From March 9 to 11, the Drama department brought us the “Addams Family.” The show was new, exciting, heartfelt and most of all funny. 

   After the new hit Netflix show “Wednesday,” the “Addams Family’s” popularity has skyrocketed. Like many others at the school, I was skeptical about whether the performance could live up to the Addams Family name, and I was pleasantly surprised.  

The characters were hard not to love. From the body language to the accents, the audience was transported to the Addams world. Nick Ramirez, playing Gomez, and Sabrinna Ugalde, playing Morticia, replicated the dynamics of the couple that the world has come to love. Molly Ario and Sydney Alderton playing Wednesday and Pugsley Addams respectively recreated the siblings’ regular antics often revolving around torturing each other. Lurch, played by Aries McGlynn, and the Grandmother, played by Khushi Kapoor, kept an extra weird and creepy edge to the family. And It wouldn’t be the Addams family without lovable Uncle Fester, played by Carly Partlow, who kept the audience rolling from laughter.

The Beineke family added contrast to the Addams‘s unusual charm. They revealed how even the most perfect-looking families had their complications. Lucas, played by Sujay Gunda, brought out a new side of Wednesday, as Alice and Mal, played by Madeleine Khouri and Joel Marince, coped with the rest of the family. 

   The whole ancestor cast was truly fun and enchanting. Their dancing, singing, and overall beauty were stunning and added festivity to the show. 

   The live pit orchestra filled the auditorium with booming music that complemented the actors’ voices. The pit orchestra’s performance added depth and detail to the story and allowed there to be a more immersive experience.

   The stage set was outstanding. The props were well made and there was attention to detail in each new setting. 

   This was the second time that our drama department has performed the “Addams Family” directed by Steve Kachadorian.

   “The first time was enjoyable because it brought a new musical style we had yet to experience,” he said. “However, the second time around allowed me to appreciate the hidden meaning of the show.”

   Kachadorian adds how the deeper meaning of the show conveys the true struggles we have with the unknown.

   “The world to come is a darkness that leaves each of us uneasy,” he said. “Yet, it is only when we take a bold step toward that darkness, secure that we have the support of our friends and family, do we begin to overcome it.”

Kachadorian goes on to explain a metaphor in golf psychology, “We can remain status,… unchanging, or we can choose to be rivers, constantly in motion and helping to support the world around us.”

   The beauty of the show was more than just the actors or the set, it was how everything came together to describe the real complications we have with love, relationships, family, the truth and the future.

   This is what made it most enjoyable for me–the flaws of each character mirrored real problems that we face in life. What made me keep watching was that all the characters, aside from their flaws, cared about each other. The show was fun, humorous and heartfelt–one of the more mature and exultant shows produced by our drama department.