The Addams Family

When I imagine The Addams Family musical, I see it in bold, dramatic color with dynamic choreography.

From the start I wanted to expand the color pallet of the Addams family but maintain the traditional vibe of the characters. I kept the black and white but added purple into the family. Another color I brought in was yellow, which represented the Beinekes. The script states that Alice Beineke wears yellow, and it is a sunny, “normal” color, opposite of the Addams family.

Purple and yellow are threaded throughout the whole production. You can see it in the set pieces, props, and lighting. In my lighting design, I put yellow in the center, surrounded by purple, representing the Beinekes coming into the Addams’ home and their lives. While these two colors that don’t normally mix, they became complimentary in the production, reflecting the story line of two families who are vastly different, coming together and make one big, beautiful family.

I designed the ancestors to be full gray scale and the living to be in color. This gave a stark contrast between the living and the dead, and it created beautiful compositions. You truly knew who was dead and who was alive. Lerch was the one exception, since it isn’t clear if he is dead or alive. He had the same gray makeup as the ancestors, but he also wore black and white like the rest of the Addams family.

Much of my choreography was influenced by a single idea. Imagine if you had one mannerism or movement that was so unique to you that it identified you as a person. Giving each family member a movement that represented them helped to build and solidify their identity. This wasn’t just for the living members of the Addams family. Each Addams ancestor had their own unique movement of their own. I incorporated these movements into every dance, and in a few dances, I had the Addams cycle through these movements in unison, emphasizing their unity and support for each other as a family.

I challenged my cast with many different styles of dance in this production. The score reminded me of other musicals, such as Chicago and A Chorus Line. These musicals inspired movements that were present in the number “Secrets”, a fosse-esque dance, and “Death is Just Around the Corner”, a tongue and cheek dance with sparkly top hats.

At the end of act two there is a ten-minute long tango that is the climax of the show. I incorporated movements from all the previous dances into this tango as a nice book end to the show. Almost like a dancer’s reprise, if you will.

Henryetta High School
2022

You can view the entire album of this production’s photos by clicking here.