With subtle nods to the hit Netflix series “Wednesday” and a cast that was tasked with making iconic characters their own, East Hampton High School’s Drama Club will perform the musical “The Addams Family” this weekend.
Its director, Katie Schreck, picked the show last spring, well before the famous “Wednesday” dance went viral.
“I really love the music and the writing is really clever,” she said Monday. The timing was simply “an added bonus. . . . It was a happy accident. I feel like it creates a fun buzz in general when people ask what the show is.”
Audiences will recognize several East Hampton theater stars in the Addams family’s key roles. Amaia Astorr, a senior, plays Morticia; Jadiel Rodriguez, a sophomore, plays Gomez; Dakota Quackenbush, a junior, portrays Wednesday; Kayla Lester, a senior, portrays Pugsley, and Silas Jones, a senior, plays Lucas, Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend.
The story centers around a dinner party at her house to which Wednesday has invited Lucas and his parents, planning to tell them they’re getting married. Pugsley steals a truth serum from Grandma, hoping to cause Wednesday and Lucas to break up.
Meanwhile, each character deals with his or her own demons: Morticia worries about growing old; Lucas’s parents, Mal and Alice, fear their marriage is passionless; Uncle Fester professes a strange, unrequited love; Pugsley worries that his sister will stop torturing him. In the way only the Addams family can accomplish, the ending is a happy one.
The actors “are committed and dedicated and they’re more than rising to the occasion,” Ms. Schreck said. “I’m pleased with how they’re taking ownership over their characters and their lines.”
Amaia, who plans on making theater arts her college major and career, said the show’s strength is the cast’s comedic timing. “It’s been a blast. The script is one of the funniest I’ve ever come across. . . . Those punchlines always get a laugh.”
A key element of the show is the ensemble of “ancestors”: Sofia Nagle, Leah Fromm, Maya Leathers, Ruby Tyrell, Kayla Kenlock, Sarah Sireci, Emily Jimenez, Natalie Reininger,
Didi Nicoletti, Cameron Mitchell, Wilmer Verdugo, Grey Guzman, Chase Siska, Yazmin Pinedo, and Stephanie Bacuilima.
They each “have their own personality,” Ms. Schreck said. “A lot of [the show] depends on their reactions and their investment, so we do a lot of work with the ensemble. They need to be really present.”
Audiences can also expect killer choreography by Anita Boyer, as well as dramatic lighting and fun costumes.
Showtimes are tomorrow and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1. Tickets can be bought at the door for $20 each or $10 for students and senior citizens.