School plays are the spectacle of the spring season, and this year’s play, run by the drama department, is “Addams Family”. The musical, a spooky, heart-felt story following the Addams family and their romantic and familial ventures, will be performed in late April.
The play centers around Wednesday Addams (Aneesa Chandra) and Lucas Beineke (Cooper McGrane) and their star-crossed love story, as well as storylines following the marriages between Gomez (Jake Beard) and Morticia Addams (Zoey Saurwein), and Alice (Audrey Scialla) and Mal Beineke (Fable Monroe).
“It’s really about the Addams family who’s completely different from everybody else. And this boy falls in love with Wednesday, and he’s from this normal Ohio family. It’s all about how they’re not really supposed to be together, but they are. And so it’s a bit of a Romeo and Juliet in that way,” freshman Cooper McGrane describes.
The play, upbeat and fun, contains much singing, torturing, and tangoing. This means a lot of excitement for the audience, and a chance for the cast members to have fun with their roles.
Junior Jake Beard, who plays Gomez, is excited for this opportunity to dance with his friends onstage. “I get to dance next to Zoe [Sauerwein], which is awesome. And Zoe and I have danced together in Mamma Mia, but it wasn’t in a lead role setting and this way, we have much more complicated dances.”
Aneesa Chandra, who stars as Wednesday, is excited to perform with her castmates as well. “For me it’s all about the people. Putting a show together is fun, but it’s really nothing without the people. I’ve met people that I never would’ve met otherwise. I have loved the community while participating in these shows. That is the best part of being in these productions,” she commented.
There is a lot of anticipation for this play, especially because this play is not a new one for Western, or the cast members, as it was canceled in 2020.
“In the Covid year they were supposed to perform it and then it got canceled right before the show started. So the seniors this year were eighth graders in the show during that year, so this is their opportunity to actually put the show on stage, and I’m super excited to be part of that for them,” Beard said.
Chandra, who is a senior, is happy that this was the chosen play as well. Since she will be graduating after this, it will be her last hurrah. “It’s obviously a bit sad, and I’m not planning on continuing this path into college so it’ll probably be my last show. But in saying that, if this is my last show, I’m so glad that it’s this one and this role. And I think that makes it all the more exciting for me,” she commented.
The show will certainly be an exciting one. It is to be performed in the WAHS auditorium April 25-28, and tickets are on sale for $5 for students and seniors in advance, and $12 for adults in advance. They are $6 for students at the door, and $14 for adults at the door.
