On November 10th through the 12th, the Central Catholic and Oakland Catholic Masque preformed the Broadway hit “The Addams Family”, made by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with great success. Due to the delayed start date of school, auditions and rehearsals had to be postponed too, which led to a much shorter rehearsal calendar of only about 6 weeks to prepare for opening night. The cast and crew had to work even harder than usual to compensate for this lost time, but through long days of intense choreography and vocal rehearsals, they were able to pull off three magnificent shows. Show stopping numbers such as “Death is Just Around the Corner”, “Full Disclosure”, and “Move Toward the Darkness” had the audience roaring with laughter and leaving the musical still humming the catchy songs.

Despite the hectic schedules, the students involved all enjoyed putting on such a classic and comedic show. Evan Cuccaro, who played Gomez Addams, explained, “Because we had less time than usual, it forced everyone involved to give a 110% effort, and really come together as a cohesive unit in order to put on a good show.” The cast received many compliments, and one woman noted that she has seen the last sixteen shows Masque has put on, but that “The Addams Family” was the best one yet! In addition, the attendance of the audience was very large for a fall show, seating well into the balcony for all three shows.

Another effect unique to this show was the makeup and costumes of the ensemble. Because they had to appear as the “ancestors” of the Addams, who are obviously dead, the cast had to put on a thick coat of white makeup and the accentuate certain features with dark greens, purple, and gray. For their costumes, they dug up old costumes from past Masque performances and used over twenty pounds of baking powder per night to give the ancestors a dusty and pale look. The living members of the Addams family also had to look gloomy and wore predominantly black outfits, while the Beineke family contrasted everything with bright, “normal” clothes. The Beineke family includes Lucas (Wednesday’s love interest), played by Colin Aikins, and his parents, Mal and Alice, played by Alex Rajakovich and Maura Ward.

They are meant to provide an example of a “normal” family, but as Morticia, portrayed by Isabella Very, explains, “Normal is an illusion, dear. What’s normal for the spider is a calamity for the fly.” This statement is a good sum of what the musical is mostly about: being yourself, and embracing that. Everyone has their own way of living and special characteristics, and we need to respect this. “Move towards the darkness and love.” With the success of “The Addams Family” there’s no doubt that the Masque’s spring performance of “In the Heights” will exceed all expectations, and we wish them all the best.