"The unknown may be frightening, the darkness overwhelming, but if we don't run from it, we may see our mysterious, miraculous lives finally illuminated. If we move toward the darkness, we might find love and acceptance. For when it is dark enough, we can see the stars."
-Rick Elice, book writer for The Addams Family
When I first started this journey as director for The Addams Family, I looked to this quote as a bit of guidance in the way I wanted to take this show. This show is a campy, fun-loving musical that draws us into a family of "unique" characters that we all know from their cartoon forms or movies. My goal was to find a side of the characters that we have not seen before, and their struggles that would make them seem like just any normal family. Wednesday is not a little girl anymore, and she is starting to find her own place, but still wants her parents' approval. Pugsley is learning that he may lose someone he thought would always be by his side. Gomez and Morticia struggle with their relationship, as any couple does. However, through those darkest moments, they find themselves, and discover that love will always triumph- love for family, love for each other, and love for the unknown. Something we should all look towards as humans in a world of chaos: some semblance of peace in the darkness.
The Addams Family musical is a story about love. It beats you over the head with this, surely, but while romantic love is the focus of many Broadway musicals, I chose to emphasize the love that is present in the title itself. Yes, this is a show about the love between a man and a woman, but it’s also about the love between a father and his daughter, a son and his mother, a brother and sister, and from generation to generation. The Addams Family is just that, a family, and to ignore that for a typical sitcom love story is a disservice to these characters we’ve loved for almost 100 years.
As we bring our 2021-2022 performing arts season to a close, I'm reminded that the MTHS Performing Arts Department is a village of staff, students, and parent volunteers who work so tirelessly to help get each show off the ground. It is also a community that supports and encourages its members and I am honored to work with such generous and talented people. To my family, I love you very much. Thank you for helping me keep my feet beneath me.
Enjoy the show!
Cameron Baker, Director
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