Shields had originally planned to end her limited engagement on Oct. 30. "I am having the time of my life playing Morticia with this wonderful company of actors," she said in a statement. "Morticia is such a delicious role and The Addams Family is such a fantastic and iconic piece of entertainment that I just couldn't resist the invitation to extend."

Shields starred in Broadway's Wonderful Town, Grease, Chicago and Cabaret, and in TV's "Suddenly Susan," among many other projects.

She recently starred with Raul Esparza in Alan Menken's Leap of Faith at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and in the new play Girls Talk at the Lee Strasberg Theater, also in L.A. She was recently seen in her own cabaret show In My Life at Feinstein's at the Loews Regency.

A national tour of The Addams Family will begin in September at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts in New Orleans. International productions of the musical have been announced for Sao Paulo, Brazil in spring 2012 and Sydney, Australia in spring 2013. Several other international productions are in the planning stages.

The Broadway cast stars Roger Rees as Gomez, Brad Oscar as Fester, Rachel Potter as Wednesday, Jackie Hoffman as Grandma, Zachary James as Lurch, Adam Riegler as Pugsley, Heidi Blickenstaff as Alice Beineke, Adam Grupper as Mal Beineke and Jesse Swenson as Lucas Beineke.

Visit theaddamsfamilymusical.com.