Pioneer Players had their first show of 2024, Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman’s “The Addams Family” in the Brodbeck Concert Hall on April 5-14.
The musical follows the “mysterious, spooky and all together ooky” family as a rift grows between the characters following Wednesday Addams dating a “normal” boy. The patriarch and matriarch of the family worry about where they went wrong as parents while also trying to be supportive of their daughter.
Director Ann Dillon Farrelly spoke about how the main theme of “The Addams Family” musical was about shared humanity and the ability to find common ground. Farrelly went on to thank Connie SaLoutos Furlan for choreographing the show, Sarah Strange for designing the costumes, Joshua Lawyer for designing the lighting, Jeffrey Strange for designing the scenes, Stephanie Klein for leading the pit and Anna Fassbender for designing the hair and makeup.
One of the audience members spoke to the Exponent about their opinions regarding the show. They stated that they believed the show was well produced and well performed. “I have always admired the ‘Addams Family’ as a franchise that challenges the normative ideas of traditional institutions like marriage or weddings.” The audience member spoke, “I think that every time the Addams family is reproduced in some way, they add a new layer of nuance and reflection that allows the audience members to go home and contemplate the institutions that we all participate in.”
“The Addams Family” is the second-to-last production hosted by the Pioneer Players for the 2023-2024 academic year. The final production for this season is the One Act Festival taking place on May 2, 3 and 4.
