoning the interactions between the families were
accented with very witty jokes, catchy musical numbers and some very effective use of props
and (including a stage illusion). This entire act made a good use of all of the elements that would
make such a play atmospheric. The set was made up mainly of flats and a few very interesting
but small props. The flats were painted so to convey a feeling or idea rather than actual visual
scenery. The walls and props used by the Addams family were very dark and grey, and the set
dressing was very withered and old looking as to convey a sense of gloom. The use of neutral
color schemes and everyday items were used during the scenes featuring the Beineke family.
Another subtlety worth mentioning was the fact that much of the Addamss props had a
homemade look to them and the Beinekes had a very posh ambiance. This suggested to me that
even though the Addams family was a bit kooky they had a better sense of family values than
the Beinekes. This was cemented by the music as well, the Addams family music was dark
indeed but very precise whereas the Beineke family lead music was generic and even a bit
scattered. Furthering the idea that the Addams family knows what they want and thats that, the
Beinekes family was unsure about much of their life. As the play progressed the color schemes,
music and set dressing for both families began to look the same. The Addams family had a little
more cheer in their scenes and the Beinekes had more and more of a looseness about them. The
overall environment of the play was set on a thrust stage so there was a bit of room for
movement and placement of props. The environment made it easy for crews to come in and out
between acts and allowed the actors to move very comfortably. Even though some of the
choreography was a little bit off, the movement itself was fluid due to a nice wide open area.

Another thing I have to commend the director on is the way each set was perfectly laid out in
order to facilitate the dance numbers but also to convey a proper sense of the environment
implied. For instance there was a dance number during act 1 scene 5 that was set in a park at
night. At first look it seemed that the benches and trees were randomly placed on the stage.
However upon closer inspection you can notice that they were all in sequenced rows just at
different levels. This allowed for a normal looking park scene but allowed for the dancers in the
background to interact with the main characters when needed. The pacing of the play was a little
slow at first due to the director wanting to have each and every character convey their sense of
identity through a musical number. After that was done the play seemed to flow just fine each
situation circumstance meshed with the next like a jigsaw being fitted together. The visual
elements interestingly had both a positive and negative effect in terms of boosting the impact of
the story.
Costumes:
The costuming was both a hit and a miss for the most part. The main characters had elaborate
work done on the clothing, while the rest seemed to convey a sense of haphazard dressing.
Morticias dress looked like it had been layered with black crochet webbing that spiraled in
definitive directions. Her gown was fully tailored and perfectly captured the hour glass figure she
is known for on the TV show. The mother of the Beinekes had very plain looking attire that
looked like someone took clothing from the Salvation Army and mixed it with brand new
clothing. The pants Mrs.Beineke wore was very modern and quite possibly new, but her top and
shoes looked like it came straight from the roaring twenties. It was a very thick shawl like blouse
with unraveling threads and runs at the seam. Her shoes were black loafers that were falling apart
at the back. I think one of the Addamss would have had better luck wearing her attire. The
Beineke family were portrayed as an upper middle class family, the clothing did not reflect this
at all. The funny thing is Lucas (son of the Beinekes) had very nice clothing that matched from
top to bottom. It all seemed to be new, clean and more importantly from the same time period. I
feel that since the play was trying to do a justice to Americas favorite kooky family they took
more time and effort on the Addamss costumes. The color schemes for the costuming did
however match the directors intended depiction of both families. The Addams family always
wore dark, clean but older styles of clothing. Much of it looked Victorian or high class (in a dark

kind of away). Corsets, tuxedos and 4 piece suits were used as well as clothing accessories used
by the rich such as gloves and pocket handkerchiefs. This portrayed a sense of oddity and
gloom at the same time it was visually appealing to see such ornate costumes used from different
time periods. The ancestors of the Addams family chimed in from time to time to do a dance
routine or to interact with the family. Everything on each ancestor was stark white and
appropriate for the type of person they were portraying. A prime example would be the flapper
ancestor who was dressed all in white and adorned with a bucket hat, long beads and white
gloves. Her hair was even bobbed and the makeup was perfect to bring about the look of a
typical flapper. Again all of the appropriate clothing and accessories for each ancestor was toned
in various shades of white, keeping with the notion that they were indeed ghosts.

