Anything but Normal: Players Club of Swarthmore Brings The Addams Family to the Stage

by Mike McKeon

For many, Halloween has always presented the chance to change yourself and be anything you want. There are endless opportunities for you to be anything from Rockstar, Super Hero, Ghost, or even the Villain.  Anything but, well… “Normal”.  That’s the point anyway, right? As spooky season approaches we will all be busy enjoying countless haunted attractions, horror festivals, and Trunk-or-Treats. However, be sure not to leave out options presented by your local community theatres! On Saturday evening I had the privilege of visiting the Players Club of Swarthmore Theatre for their production of The Addams Family expertly directed by Katie Vannewkirk, and assistant directed by Ally Greene Perez and Mark Thompson. The Addams Family was originally a single-panel cartoon first published in The New Yorker in 1938.  It has since been featured in various forms of media including TV, Film, and of course the wonderful musical I came to see. 

As I walked to my seat I was pleasantly surprised to see live musicians preparing in the orchestra pit. Lisa Gilmer (Percussion), Chrissy Hower (Multiple instruments), Judy Large (Keyboard 1), George Livanos (Bass), Scott Porreca(Multiple instruments), Tom Pulcinella (Keyboard 2), Jane D. Roberts (Violin), Steve Smith (Multiple instruments), and Tom Steele (Trombone) were directed by Conductor/Music Director Todd Hartsock. These musicians were able to add energy to the already impressive vocals of the cast. The timing of the score was paired perfectly with the vocals. They also added important sound effects on stage both during and between scenes.  The live music helped bring this production to life and greatly added to the entertainment of the production. 

Before the show begins, you can see a silhouette of an old, seemingly haunted mansion, the background of the stage and two staircases on either side. I must immediately give credit to the many people responsible for this set. Set Design & Master Carpenter  provided by Ed Robins, Scenic Artist Sue Abla, Projection Designer Dave Sibley, along with Painters/Construction by Peyton Bridge, Ellie Burckhardt, Greg Cream, Aaron Cheng, Randy Escoto, Julie Neff, Bruce Nutting, Joe Selfridge, Miriam Walton, Dave Zaffarano, & Julie Zaffarano. Not only did the set look great, but it was very functional and helped setting multiple different locations with ease. The staircases doubled as large bookshelves when turned in the opposite direction. Not only did these large set pieces slide around the stage almost effortlessly, but they even carried some of the actors through the air while they sang and performed. The ease of set movement was made possible with the help of Stage Manager Ashley Senss Joyce, Assistant Stage Manager Dan Jankauskas, Crew Chief Ellen Taylor and their stage crew consisting of: Jen Adams, Alex Crosby, Connor Joyce, Sean Meenan and Andrew SanFilippo. Accompanying the set were great props, and as anyone who has ever read any of my previous reviews would know, I love and appreciate good props. Nothing helps tell a story better for both the actors and audience members alike. Starting with the torture mechinisms Wendesday uses on Pugsley, Grandma’s crazy pets, and even a brief cameo by Thing and Cousin It (Caitlin Naylor)! The Properties Coordinator Jaime Taylor, Properties Procurement Meghan Hickey, Properties Crafting Shelby Gifford and team of Garrett Vonbrauen, Christina Smith, & Liz Bradley did an amazing job of making the props as real and as useful as possible. 

The show begins in the Addams’ Family Graveyard with the musical number “When you’re an Addams” where you are greeted by the entire Addams Family cast showcasing the talent you will continue to enjoy as the night continues. However, the musical number I really enjoyed was “Fester’s Manifesto”. This is when Uncle Fester (Max Segarnick) recruits the Addams Ancestors to help with Wednesday’s love problem.  The Ancestors (Ensemble) played by Celie Arangio, Jason Boyer, Kieran Cunningham, Dana David, Lindsay Grant, Beth Fand Incollingo, Lauren Knecht, Caitlin Naylor, Umani Padmore, Kaylee Rogers, Kevin Shaffer, Hope Smalley, Katie Young, & Zach Zalis got my attention immediately.  As the Ancestors exit the crypt and enter the stage you can’t help to be drawn to them. Each ancestor was wearing their own unique detailed costume depicting their character and time in history, including everything from a Pirate, Baseball Player, or 16th century Jester.  The costume design by Kendra Eckbold & Lucy Moth was nothing short of great. The greatness did not stop with the Ensemble and flowed to the main cast as well. My favorite of the costumes and props was Grandma played by Kathy Buterbaugh. Buterbaugh’s costume looked about as crazy as she acted. Her acting was great as is, but the crazy wig and ridiculous props just made it even more fun. Lurch (Trenton LaPoint) pulled off the more challenging of costumes with large platform shoes ensuring he was able to tower over the rest of the cast as written. LaPoint gracefully moved and danced around the stage as though he did not have 6, or maybe even 8 inch platforms on the bottom of his shoes. Bravo to the folks in costume design!!

