After a summer-long rehearsal process, West Valley Youth Theater’s production of The Addams Family takes to the Leigh High School stage this week.
Featuring high school and returning college students, The Addams Family is one of the organization’s four summer shows.
Rehearsals took place at night, in contrast to the other WVYT productions, which took the form of summer camps.
Many cast members acted as directors, choreographers, and counselors for the smaller production camps, sharing their knowledge of and love for the arts while simultaneously preparing to perform in their show.
The Addams Family is a musical comedy based on Charles Addams’ ghoulish 1960s comic strips. Through deadly humor, thrilling songs and endearing (yet slightly chilling) characters, it champions the importance of love and friendship through adversity. This family-friendly musical has a bit of everything: show-stopping dance numbers, heart-wrenching ballads and hilarious plot twists.
Artistic director Heather Stokes, a Broadway veteran, particularly likes this production. “I grew up on the black and white TV version of Addams Family,” she said. “I love that now grandparents and parents know the TV show and movies, and the younger kids know the Netflix version of Wednesday. Everybody knows the Addams Family, and now we get to put it all together.”
Since May, student performers have rehearsed for about four hours, five times a week, dedicating seemingly boundless energy to bettering the show. Aiden Curtis, a rising junior at Leigh High School who plays Fester in the Central Park cast, explained his dedication. “I went through every line and thought about what my character wants, and how that line reflects what he is going to do.” he said. “Both the ensemble and the leads need to have 100% commitment to their characters, to the choreography, to the vocals, and to their overall performance. I feel like we (can) accomplish that.”
Putting on such a large-scale production also requires an army of people behind the scenes. Besides the talented artistic staff of Heather Stokes, Pauline Locsin-Kanter, Truesten Tautolo and Patrick Gammon, several college students help keep the show humming—from running sound to operating the lighting board. Additionally, parents of the performers donated their time to managing props, hair, makeup, costumes and more.
This wacky and entertaining show runs from July 25-28 with six performances.
Visit wvyt.org/addamsfamily for more information and to purchase tickets.
