November 07, 2024

Come meet the family. We’ll leave the lights off for you.

This Friday and Saturday, the Clarke High School drama department will present “The Addams Family,” a musical take on the popular 60′s TV show and subsequent movies and reboots. There will be showings at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, as well as a 2 p.m. show on Saturday afternoon.

A musical that has only been around for about 15 years, this will be the first time it has been performed on the Osceola stage.

“We had a good group of kids that would be good for the leads,” said musical director Don May of choosing this production. May’s assistant director this year is Kierstin Smith.

A description of the show is stated as,

“The Addams Family,” 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.”

Micah Domina and AJ Hendrickson play the Addams family patriarch and matriarch, Gomez and Morticia Addams. Wednesday Addams is played by Emma Short, and Danika McCloney and Blaze Schiltz will play Pugsley Addams; McCloney will play the evening shows, and Schiltz the Saturday afternoon show. Other Addams family members are Peyton Shields as Uncle Fester; Kelsey Haltom as Grandma Addams and Cayden Anderson as Lurch. The Beineke family will be featured in the cast - son Lucas Beineke played by Jonathan Galvez (evening shows) and Joey Turpin (afternoon show), and parents Mal Beineke and Alice Beineke, played by Easton Brokaw (evening shows) and Zeke Lundquist (afternoon show) and Leah Flowers (evening shows) and Olivia Vargas (afternoon show).

May said there is double-casting to give the underclassmen more experience on the stage, to prepare them for future roles as the upperclassmen graduate.

Also included in the cast list are a variety of Addams Family ancestors. While the original play calls for about 10 ancestors, many more are featured in Clarke’s production, and are played by: Lundquist, Carson Jones, Flowers, Liliana Rosales, Lily Cook, Aryanna Hewlett, Ahnyka Hewlett, Janie Antoine, Moyra Hicks (two parts), Brokaw, Jake Pontier, Jocelyn Carrera (two parts), Miranda Rosales, Galvez, Vargas, Angela Zaragoza-Rosales, McCloney, Jordan Murphy, Elian Mercado, Camila Rosales, Sawyer Shields, Scarlett Schiltz, Liliana Contreras, Claire Jacobsen, Kailee Gorsline, Sammy Garcia, Sophia Ashley, Abbie Schlichte, Turpin, Dylan Struble, Macayla Hicks, Cael Wisniewski, Blaze Schiltz, Klaire Blackford, Juke Pontier, Joseph DeVore, Shealyn Jones, Eloise Pohlmann, Elisabeth Pohlmann

The musical features several different musical numbers that have likely not been heard before, and are accompanied by a musical pit, under the direction of Karina Kelso. High school members of the pit are: Emma Arnold, clarinet; Morgan Fisher, alto sax; Ivan Greif, percussion; Jordan Pohlmann, keyboard; DeVante Caldwell, trombone; Emily Glenn, trumpet and Abbi Nash, percussion.

Several of the cast and others make up the crew department, which includes lights, costumes, props, sound, publicity, makeup, community engagement, and stage: Amy Morales*, Sawyer Shields, Colten Caley, Aryanna Hewlett*, Ahnyka Hewlett, Haltom*, Hendrickson, Vargas, Kierstin Smith, Tommy Courtney*, Addison Franklin*, Cayden Anderson, Moyra Hicks, Peyton Shields, Genesis Vega, Mikinli Jones, McCloney*, Schlichte*, Emma Short*, Antoine, Flowers, Claire Jacobsen, Lundquist, Dylan Struble, Blaze Schiltz, Sammy Garcia, Mariana Cisneros, Alejandra Castaneda, Ximena Yepez, Zoe Miller, Alicia Castillo, Macayla Hicks, Fisher, Karolin Sanchez, Brody Feehan*, Luke Wade, Cole Jacobsen, DJ Einertson, Caleb Coughran and Casey Wade. * denotes crew head

The set construction was done by the eight hour stagecraft class.

“There’s a lot of comedy,” said May of the play, as well as fun songs and big scenes.

The vocal director for the show is Mary Pohlmann, and Tori White is the show’s choreographer.

Tickets are available at the high school office, or at the door.

Candra Brooks

A native of rural Union County, Candra holds a Bachelor's Degree in English from Simpson College and an Associate's Degree in Accounting from SWCC. She has been at the Osceola newspaper since October 2013, working as office manager before transitioning to the newsroom in spring 2022.