The musical — based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams — will open, as previously announced, April 8, 2010, at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Previews begin March 4, 2010, following a pre-Broadway engagement at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre in Chicago (beginning there on Nov. 13).
Natasha Katz's credits include The Coast of Utopia and Aida. Obie Award winner Twist created Arias with a Twist.
They'll keep company with sound designer Acme Sound Partners (Tony nomination for In the Heights), music director Mary-Mitchell Campbell (the revival of Company), orchestrator Larry Hochman (Monty Python's Spamalot), dance arranger August Eriksmoen (Memphis), hair designer Tom Watson (Wicked), make-up designer Angelina Avallone (The Little Mermaid), special effects designer Greg Meeh (Monty Python's Spamalot) and fight director Rick Sordelet (The Lion King). Heidi Miami Marshall will serve as associate director. Beverley Randolph is production supervisor.
The Addams Family has a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (librettists of the 2006 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Jersey Boys), music and lyrics by Drama Desk Award winner Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party), direction and design by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch (Shockheaded Peter, The Metropolitan Opera's Satyagraha) and choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Next to Normal, Jersey Boys).
Starring two-time Tony Award winners Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia, The Addams Family features two-time Tony Award nominee Terrence Mann as Mal Beineke, two-time Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello as Alice Beineke, two-time Tony Award nominee Kevin Chamberlin as Uncle Fester, Jackie Hoffman as Grandmama, Zachary James as Lurch, Adam Riegler as Pugsley, Wesley Taylor as Lucas Beineke and Krysta Rodriguez as Wednesday. The Addams Family is produced by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt and Five Cent Productions, by special arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical.
According to the producers, "In this original story, the famously macabre Addams Family is put to the test when outsiders come to dinner, hurling Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Fester, Grandmama and Lurch headlong into a night that will change the family forever."
Illustrator Charles Addams' career spanned six decades. He created several thousand cartoons, sketches and drawings, many of which were published in The New Yorker. But it was his creation of characters that came to be known as The Addams Family that brought Addams his greatest acclaim. "With a unique style that combined the twisted, macabre and just plain weird with charm, wit and enchantment, Addams' drawings have entertained millions worldwide and served as the inspiration for multiple television series and motion pictures," according to production notes.
For more information visit www.theaddamsfamilymusical.com.
