Addams Family program

Pymble Ladies’ College proudly presents…

Licensed exclusively by Theatri©al Rights worldwide

PROGRAM

Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa I Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice

Production Notes

Long before the Netflix series Wednesday and 1990’s films and 1960’s TV series, Charles Addams created the iconic characters of the Addams Family for The New Yorker Magazine. Making their debut in 1938, Addams drew inspiration from various sources, including gothic literature, classic horror films, and his quirky imagination. The characters he created were a satirical take on the stereotypical American family, with a dark and eccentric twist. Over the years, Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, and the entire kooky clan have become enduring icons, captivating audiences with their eccentric charm and demonstrating the timeless appeal of the macabre and the mysterious.

In 2007 producers announced that they had obtained the rights from the Charles Addams Foundation to create a musical adaptation. This was the first time that Charles Addams’ comic creations had been licensed to serve as the basis for a stage adaptation. With music by Andrew Lippa and book by Marshall Brickman and Rich Elice, The Addams Family had a successful run on Broadway, playing over 700 performances and featuring Nathan Lane as Gomez Addams and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia Addams. Despite the mixed reviews during its Broadway run, the musical has left a lasting impact and contributed to the ongoing popularity of the Addams family characters and has become one of the most produced musicals within schools.

The Australian premiere of The Addams Family opened at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre in 2013. John Waters took on the role of Gomez Addams, infusing the character with charisma and charm, while Chloe Dallimore embodied the mysterious and alluring Morticia Addams. In addition, the production starred Meredith O’Reilly in the

role of Grandma, whose daughters Hayley and Lucy were both students at the College and starred in many of the College’s musicals. However, due to poor box office takings, the production closed after 3 months of performances, resulting in the production not touring to Melbourne.

The Pymble Ladies’ College production pays homage to the original black-andwhite comic and TV series. Through the adaptation of the set and costumes, we have embraced the “kooky” paint strokes, odd angles, and a great deal of black and white paint to see the vision come to life.

Tonight you will see the birth of a new cohort of Pymble stars, following in the footsteps of many of our students who began their musical theatre careers on our stage and have gone on to study at WAAPA, NIDA, and VCA to perform professionally. We are very proud of our 2023 graduates Charlotte Allen, Millie Seeto and Freya Carmody (Mary Poppins, Fame, A Chorus Line and Mamma Mia) who have all been accepted to study musical theatre at various institutions across the country.

As you will see this evening, this is a large-scale production and one that has been in rehearsal for barely seven weeks. It is a testament to the talent, expertise, commitment and determination of all those involved, to achieve what we have in such a short time. The students have worked like true professionals and learnt so much about theatre, stagecraft and themselves in the process. We are enormously grateful for all the support we have received from our families and to the many parents who have contributed so much behind the scenes.

Synopsis

Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family – a man her parents have never met. And if that wasn’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before–keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.

CAST

GOMEZ

Tom Doyle

MORTICIA

Lily Hearne

WEDNESDAY

Amélie Matthews

PUGSLEY

Darcey Hawkins

FESTER

Julian Criola

LURCH

Thomas Haslam

GRANDMA

Elizabeth Tang

MAL

Archie Delany

ALICE

Sarah Boland

LUCAS

Ben Shannon

Production Team

ENSEMBLE

MUSICAL CAPTAINS

Phoebe Cooper – Vocal

Madeline Taylor – Dance

ANCESTORS

Emily Abadee

Chloe Ayton

Annabella Bayfield

Charlie Biddle

Mia Chan

Constance Chow

Lachlan Clubb

Harvey Cummins

Angus Devlin

Esther Essey

Heidi Ferreira

Jack Fish

Charlotte Ford

Verity Haslam

Hayden Leung

Annie Liebmann

Melanie Ma

Zoe Manning

Abigail McKinnon

Ruki Merlin

Yvette Moodie

Laranya Nanthakumaran

Andelle Parker

Isabelle Port

Finley Saghaie

Murphy Scott

Annabel Taylor

Johnny Wang

Lara Waterhouse

Madeleine Watson

Ruby Watson

Xyla White

Jadyn Wong

Mia Zhang

ORCHESTRA

CONDUCTOR

Mrs Patrice Goodman

PICCOLO & FLUTE 1

Melody Chen

FLUTE 2

Anabella Legge-Hughes CLARINET 1

Aine Oo

CLARINET 2 & BASS CLARINET

Karen Kuang

SOPRANO SAXOPHONE & ALTO SAXOPHONE 2

Anna Ward

ALTO SAXOPHONE 1

Macy Sun

TENOR SAXOPHONE

Madison Pearce

Trumpet

Mr Marcus Stafford

Trombone 1

Lux Fritz

Trombone 2

Angela Zhang

Violin 1

Annie Luo

Violin 2

Dasha Stusenko

Cello

Sitian Chen

Keyboard 1

Ella Liu

Keyboard 2

Ms Ellen Buckley

Percussion

Joanna Au

Guitars

Mr Vincent Lombardo

Bass

Mr Jason Smith

Drums

Mr Oliver Gardiner

Production Credits

PRODUCER

Sarah Turner

DIRECTOR

Kurt Schweinberger

CHOREOGRAPHER

Sally Dashwood

ORCHESTRAL MUSICAL DIRECTOR

Patrice Goodman

SET DESIGN/ CONSTRUCTION

Simon Greer

LIGHTING DESIGN

Matthew Osborne

AUDIO DESIGN

Stolen Planet Audio Productions

AUDIO ENGINEER

Bob Wheatley, Bailey Gott

STAGE MANAGER

Sarah Ashton

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Sarah Macpherson

THEATRE MANAGER

Tonya Grelis

TECHNICAL COORDINATOR

Chris Mathers

THEATRE TECHNICIAN

Marni Collier

ASSISTANT SCENIC DESIGN

Badaboom Design Inc.

BACKSTAGE CREW

Tess Elmslie

Mackenzie Goldthorpe

Anarghya Guruprasad

Imogen Hawkins

Angelique Kennedy

Eliza Kennedy

Sofia Laftsidis

Phoebe Paleologos

Anaïs Vander

Trinity Watkins

Lauren Whitfield-Lowe

Claire Wooldridge

VOCAL COACH

Karen Bruce

ASSISTANT CHOREOGRAPHER

Charlotte Allen

REHEARSAL PIANIST

Ms Claire Race

ADMINISTRATION

Ms Gladys Uy

PROPS

Kirk Hume (St Ignatius College, Riverview)

COSTUME SUPPLIERS

Julie Black (Metropolitan Players

Newcastle)

Karen Moseley (Miranda Musical Society)

James Worner

COSTUME CO-ORDINATORS

Gillian Taylor

Maribel Matthews

Mandy Ferreira

Megan Watson

MAKEUP DESIGN

Tonya Grelis

PHOTOGRAPHY

Grant Leslie

Dr Paul Hine Principal

Sincere thanks to

Mr Scott James Principal

St Ignatius College Riverview

Knox Grammar School

All the parents, friends, families and staff who have provided tremendous support and additional assistance with catering, hair, makeup, supervision, costume laundry, set construction and general logistics!

“It takes a village”