The Southwestern College Summer Theatre Festival presentation of “Addams Family the Musical” will be performed Friday through Sunday, June 26-28, in the Richardson Performing Arts Center in the Christy Administration Building on the campus of Southwestern College.  The show will be performed as an optional dinner theatre, and ticket options for show only or shows with dinner are available.

Family entertainment is the idea behind the production.  Allyson Moon is directing the show and is reminded of the history of “The Addams Family” and why she hopes families will come and enjoy the program.

“‘The Addams Family’ has been around a long time in many forms and has always been family entertainment,” Moon says.  “It started in cartoon form way back in 1940.  Then it became a television series in the ’60s followed by a movie in the ’90s, then to Broadway, and now here in Winfield at Southwestern College.”

Phoebe Muldrow, a Winfield native and a junior at Southwestern College, is the publicity manager for the show and says that the show will leave audience members with a good feeling.  

“Just like the TV show and movie, the musical’s comedy is a combination of silly, spooky, and ridiculous,” Muldrow says.  

Moon says that the music includes the traditional Addams Family theme song as well as songs from a variety of genres.  

“Amazingly, composer Andrew Lippa has mixed in a contemporary musical theatre sound with an occasional touch of the creepy,” Moon says. 

Muldrow is also the choreographer for the program.

“The Addamses are Spanish and they like to dance.  The cha cha, the bunny hop, the twist, hip hop—all of these styles are featured in the opening number,” Muldrow says.  “This was my first show to choreograph and it was challenging to blend dances that would work for the wide variety of ages and dance experience.  There is a single tango scene for Gomez (Matt Berthot) and Morticia (Abby Bartel) that will be sensational to watch.”

The dinner theatre portion was inspired by the young lovers in the show.  

“When we were planning the dinner menu, we were reminded of the wedding themed dinner for the Horsefeathers & Applesauce production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’  The shows may be different, but the wedding celebration dinner is very much the same,” Moon says. 
The ancestral family wedding feast menu will include cream of broccoli soup, crescent bowknot rolls, carved beef, crab stuffed mushrooms, wild rice Florentine, glazed carrots, molded salads, wedding cake, and sparkling cranberry punch.

Dinner times for the shows on June 26 and 27 will be at 6 p.m., with the show at 7:30 p.m.  Dinner on June 28 will be at 12:30 p.m., with the show at 2 p.m. The dinner will be served in the Helen Graham Little theatre located on the lower level of the Christy Administration Building. Tickets for dinner and show are $25 for adults, $23 for seniors, and $18 for students. Show-only tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth.

The show is appropriate for the entire family. 

For tickets and information, call the SC box office at (620) 221-7720 or (620) 229-6171.