SIUE Summer Showbiz Presents The Addams Family, a New Musical on July 14
A new twist on an old favorite creepy American comic strip family, turned television, film and culture stars, The Addams Family, can be seen in The Addams Family, a New Musical, which opens Friday, July 14 at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Dunham Hall Theater.
The Addams Family, a New Musical will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, July 14-15 and July 21-22 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 16 and July 23.
“Charles Addams, the creator of the Addams Family comic strip, knew that people would find humor in his charming, if not macabre, characters,” said Wendy Greenwood, director and SIUE Department of Theater and Dance alum. “We can easily identify with their duality; their lighter and darker sides.
“What appeals to me most is the unending love this family has for one another,” Greenwood added. “The Addams’ not only accept each other for exactly who they are, but encourage the oddity. Who wouldn’t want a family like that?”
The Addams Family has taken on many incarnations since they were first published as a comic strip in 1938. Later, the life and times of this weirdly delightful family was set to music when it was launched on Broadway in 2010. The musical is based on the book written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and the music and lyrics were done by Tony Award-nominated Andrew Lippa.
The Addams Family, a New Musical features an original story, and it’s every father’s nightmare. 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 weren’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.
General admission is $15 for adults and $12 for seniors, non-SIUE students, SIUE retirees, alumni, faculty and staff. SIUE students with valid identification get in free. Groups of 10 or more receive 15-20 percent off the single ticket purchase price.
To purchase tickets or for more information, call the Summer Showbiz Box Office at 618-650-2774.
Visits may be made to the Summer Showbiz Box Office during the daytime, Monday-Friday, in Katherine Dunham Hall, room 1042B. You can also send a message to theater-tickets@siue.edu.
SIUE’s Summer Showbiz presents three productions during its June through July season. All productions are open to the community at large. The Department of Theater and Dance is part of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Central to SIUE’s exceptional and comprehensive education, the College of Arts and Sciences has 19 departments and 85 areas of study. More than 300 full-time faculty/instructors deliver classes to more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Faculty help students explore diverse ideas and experiences, while learning to think and live as fulfilled, productive members of the global community. Study abroad, service-learning, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities better prepare SIUE students not only to succeed in our region's workplaces, but also to become valuable leaders who make important contributions to our communities.
Photo courtesy by Valerie Goldston
Pictured left to right on front row: Riley Kloostra, Luis Aquila, Lydia Petersen and Jacob Callahan; and on back row: Christopher Kernan and Leah Milton.
