If you go
* What: “The Addams Family.”* When: Through Nov. 12 (show times vary).* Where: Cumberland County Playhouse, 221 Tennessee Ave., Crossville, Tenn.* Admission: $25 adults, $23 seniors, $20 groups and military, $12 students.* Phone: 931-484-5000.* Website: ccplayhouse.com.
Audrey Moore, left, and Jason Ross are Morticia and Gomez, the power couple at the head of "The Addams Family," the macabre musical comedy playing through Saturday, Nov. 12, at Cumberland County Playhouse.Cumberland County Playhouse has welcomed "The Addams Family" to the stage for a creepy, kooky visit lasting well past Halloween.
The delightfully macabre musical is based on the beloved characters created by Charles Addams. In a career spanning six decades, Addams created several thousand cartoons, sketches and drawings, but he found his greatest acclaim with characters that came to be known as The Addams Family. The Broadway sensation was penned by "Jersey Boys" creators Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and award-winning composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa. In Chicago tryouts before moving to Broadway, it was praised as a "classic, full-tilt, fast-paced, old-fashioned musical comedy" by The Chicago Tribune.
"I'm sure audiences will love this fabulous new production," says Playhouse director Bryce McDonald. "All of us either grew up watching the original TV series or watching the '90s film versions. Or both. The musical is wonderfully faithful to those sources and to Charles Addams' characters, and it features a terrific score and a hilarious script."
The musical's story is every father's nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness (Lara Treacy), has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family (Aaron Atkinson), leaving Gomez (Jason Ross) and Morticia (Audrey Moore) to wonder where they went wrong. The family is put to the test when the normal boyfriend, Lucas Beineke, and his parents, Mal and Alice (Britt Hancock and Lauren Marshall), join the Addamses for a dinner party where everything goes wrong.
The production, rated PG, is playing on the Adventure Stage. On the Mainstage is "The Secret Garden," which continues through Sunday, Oct. 23.
Cast of “The Addams Family”
* Gomez: Jason Ross* Morticia: Audrey Moore* Uncle Fester: Daniel Black* Wednesday Addams: Lara Treacy* Lucas Beineke: Aaron Atkinson* Grandma Addams: Jess Martin* Pugsley Addams: David Kappel and Jonathan Tison* Lurch: Joseph Wilson* Mal Beineke: Britt Hancock* Alice Beineke: Lauren Marshall* Addams Family ancestors: Darbi Banegas, Quinn Cason, Jensen Crain, Elliott Cunningham, DeAnna Etchison, Blake Graham, Ross Griffin, Hannah Hays, Lindsey Mapes, Michael Ruff, Caitlin Schaub and Beth Ann Stripling.