Full Disclosure: Go See ‘THE ADDAMS FAMILY – A NEW MUSICAL’ at BHS this weekend

Run, don’t lurch your way to see THE ADDAMS FAMILY – A NEW MUSICAL presented by the Bedford High School Performing Arts Department. 

The show is two-and-a-half hours (including one 10-minute intermission) of fun, wit, dark humor, love, and sentimentality performed and crewed by more than 80 talented Bedford High School students.  

There are still tickets available for the four remaining shows on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m., and a Saturday matinee starting at 1 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase online at https://bhschorusandtheater.weebly.com/tickets.html.

The story follows princess of darkness Wednesday Addams (played by Ava Derderian) introducing her first love and his parents (Evan Kelly, Hayden McAllister, and Shannon Sullivan) to her wacky family (Jacob Choi, Cate Galante, Violet Gould, John Mitchell, and Healy Weisman) and their entourage of ancestral ghosts. 

The opening show on Wednesday evening had the audience laughing and cheering from the ensemble dance numbers that include around 30 performers often dancing and seated in the aisles to the heartfelt solo ballads by the very talented leads. 

The regular comic relief of Lurch (played by Dylan DeJesus), Uncle Fester (Mitchell), Pugsley (Gould), and Grandma (Weisman) as well as the physical comedy skills and timing of the leads had both the younger and older audience members laughing and smiling throughout the show. 

The singing talent and acting skills of lead solos – especially Derderian, Choi, and Gould – and the stage presence and command of Galante and Mitchell as they lead ensemble dance numbers left the audience whooping their support and approval and ending the show with a standing ovation. 

The shine and polish of a production with very talented, very capable, very comfortable leads with the perfect level of confidence would be enough to make THE ADDAMS FAMILY – A NEW MUSICAL a successful and great show to watch, but the performance is leveled up by the costume and makeup of the ancestor ensemble and all that the incredible live student pit orchestra adds to the production. 

Artistic Director Katrina Faulstich has reason to be proud of the amount of evident work and care by more than 100 people that went into this fun production, from the performing, music, props, lighting, sound, and even the volunteers out front. 

For crowds that may be sensitive – there are a few curse words, innuendos, a couple of fake birds are killed, a cigarette, and a crossbow used, but otherwise, nothing ghostly that should be too scary for the littles. 

Some ensemble members dance in the aisle and sit in the crowd, so the center of the theater is best for full show visibility, but the numbers don’t last long enough to miss out for those sitting on the wings. 

The music wasn’t necessarily catchy to walk out singing, but you will walk out thinking about the talent, those costumes, and perhaps even daring to play Full Disclosure at your next dinner party!