The Ancestors continue to show up throughout the night led by Uncle Fester and a little magic (Master Magician Larry Denberg), adding to each scene with their choreography skills.  There was A LOT of choreography put into this production and it showed. Choreographer Danielle Marone and Assistant Choreographer Nina Kilgore used every inch of the stage to their advantage and did an amazing job choreographing this show. The Ancestors also did an marvelous job executing that choreography. We must also give credit to Fight Choreographer Sarah Reynolds for the safe and entertaining sword fight between Gomez and Uncle Fester. Along with the fight choreography, there is always the traditional hot and heavy relationship between Gomez (John B Hedges) and Morticia (Amanda Strydio) to consider. Hedges and Strydio shared the stage as husband and wife, albeit an odd husband and wife, exactly as you would expect Gomez and Morticia to interact. Intimacy Director Matthew Carter can be credited with helping balance that relationship with Hedges and Strydio.

Gomez Addams (John B Hedges) finds himself stuck between promises for Wednesday (Abigail Insana) and Morticia (Amanda Strydio). This forces him to break the fourth wall multiple times both keeping track of these promises and offering comic relief.  Each time Hedges breaks the fourth wall the audience roars with laughter.  This is highlighted by the shift in lighting right before Gomez speaks to the audience. The lighting design by Patrick Murray was conducted flawlessly by the light board operators Sharon George and Danielle Lachall highlighting moments like these with perfect timing all night.  Hedges does well showing how much he cares as a father and a husband, even if others don’t consider his love “Normal”. This is driven home as Wednesday begs Gomez and Morticia to act “Normal” when her love interest Lucas Bieneke (Brian Jacko) comes to visit with his family. As Lucas walks with his parents to the entrance of the Addams home, Uncle Fester spies on them in the park with the ancestors. Jacko balanced Lucas' nerdy youngster side with the slightly twisted love for seeing people's insides (Medical Examiner) along with his love for Wednesday effortlessly. Once inside we are introduced to Lucas’ somber father Mal Bieneke (Todd Barton) and overly-optimistic, rhyming mother Alice Bieneke (Lauren Champlin-Moadeli).  Barton and Champlin-Moadeli play off each other's energy as if they have worked together for years. Champlin-Moadeli’s was able to quickly switch her temperament after accidentally drinking a potion meant for Wednesday.  This was when Champlin-Moadeli completely flipped her character 180 degrees and it was fun to watch her shift. Unfortunately, this brings me to my only critique of the show which was the microphones. There were a few times during the show when mics would squeal for a second or crackle, which is to be expected with live performance.  However, in my opinion, 

the sound for almost every solo was too low compared to the rest of the cast. During the musical number “Waiting” Champlin-Moadeli’s mic stopped working and her beautiful solo was interrupted.  Don’t worry, that did not stop her from singing with absolutely everything she had to ensure the audience wouldn’t miss a beat. Sound Designer Carmen Rossi did a beautiful job of adding fun sound effects to each scene such as creaking doors, eerie doorbell, chains rattling for the torture machine that really enveloped us into the space and so much more.

As this musical was a little different from the movie I was more familiar with, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was happy to find the relationship between Pugsley (Beckett Cheng) and Wednesday (Abigail Insana) was not altered (Pugsley is also played by Vivienne Escoto opposite nights of Cheng). Insana and Cheng share the stage multiple times and torment each other as siblings do, well Addams siblings at least. Insana and Cheng both not only bounced off each other’s acting talent, but they really delivered with their beautiful solos. Actually, to be honest between the choreography and vocals, this may have been one of the best overall musicals I’ve been lucky enough to see this year. Every single cast member gave their full effort and it is obvious.  If you want to see a very talented, and entertaining musical spin on The Addams Family make sure you get your tickets now for Players Club of Swarthmore. The Addams Family runs now through Saturday October 11. You can purchase tickets here: http://ci.ovationtix.com/117/production/1238597