On Thursday, November 14th and Saturday, November 16th the Southeast of Saline Music Department performed the musical, The Addams Family under the direction of Mrs. Boley.
The musical is set in New York City, New York, and follows the story of Wednesday Addams (Kipra Reed). Wednesday is a part of the Addams family, a family known for their unorthodox ways and traditions. Wednesday is nervous about telling her family about her fiance, Lucas Beineke (Casson Klover), who, unlike Wednesday, comes from a seemingly normal family. Wednesday is especially nervous about revealing her fiance to her overprotective mother, Morticia (Ava Rupert), who doesn’t think Wednesday has the capability to fall in love. However, she is encouraged by her uncle Fester (Xander Bishop) to show off her love for Lucas.
To announce her engagement, Wednesday sets up a dinner for her family and the Beinekes. In order to keep her engagement secret from her mother, Wednesday ropes her father, Gomez (James Friesen), into her charade. This puts Gomez in the middle of two situations he swears he will never do: lie to his wife and lie to his daughter.
Although Gomez tries to honor his daughter’s wish of keeping her engagement temporarily to himself, he ends up letting the secret slip to Morticia. Morticia, furious with her husband and daughter for keeping this information from her, plans a special surprise game for Wednesday and her fiance’s family. The intent for this game entitled “Full Disclosure” is to reveal the secrets of both the Addams and the Beinekes.
On the night of the dinner, the Beinekes arrive at the Addams residence located in the middle of Central Park. Uncertain and afraid, both Mal Beineke (Adam Thiel) and his wife Alice Beineke (Micah Willis) try to deter Lucas away from Wednesday and her family. Unfazed by the oddness of the Addams family, Lucas forces his parents to attend the dinner party.
The dinner begins with drinks and the families mingle and get to know each other. Gomez and Mal split off to discuss the engagement, while Morticia and Alice discuss their marriages and the complications of not being truthful with their spouses. Meanwhile, Lucas and Wednesday sneak off which infuriates Wednesday’s little brother, Pugsley (Jr. Arceo). Because of this, Pugsley seeks out a tonic from his grandma (Abigail Pearson). When consumed, this tonic will force the drinker to spill their secrets, fitting in perfectly with Morticia’s game. With this in mind, Puglesy plans to slip this tonic into Wednesday’s drink thinking that Wednesday will reveal that she doesn’t love Lucas and will stay with Pugsley forever.
When the time comes for the game to commence, the Addams and the Beinekes take turns drinking from the signature game cup, sharing a secret that they’ve never before shared. When it’s Wednesday’s turn to share her secret, undoubtedly announcing her engagement, Puglsey pours the special tonic into the game cup. But, to everyone’s surprise, Alice snatches the cup, drinking the tonic instead of Wednesday. The tonic forces Alice to share her marriage problems with the entire table.
After this, Wednesday finally announces her engagement, pushing Morticia over the edge. The dinner and game end with both Morticia and Gomez and Alice and Mal angry with each other and tension between the two families.
After the failed dinner party, Wednesday tries to convince Lucas to run away with her. Lucas, who is cautious and overthinks his decisions, decides that he will not be rash and wants to wait for the approval of both families before marrying Wednesday. This upsets Wednesday, causing her to call off the wedding. After this, Wednesday turns to her father, who convinces her to give Lucas another chance. Wednesday doesn’t let Lucas off hook easily. First she makes him prove that he can be bold and impulsive. After Lucas agrees to let Wednesday shoot an apple off his head, the two decide that the wedding is back on.
After helping his daughter with her relationship, Gomez finds Morticia to make up for lying to her for the first time in their twenty years of marriage. After some convincing, and a planned trip to Paris, Morticia and Gomez makeup.
Alice and Mal Beienke also sort out their differences after Alice accidentally spilled all her concerns about their marriage. Mal admits to changing over the years and not being as fun as he used to be. With the promise that he will spice things up a bit, Mal and Alice also make amends.
The musical concludes with the Addams and the Beinekes coming together and celebrating the future marriage of Wednesday and Lucas.
Overall, lots of hard work went into the production of The Addams Family, and the musical came together nicely. Under the thoughtful direction of Mrs. Boley, the musical portrayed carefully crafted choreography, dialogue, and special effects. The cast worked hard to keep the traditional aspects of the show while simultaneously adding new anecdotes to gear towards an audience of all ages.