To the Editor:
I have to admit at the outset that I’ve never been a big fan of The Addams Family either in cartoon form or in the television production. So I came to the Wilton High School’s production of The Addams Family, A New Musical Comedy expecting to see great student performances but not expecting to be captivated by it at all overall.
That changed as I watched this production in its Saturday afternoon performance. I found myself swept up in the music and even the storyline, but most of all in the consummate singing, acting, and dancing of the cast and the extraordinary musicianship reflecting in both the actors’ singing and the pit orchestra’s performance.
Who would’ve thought that the Addams family could actually provide the foreground for an engaging love story of opposites attracting in the face of family opposition — not from patriarch Gomez on the Addams family side for sure who clearly welcomed the prospect of “new blood’ flowing into the family in their daughter Wednesday’s unexpected choice of a prospective groom.
As director Maria Pizzarello said in her program notes, “The musical telling of this mysterious and spooky family offers a compelling and entertaining score that is every theater educator’s dream. At every return, the script offers the opportunity to showcase the wide scope of talent that is here at Wilton High School.”
And in fact, that talent was very evident throughout the production across all of the actors. The actors playing the leads of Gomez and Morticia were especially superb with their glorious voices and acting that was off the charts, both comedic and serious. Likewise, Festo’s numerous comic interludes were beautifully executed, and who could not marvel at Lurch’s dramatically resounding basso profundo that garnered a huge audience reaction! Behind the scenes students were involved in all sorts of backstage work that makes a production happen and that went off flawlessly as far as one sitting in the audience could observe. The orchestra was also largely composed of students and performed brilliantly.
As has been true of so many previous Wilton High School musical productions, the singing, acting, and music performance were outstanding, as was the set design and costuming. These kinds of Broadway-quality performances regularly garner the highest regional awards like the Halo Award for last year’s Wilton High School production.
Credit for their hard work and superb leadership goes to director Pizzarello, choreographer Kathryn Luckstone, and musical director and orchestra conductor Will Mandelbaum.
Securing such high-quality performances from students with many other demands on their time on academic and other fronts is quite remarkable. These are actors, backstage production personnel, and orchestra members who are not granted the “luxury” found in a Broadway production of exclusive focus on their theater work. Nevertheless, they were still able to deliver truly professional grade performances in every respect.
I would note also that it was gratifying to see on the full back page of the program for this musical credit given to ASML for its significant role in sponsorship of this production. As with so many things in town in recent years, ASML’s presence is evident and much appreciated by all of us.
Steve Hudspeth