The 2020 Wayne Valley Spring Musical, The Addams Family, was projected to hit the stage on Thursday, March 19th, and to run through Saturday, March 21st. When the district first announced a three-week school closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic (which ultimately closed schools through June), members of Wayne Valley Theatre were at our final Saturday rehearsal before the show’s opening night, which was only a mere five days away. Hearing the news so close to our tech week and opening night was heartbreaking for the cast, crew, and directors who had put so much hard work and dedication into this show. 

The musical, The Addams Family, is a comedy based on the famous television show of the same name, and it features songs by Andrew Lippa. The show is about a young girl, Wednesday Addams, played by senior Sabrina Shah, who wants to fit into society. However, her family has acted like outlaws for longer than she can remember. Once she becomes engaged to fiancé Lucas Beinekee, played by senior Zach Blumenstyk, Wednesday tries to convince her family to act normal for the benefit of him and his family. Throughout the show, both families must learn to accept their differences in order for Wednesday and Lucas to be happily united. 

The senior cast includes Shah, Blumenstyk, Sam Pricken (Morticia Addams), Jason Tobias (Fester Addams), Keben Molina (Lurch), Deanna Thomas (Alice Beinekee), Gianna DiTucci (Conquistador Ancestor), Megan Sternberg (Ancestor), Anna Rud (Ancestor), and Justin De La Cruz (Ancestor). 

A few seniors share their favorite memory from their time in Wayne Valley Theatre:

Sabrina Shah: “My favorite memory is all of the inside jokes we have made at rehearsal. It’s so much fun to just be with your friends and mess around, while also doing something you love.” 

Deanna Thomas: “My favorite memory is always opening night. The excitement of the lights, music, and a live audience is the best feeling ever.” 

Jason Tobias: “[My favorite memory] would always easily be when the set fell down after Downtown last year in Little Shop. A close second is when I completely missed a scene my freshman year when we did Into the Woods. All my favorite memories are usually funny things Russinello or DeFazio [Wayne Valley Theatre’s directors] have said that the cast brings up all the time.” 

All three of these Wayne Valley Theatre members will be continuing to pursue musical theatre in college, by earning their BFAs in musical theatre. 

With an almost completely finished set, full costumes, and planned-out wigs and makeup, we were shocked and upset that our last day in school (Monday, March 16th) was only three days before opening night. Our rehearsals had begun in mid-December, and both the cast and crew had put everything they had into this program. Thankfully, the show will go on—just not the way we anticipated. Senior Deanna Thomas’s Addams Family Virtual Opening Night video, which is now on YouTube, features many members of the cast. Thomas pieced together multiple songs, videos, and pictures from the show’s rehearsals, compiling it into a video that can live on forever. 

This video can be found with the link below: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hnSMp_KlzMM&feature=youtu.be 

Even though Wayne Valley Theatre never got to perform our show on stage, at least we can look back on some of our favorite moments from rehearsals (including those in the video). We all can agree that the friendships and memories that we formed from the show are better than anything we could ask for.