Conclusion:
Before I even knew they were going to be doing such a play I have already been a fan of the
Addams family. I love the humor and the creepy ambiance for sure! However after talking with
someone who was on the payroll I decided to take a look at the specific 1960s episodes that they
were going to reference within the production. I also made sure to watch some retro sci-fi and
horror pulp shows (Outer Limits, the Munsters and Twilight Zone). I wanted to make sure I
could absorb any retro-pop culture references to horror and sci-fi. It turns out that was to my
benefit as a good 70% of the play had retro references, which a lot of other people didnt get. I
was not too sure what to make of the actual play due to the fact I knew they were taking the
Addams family into the modern times. I knew they obviously had a basis down but as to what
the nuances and references to the actual show and comic strip would be was a mystery. All in all
they did a great job incorporating what they did in order to make the play relevant for old and
new alike. Perhaps watching other independent renditions of the Addams family (other plays or
skits) would have better conditioned me to understand that this would not be what I thought in
terms of direct faithfulness toward the Addams family concept. Before you see this type of play
based on both vintage humor of the 60s and pop horror references, people should watch a few tv
shows from that time period as well as read the comic strip which started it all. This will help
provide the viewer with a better understanding of the nuances and subtle humor implemented
within the play. Most any one would enjoy this play for sure! It is light hearted and very witty,

the scenery and lighting is very appropriately placed. It appeals to our childlike sense of fear and
humor it is a very fun show for any one. However it should be noted that along with some
references to modern culture customs and technology (cell phones and meth abuse) there is a few
scenes that include strong sexual innuendos that might not be appropriate for small children or
those offended by obscene language. I feel that the proper use of set dressing as well as lighting
and music all factored into an overall pleasurable experience. As we all know our subconscious
actually determines a large part of how we feel about certain things. Light and sound have a
bigger impact on the subconscious than visuals. So they were very smart to emphasize mood and
setting with sound, music and light. It was worth noting that they also made the light effect
different for each family. The Addams family had a very dim greyish hue that would kind of
flicker while the Beinekes light was a warm pulsating light (one was aggravating to the eye and
the other was pleasing to the eye). This gave us an emotional and subconscious reaction to each
family as well as a cognitive understanding. The actual dance choreographing was a bit off both
in timing and execution. I admit as much as I was enthralled with the use of imagery and
subliminal stimuli incorporated, the sloppy dance numbers did add a few bruises to my
enjoyment of the play. It seemed as though the dancers were professional but lacked any
structure as far as the length of time to execute certain dance moves and how to integrate them
into the rest of the routine. If I had to guess I would say that the director and choreographer were
on two different levels of show-biz experience. All in all the play took me back to a simpler
time in my childhood when everything was good. I remember as a kid not having a care in the
world and enjoying reading horror comics and watching creepy TV shows including the Addams
family and the Muensters. Full closure I developed a bit of a crush on Christina Ricci due to the
movie about the Addams family. I just love a woman who is calm, curious, smart and above all
into the same odd things I am. Needless to say the play was a nostalgic reminder of life before
the Marines, a calm pain free time. If anyone enjoyed the Addams family TV show, movie or
cartoon they will LOVE this play. Conversely if they are looking for a play with good technical
choreography this may not be the play to see. If I personally had a chance to change a few things
I would defiantly make sure that the choreographer was making sure that everyone involved in
the dance or fight scenes were on the same page. Perhaps even film the dry run and make notes
on the accidents and flaws that stuck out the most if time was a big factor in making sure the play
was ready on time. I would also make sure that all the people involved in the scenes that needed

to be choreographed were able to attend all the rehearsals as well as performance dates. A little
bird told me that the people involved in the dance routines and fights would fluctuate from night
to night depending on personal availability.