By Crystal McGough, Editor
LEEDS – The Leeds Arts Council has wrapped up eight performances of “The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy,” with its final weekend of performances kicking off on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023.
The Addams Family (Credit: Crystal McGough)
Six of the eight performances completely sold out, with audiences snapping along to the “Addams Family” theme song while laughing, applauding and cheering for their favorite kooky characters.
The musical told the story of young adult Wednesday (Olivia Reaves), who wanted to announce her engagement to the nerdy, but dedicated, red-headed Lucas (Blake Echols) over a dinner at the Addams family mansion where the two sets of parents would meet for the first time. Lucas and Wednesday, both worried their parents would mess things up, begged for just “one normal night.”
A normal night was not to be had, however, as the ghostly ancestors of the Addams family, under the orders of a hopelessly romantic but meddling Uncle Fester (Jon McClaran), attempted to make everything go right in all the wrong ways.
“Addams Family was successful beyond my wildest expectations,” director Brandi McClaran said. “Our cast put in so much hard work from rehearsals, to set building, gathering props, designing their costumes and makeup. It was fantastic to see them all work together cohesively to put on a top-notch production. I am so proud of them and their efforts to make this an outstanding show for Leeds Arts Council.”
Other stars of the show included Josh McDaniel, playing Gomez Addams; Heather Duncan, playing Morticia Addams; Carter Shaw, playing Pugsley Addams; Dan O’Rourke as Lurch; Meghan Godsey as Grandma Addams (but … is she really their grandma?); and Alan Easdon and Kathryn Schmidt playing Lucas’ parents, Mal and Alice.
The next play at the Leeds Arts Council will be “Charlotte’s Web,” with performances on Friday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, 28 at 7 p.m., and a Sunday matinee on Oct. 29 at 2:30 p.m.
Theater enthusiasts may also want to go ahead and mark their calendars for Leeds Arts Council’s production of “A Christmas Story,” directed by Curtis Frost, which will premiere on Friday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m., and run for two weekends.
For more information on Leeds Arts Council, including upcoming productions and auditions, visit https://www.leedsartscouncil.org/.
