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A brief history of The Addams Family:

• The Addams Family has been around for 77 years.
• They originally appeared in one-panel cartoons which were created by American cartoonist, Charles Addams.
• The cartoons first appeared in The New Yorker in 1938 and continued to be published until Addam's death in 1988.
• In 1964, the ABC-TV network created The Addams Family television seriesbased on Addams's cartoon characters.
• The first animated series ran on Saturday mornings from 1973–1975 on NBC.
• In 1991, Orion Pictures developed a film version, The Addams Family.
• Upon the last film's success, a sequel followed: Addams Family Values.
  
• A remake television series ran on Saturday mornings from 1992–1993 on ABC following the success of the 1991 Addams Family movie.
• The New Addams Family tv series was filmed in Canada, and ran from 1998–1999 season on the Fox Family Channel.
• A musical inspired by The Addams Family drawings by Charles Addams opened on Broadway in 2010.

You would be hard-pressed to find an American today who has not heard of The Addams Family.  In almost any setting, you could sing out the first four notes of the theme song and get multiple *snap snap*s in response.

I grew up watching the 1991 film. It was one of the only VHS tapes my grandmother owned, so my brothers and I spent many babysat evenings watching it. I always loved the dark comedy and I have often blamed that movie for my strange sense of humor.

But what is it about them that we love so much? For me, it can be summed up by one line from the musical: "Normal is an illusion, darling. What's normal for the spider is a calamity for the fly." The idea that one persons normal is another persons creepy is fascinating! It creates a whole new world for us to explore.

Throughout the musical we witness Wednesday Addams becoming "normal" and how it is stressful for the family. At the same time, we see Lucas Beineke becoming "strange" which is difficult for his parents. But, as the show goes on you realize that The Addams Family isn't as mysterious and spooky as they seem, and that a "regular" midwestern family, like the Beineke's, can be just as kooky, in their own way.

Ultimately, I think this show, and The Addams Family, teaches us not to judge others immediately, but to consider their way of thinking; to look at a situation from their point of view. A lesson that is very important in this wonderful, diverse, and occasionally ooky, world we live in.

Thank you for your support and enjoy the show!

-Ms. Horn