We know the finger snaps, we know the song, but how well do we really know the The Addams Family portrayed in the Broadway musical bearing their name, opening Friday, August 4 in The Kweskin Theatre, Stamford?
Audiences have known the creepy, kooky Addams’s since 1938 when they first appeared in Charles Addams’ single panel cartoons in The New Yorker. But they didn’t actually have names until the TV show debuted in 1964. Now Morticia, Gomez, Wednesday, Pugsley, Lurch and others, are in the spotlight as this musical-comedy stage production starts a two-weekend run.
“The Addams Family is our 33rd annual Summer Youth Theatre production,” said Lou Ursone, Curtain Call’s executive director and executive producer for the show. “I grew up on the TV show during its original run,” he said and he’s been a fan ever since. “The musical has a lot of the deliciously dark humor one would expect, but it’s also loaded with great songs and dance sequences,” Ursone added. Ursone and many others at Curtain Call began their careers in the arts through this program and others like it.
The Addams Family is a comical feast that embraces the wackiness in every family, features an original story and it’s every father’s nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family– a man her parents have never met. And if that wasn’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before– keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents. On that fateful, hilarious night, secrets are disclosed, relationships are tested, and the Addams family must face up to the one horrible thing they’ve managed to avoid for generations: change.
Written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, The Addams Family had a nearly two-year run on Broadway and has been a staple of community and high school theatres ever since. This production is led by veteran Curtain Call director, Joel Fenster with music direction by Matt Stolfi and choreography by Jennifer Silverman. Lighting design is by Scott Borowka and costume design is by Megan Latte Morello. Stage Manager is Halle Lane, Assistant Stage Managers: Samantha Millette, Lana Busch, Jake Sperling and Justin Villard.
The cast of 40 young artists from throughout Stamford and nearby towns includes: Niko Rinaldi as Gomez, Maddy Galgano as Morticia, Jay Reyes as Uncle Fester, Grace Huber as Grandma, Lola Duhov as Wednesday, Alexander Patel as Pugsley, Andrew Meli as Lurch, Pierce Colfer as Mal, Gabrielle Tapper as Alice, Jared Shuford as Lucas, Paul Ferris as Thing and Emilee Maguire as Cousin Itt. The ensemble includes: Aliana Aspesi, Marley Bramble, Ava Carney, Mia Caurant, Addison Clear, Sebastian Colfer, Kaylee Deenihan, Lilian Del Portillo, Eli Donahue, Grace Eagleton, Bernardo Gaeta, Katherine Hadermayer, Zachary Helgesen, Ava Kampf, Robert Koteen, Tessa Madden, Bevin Maher, Lily-Grace Maher, Sophia Masone, Michael McArthur, Leia Potenza, Katie Romano, Katelyn Ruiz, Ava Sanchez, Emma Seferidis, Poppy Sisko, Masha Ulyanov and Chloe Voigt.
“In some ways, The Addams Family musical reminds me of two older Broadway classics: You Can’t Take It With You, which features a similarly hilarious first meeting dinner party and I Do, I Do, which features the father’s song “My Daughter is Marrying an Idiot,” said Ursone. Great theatre all around.
Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30pm, August 4, 5, 10, 11 & 12 with a Sunday matinee at 2:00pm on August 6. Tickets are available through the box office at 203-461-6358 or online at www.curtaincallinc.com. Prices for all performances are $41 for adults, $31 for senior citizens and $21 for children under 21. Group rates are also available upon request. The Kweskin Theatre is located at The Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Avenue, Stamford, CT. Doors open one hour before show time.
Curtain Call was voted Fairfield County’s BEST LOCAL THEATRE GROUP ten years running in the Annual Readers’ Poll of the Fairfield County Weekly and has received similar “BEST OF” awards from Stamford Plus magazine from 2008 through 2023 and Stamford Magazine. Curtain Call received The Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2011 and the ACE Award for Excellence in Arts & Culture from the Cultural Alliance of Fairfield County in 2016.
