METEA VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL THEATER PRESENTS: The Addams Family

“They're creepy and they're kooky; mysterious and spooky. They're altogether ooky, The Addams Family!” The musical sensation that follows the bizarre and beloved Addams Family will take center stage at Metea Valley High School (MVHS) concluding the 2015-16 theater season. Performances will take place May 5, 6 and 7 at 7 p.m. in the MVHS Auditorium (1801 North Eola Road, Aurora). Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online or at the door beginning at 6 p.m. prior to the performance.

All the fiendish, family favorites of Charles Addams’ comic – Gomez (Rich Lazatin, ‘19), Morticia (Bailey Cochran, ‘16), Uncle Fester (Conner Arnold, ’16), Grandma (Armond Anderson ’16), Pugsley (Jory Haddad ’18) and Lurch (Davis Piest ’16) – will grace the stage with their haunting humor and weird wit. Everything will change for the marvelously morbid family on one fateful night when the Addams’ host a dinner for their daughter Wednesday’s (Sushmitha Suresh ’16) “normal” boyfriend (Stephen Giunta ’17) and his parents (Taylor Moran ’16 and RJ Schlesinger ’17).

“The Addams Family is a family-friendly comedy that is sure to have our audiences laughing,” Nathan Bramstedt, musical director, MVHS choral faculty and theater program director, said. “Our students have been studying Addams’ comics as well as various productions of this musical to bring their characters to life – even the ancestor characters who are dead! The script has many funny lines and quips inspired by the cartoons.”

“These current classes of Metea Theater students continue to impress us by striving for excellence and professionalism,” Bramstedt said. “But there is a lot of laughter at rehearsals as we watch our actors take dramatic risk and push the boundaries of silliness.”

The musical, which showcases a student cast of approximately 50 singers, dancers and actors and a tech crew of 20, features five settings, the central of which is the Addams’ family mansion. The massive set is made up of two rolling spiral staircases that meet in the middle of a two-story balcony framed by the iconic roofline that drops from above. “Watching the mansion appear on the stage is a thrill,” Bramstedt said. “Our set will also have a fly system allowing an actor to fly over the stage – a first for Metea theater.”

This year, all MVHS theater productions explored the theme of family. With three contrasting looks at family life – starting with the comedy of Harvey to the drama of the winter musical Next to Normal and the uniqueness of The Addams Family – MVHS cast and audiences discover that families come in all types and styles. “Is any family perfect? What is normal? Shouldn’t we celebrate our own family’s unique characteristics? The Addams Family is different from the other families explored in previous shows because they are confident in being viewed as unusual – how refreshing,” Bramstedt said.

MVHS Theater At-a-Glance

What: The Addams Family

When: May 5, 6 and 7 at 7 p.m.

Where: Metea Valley High School Auditorium

1801 North Eola Road

Aurora, IL

Tickets: Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online (http://mvhsaddamsfamily.brownpapertickets.com) or at the door beginning at 6 p.m. the night of the show.

Information: www.meteamusic.org/theater