The famously "creepy and kooky" brood has jumped from the pages of The New Yorker magazine to television, film and — starting with the first Chicago preview on Nov. 13 — into the American musical theatre. The Chicago run plays through Jan. 10, 2010, at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre.

Seemingly plucked from gothic novels, penny dreadfuls and Hollywood horror flicks, the Addamses are oddballs. The haunted mansion is populated by a Frankenstein-like butler; a witchy grandmama; a vampire-influenced mother; an undead uncle; and an assortment of other lovable weirdos.

And now they sing. The songs are by Drama Desk Award-winning composer-lyricist Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party). The fresh libretto (not drawing on TV or film plots of old) is by Tony Award-nominated Jersey Boys collaborators Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice.

Lippa told Playbill.com, "The score's very character-based, and each of the characters sings in [his or her] own language. Gomez is represented by Flamenco-style Spanish music; and Wednesday is represented by a certain amount of contemporary pop music; and Uncle Fester is old vaudevillian in our show, and he's sort of the host of our evening, so he speaks in a vaudeville presentation style."

Read the Playbill.com Brief Encounter interview with Lippa.

Broadway previews will begin March 4, 2010, at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 W. 46th Street). The show will open on Broadway April 8.

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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."

Direction and design duties are handled by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch, known for creating stark, frightening images in Shockheaded Peter (a play about childhood horrors) and The Metropolitan Opera's Satyagraha. Choreography is by Sergio Trujillo (Next to Normal, Jersey Boys).

The Addams Family also features the previously announced 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 includes Merwin Foard, Jim Borstelmann, Michael Buchanan, Colin Cunliffe, Rachel de Benedet, Valerie Fagan, Matthew Gumley, Fred Inkley, Morgan James, Clark Johnsen, Barrett Martin, Jessica Lea Patty, Liz Ramos, Samantha Sturm, Charlie Sutton and Alena Watters.

The production will feature lighting design by two-time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (The Coast of Utopia, Aida), with sound design by Acme Sound Partners (Tony nomination for In the Heights) and puppetry by acclaimed Obie Award-winning puppeteer Basil Twist (Arias With A Twist). The music director is Mary-Mitchell Campbell (the revivals of Sweeney Todd and Company), with orchestrations by Larry Hochman (Monty Python's Spamalot) and dance arrangements by August Eriksmoen (Memphis). Hair design is by Tom Watson (Wicked), make-up design by Angelina Avallone (The Little Mermaid), special effects design by Greg Meeh (Monty Python's Spamalot) and fight direction by Rick Sordelet (The Lion King).

The Addams Family is produced by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt and Five Cent Productions, by special arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical. Co-producers are Stephen Schuler, Decca Broadway, Scott M. Delman, Stuart Ditsky, Terry Allen Kramer, Stephanie P. McClelland, James L. Nederlander, Eva Price, Jam Theatricals/Mary Lu Roffe, Pittsburgh CLO/Gutterman-Swinsky, Vivek Tiwary/Gary Kaplan, The Weinstein Company/Clarence, LLC and Adam Zotovich/Tribe Theatricals.

Addams (1912-1988) created several thousand cartoons, sketches and drawings, many of which were published in The New Yorker. He is best known for creating The Addams Family, drawn and written in "a unique style that combined the twisted, macabre and just plain weird with charm, wit and enchantment." Visit charlesaddams.com.

For Broadway tickets, call (877) 250-2929 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. For more information visit www.theaddamsfamilymusical.com.