By KATHERINE NGUYEN
Staff Writer
There are very few ways (words and expressions alike) for me to express how amazing University High School’s 2017 Spring Musical Production of The Addams Family is, but if I had to choose, it would be with this quote: “When you feel true, genuine happiness, you will know.”
Boy, did this musical get to me.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the iconic gothic family, be it from the original cartoon or the film/TV adaptations. The Addams Family, originally a 2010 Broadway musical comedy, is centered around a quite abnormal American family trying to fit in with the norm.
The musical highlights the events following Wednesday Addams, the teenage daughter, falling in love with a “regular” boy from a “regular” family, Lucas Beineke. As expected, chaos ensues with occurrences involving the supernatural, a bald guy falling in love with the moon, and just great comedy.
The content obviously plays a huge part in the success of this production, but I believe sincerely that the true heart and soul of the production is derived from the passion of the cast. The Addams are portrayed by Shaden Ahadi (Jr.), Dalton Nguyen (Jr.), Ellena Eshraghi (Jr.), Ana Fujimoto (Sr.), Rose Koo (Fr.) and Corinne Alsop (Sr.) playing Wednesday, Gomez, Morticia, Grandma, Pugsley and Fester respectively. Benjamin Sui (Sr.), Mitchell Rogers (Jr.) Sarika Mande (Jr.) play Lucas, Mal and Alice Beineke respectively. The acting, singing and dancing of each member is spotlighted through various solo pieces, each leaving the audience in awe.
Koo, the youngest member of the cast, truly cemented herself into the theater scene with this production. “Before The Addams Family, I’ve only been in a few middle school productions. This is the first one where I truly felt like a part of the company. Everyone was so welcoming and helpful,” Koo said. “This production made me realize how important the arts are to me and that I really want to continue being involved in them in the future.”
This chemistry within the cast is clearly evident throughout the performance, with both romantic and familial relationships coming across as very genuine.
What continues to astonish me about theater productions is just the ability of the cast and crew to do it. The ensemble and main cast memorized lines, lyrics and dance movements of an entire two hour Broadway production in a span of just a few months. “This show is important to me because it really showed me that hard work pays off in the end,” Koo said. “It also gave me a time to completely let go of the things going on in my life – I could be a whole new character for a while!”
And if you don’t want to take my word for how amazing the musical is, listen to Kasey Kim (Sr.)!
“I have attended all of the musicals in my past four years and the Addams family has to be my favorite,” Kim said. “I didn’t know I could be more impressed with the drama department, but it was truly the funniest and best executed production I’ve seen by far. I’m glad I was able to see such a diverse group of people performing. It was really amazing!”
Don’t miss your chance to see this spectacular musical — it will be showing this week from Thursday, April 27 to Saturday, April 29 at 7PM in the Big Theater. You can buy tickets online at www.seatyourself.biz/iusd for $13 regular seating and $20 orchestra seating.
