After only five weeks of rehearsals, Chesterton High School students took the stage Friday night for the opener of their spring musical, Addams Family.
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The show takes audience members through the journey of Wednesday Addams’ first love and the effect that it has on both her and her boyfriend’s parents.
“It’s a really fun story about how outward appearances aren’t always what they seem to be, and what we perceive to be as normal isn’t always the case, and everybody has something that’s unique about them,” Morris said. “You find likenesses in very strange places.”
Although a musical at the high school level usually takes more than five weeks to put together, stage and vocal director Kristin Morris explained that Chesterton’s calendar made it impossible. Because of this, the show has faced the challenge of putting together the same quality of show they usually produce without the time they usually need to do so.
“We haven’t had a lot of time to live with our characters and live with our set and that sort of thing,” Morris said.
Morris attributes much of the successful assembly of the show to the cast and crew.
“It’s just been a great group of kids. They’ve worked hard every single step of the way,” Morris said. “They’ve really put their heart and soul and time and effort into this production and making it the best it could possibly be for everyone that gets to come and watch it.
For Morris, the show was also unique because of the atmosphere it created.
“It’s just an entirely different show than I’ve ever done,” Morris said. “This is a little more comedic, a little bit darker, a little bit more PG13 kind of material. The last couple of years we’ve done very family friendly shows so it’s been fun to venture out into this kind of genre, this style of show.”
Chesterton junior Diva Bridegroom, who plays Morticia Addams, enjoyed developing the role for a character who is nothing like the actress in real life. Bridegroom takes time to get into character before performing.
“I tend to just get really quiet and start thinking about my lines and my character,” Bridegroom said. “I stand a little bit taller than I normally do because she’s a little bit more elegant than I am. And then I just kind of go for it.”
Junior Sean Puent, the show’s Gomez Addams, feels similarly to his onstage wife.
“[Gomez is] a lot more outlandish, and really passionate and Latin and that’s a bunch of things that don’t add up to become me,” Puent said. “Getting to play a different character is really out of my box and really exciting to do, and I’m really excited for people to see.”
Puent said he is most excited to perform with the cast and show off the bond they have created during the rehearsal process.
“The Addams family, the musical itself is really fun. It’s just so much fun to sing and act, and it’s really zany and all that good stuff,” Puent said. “But what I think is best about it is getting to bond with the cast and have a second family.”