Snap To It: The Addamses Are Coming To Monomoy High

HARWICH – They’re creepy and they’re kooky, and they might be all-together spooky. They’re Monomoy Regional High School’s Theater Department and they’re readying to stage their spring musical. The material is something many people may be familiar with. 

On Tuesday, March 10 at 7 p.m., the Monomoy Regional High School’s Theater Department will premiere “The Addams Family,” the school’s spring musical. Director Rebecca Riley, who teaches music at Harwich Elementary School, expressed how the story works well for the group of kids she has.

 “It’s the perfect show for the lead cast of characters,” said Riley, “and then all the up and comers are amazing. I teach at Harwich Elementary so it’s fun to get some of my old students back.”

The Addams Family features a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music by and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. The story begins with Uncle Fester enlisting the help of the family’s ancestors. Wednesday, now an adult, is bringing home her “normal” boyfriend Lucas and his family, for a group dinner, and it has the entire Addams clan in a tizzy. Gomez and Morticia are concerned that their daughter is venturing away from them, Pugsly is worried that his sister will no longer torture him anymore. Lucas’ parents, Mal and Alice, also factor into the chaos as their own happiness comes into question as the story progresses.

According to Riley, production has gone full speed since prior to leaving for Christmas break.

 “It’s been awesome because we’ve worked really, really hard,” said Riley. “We started the week before Christmas break with auditions and jumped right in, five days a week, from 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.”

Senior Payton MacRoberts is playing Morticia, matriarch of the Addams family. She said she is enjoying the chance to play someone out of type in her latest role.

 “It’s a challenge because I’ve never played this serious of a character before,” said MacRoberts, who would go on to highlight the commitment she and her troupe have made to the production. “We started with two weeks of just music and moved to two weeks of just dance and then two weeks of just learning where we stand and what we’re doing and now we’re in our week of putting everything together for the first time.”

Wednesday, the iconic sullen teenager turned explorative adult, is played by senior Emory Hines. She, too, said she is very happy with her character.

 “I love her, I think that she is so silly,” said Hines. “She’s very stoic but she has a lot of heart.”

Hines also noted that the show is coming together well.

 “Rehearsals are going well. We’re kind of trucking along, getting everything together and now we’re just starting putting all of the pieces together.

Sophomore Sean Garland is playing Lurch, the family’s lumbering butler. He mentioned he appreciated the goofiness of the story and how it mixes with the tender moments the narrative provides. The simplicity of his role has been the fun aspect of learning his character, according to Garland.

 “It’s really minimalistic,” started Garland. “I get to do a lot with a little, if that makes sense. One of my favorite parts, by far, is when I’m explaining my backstory.”

The rest of the listed cast features Faye Viprino as Gomez Addams, Dante Rosetti as Pugsley Adams, David Mitchell as Uncle Fester, Ray Christakis as Grandma, Tim Gray as Mal Belnecke, Asher Porter as Alice Belnecke, and Wellington Holmes as Lucas Belnecke.

The play runs from March 10 through March 14, with performances open to the public on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m. and an extra performance on Saturday at 2 p.m. They perform for the Monomoy Regional Middle School on Wednesday, March 11. Tickets are $20 general admission and $10 for seniors and students. Riley mentioned that information about the play is readily available everywhere.

 “We’ve been hanging posters up all around town. We’ve been posting on Instagram and Facebook. You can go right to the Monomoy website and there’s links there too.”