By Rahul Tamta
Perspectives Editor
Photo by Sandhya Sivakumar

May 5-7 saw the Metea Valley theatre program put on its production of “The Addams Family.” A staple of American pop culture for decades, the Addams family has starred in everything from cartoons to television shows. In 2010 it was made into a Broadway musical. Despite the fact that putting the musical into production was a fairly ambitious and laborious project, Metea passed with flying colors.

“The Addams Family” is extremely unusual in that it communicates important and engaging messages through very Gothic, and somewhat gruesome (yet not untasteful) themes. The plotline follows Gomez Addams (Rich Lazatin) and Morticia Addams (Bailey Cochran), the heads of the family, discovering the fact that their daughter, Wednesday (Sushmitha Suresh), has fallen in love with and plans to mary Lucas Beineke (Stephen Giunta), a young man from a normal American upbringings. Moreover, Wednesday has invited Lucas and his parents—Mal (RJ Schlesinger) and Alice (Taylor Moran)—for dinner, and insists that the family try and act “normal” for the night, which they of course do not.

“The Addams Family” is the antithesis of “normal.” They gravitate towards the darker aspects of existence and have a very macabre mindset throughout the story. Surprisingly, this ends up being really funny – the musical’s writing is darkly satirical, featuring cleverly humorous dialogue and lyricism.

This production brought out the best of Metea’s theatre department, as well as its music program. I was extremely impressed with the set design; it was elaborate and captivating throughout. The choreography was imaginative and well-executed, but never overwhelming. Metea has proven time and time again to have a plethora of gifted vocalists, and honestly, it was pretty obvious. Every song was skillfully and deliberately carried out by the collective cast, and some of the virtuoso performances were nothing short of breathtaking.

I do not hesitate to say that Metea’s production of “The Addams Family” has been my personal favorite among the musicals they have produced over the years. The musical’s darkly ironic rhetoric is resounding and refreshing—the seemingly strange family dynamics on display are at core values and feelings that anybody can identify with. The musical’s charisma in combination with Metea’s staggering musical and theatrical talent made for an extremely entertaining performance.