They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky. They’re altogether ooky. The Addams Family is back, but with an unexpected surprise: Wednesday is in love with Lucas Beineke! But do her parents approve? They’re Ohioans: of course not! For one thing, the Beinekes are NORMAL people. Another thing, Gomez kept them a secret from Morticia! And thanks to Lucas, Wednesday’s a little different now. She tells her father, but he doesn’t want Morticia to know – Morticia is not a big fan of keeping secrets. When the Beinekes visit the Addams’ house for dinner, things go terribly awry. This RHS musical had runtimes from April 18th to April 26th. Admission was $5 for children and $10 for adults.
The cast for this musical included Andrew Schnautz as Gomez, Brooke Rodriguez as Morticia, Emma Opp as Wednesday, Sahalie Nelson as Pugsley, Dimitri Zeigler as Uncle Fester, Jacob McGinnis as Lucas Beineke, Heath Reneau as Mal Beineke, Nicole Boehland as Alice Beineke, Caia Williams as the Addams’ Grandma, and Tyler Leonard as Lurch. The ensemble cast, or the Ancestors, featured Lilyanna Denn, Sam Sells, Ezra Markert, Ava Vincent, Elena Ramos, Grayson Day, Mars Morgan, Amelia Soloko, Rain Knee, Rain Hilde, Aaron Pike, Isaac Standley, Jayden Devlin, Olivia Bain, Ellie Harrell, Kim Shaffar, Reagan Pelke, Anika Pedersen, Colleen Abrio, Cat Markert, Ray Reynolds, Zoey Lewis, Matthew Burrow, Jillian Rader, Kyla Smart, Parker Morgan, Sadie St. Onge and Jerric Hammack.
Each Ancestor was also allowed to pick their costume, and who their Ancestor was going to be: Grayson was a chimney sweep, Isaac was a creepy clown, and Colleen was her role from her last production, Yvette from Clue.
Post-production, we can see just how the musical went through in its six run-throughs: the fire alarm went off ten minutes before the Sunday matinee showtime (the fog machine was over-done), and the final show had a 500-person audience! Let’s see what other people had to say about the production, whether they were in it or just went to see! First, let’s hear from someone who went to see the show: “The show was really good, there were definitely some funny parts in there. When it opened, it was a little on the rougher side, but then as it progressed with more performances, they kept on getting better, and by closing, they were really good. I’d say my favorite part is the ‘Crazier Than You’ scene, the entire part was really great. My favorite behind-the-stage aspect of the show had to be the costumes, they match really well, as well as the costume change for Wednesday, making her seem more normal, I’d say that went well,” stated Logan Kearns.
We also interviewed people that were part of the production. “I’ve done theater with the other leads for a really long time, so we’re all really close,” said Brooke Rodriguez. “It is nice seeing them every day, and it’s nice to be able to bring the show to life with them, and also bring some of our personalities into our characters. I’d say my favorite part of the show was the music. I just think the whole show has really good music, it’s really fun yet challenging.” Jerric Hammack stated: “I originally auditioned for Lurch, but I was indeed satisfied with the final result, and I thought it would be funny to play a lumberjack missing an arm, and I’m not gonna lie, it was.” We also interviewed several students who were part of the set crew. “Being on set crew for the show was fun,” stated Xander Pharis. “I had some fun conversations with the crew members and the cast, it was fun talking to them. When I initially heard about auditions, I didn’t want to try out, but after some time on the set, I considered trying out for Pugsley, but there’s one catch: I can’t sing.” Mr. Pennington, the director, stated, “What I’m trying to do for these first few years in particular is to be able to find really big shows, so we can be able to get a lot of kids involved. I knew the Addams family would be fun, and have a lot of instantly recognizable characters. I wanted to pick something big and recognizable for the first musical that I did here.” He thinks his first production at RHS went really well, and says he would change the time frame so the musical could be performed before Spring Break.
Lilyanna Denn played a ballerina, Sam Sells played a magician, Ezra Markert played a Marilyn Monroe-type character, Ava Vincent played a witch, Elena Ramos played a nurse, Grayson Day played a 15th century chimney-sweep, Mars Morgan played a mad scientist, Amelia Soloko played a 18th century baroness, Rain Knee played a bartender, Rain Hilde played a pilot, Aaron Pike played a caveman, Isaac Standley played a creepy clown, Jayden Devlin played a woman who passed in her sleep, both Olivia Bain played a bride, Kim Shaffar played a hippie, Ellie Harrell played both a flight attendant and the Moon, Reagan Pelke played a judge, Anika Pedersen played a saloon girl, Colleen Abrio played her role in her last production, Yvette from Clue, Cat Markert played a flapper girl, Ray Reynolds played a bug keeper, Zoey Lewis played an RHS cheerleader, Matthew Burrow played a prisoner, Jillian Rader played both a 1920s singer and Death herself, Kyla Smart played a librarian, Parker Morgan played an ‘80s rock star, Sadie St. Onge played a pirate and Jerric Hammack played a lumberjack.
The musical was overall amazing for a small town high school. It was truly that good, there were many talented singers and actors and actresses. “The play was comedic and made me, my mom and my sister laugh,” says senior Aspen Bitterman. “The vocals were amazing and it was a family friendly show. They also casted perfectly, the costumes were fabulous and I think that everyone was perfectly fit for their roles. The acting was phenomenal as well. Overall the musical was a 10/10.” We are all so excited to see what Mr. Pennington does for next year’s production!