A fun take on the Addams Family
This past week at the Vanderhoef Studio Theater, Studio 301 put on their final production of the quarter, “The Addams Family the Musical,” a twist on the classic movie. While “The Addams Family” movie focused on the family dynamic as a plot, the musical set their focus on daughter Wednesday Addams and her new love interest. The show was directed by Jill Price who graduated in 2015 from UC Davis with a bachelor’s degree in English.
Studio 301 is a student-run theatre social club and production company. While most theatre organizations consist of exclusively theatre majors, Studio 301 does not have any major requirements for members, creating a diverse group of dedicated individuals.
“It’s a different sense of pride if it’s something you and your peers put together,” said Leah Richter, a third-year environmental science and management major.
I genuinely loved the musical. There were a couple of scenes where the background would freeze and the narrating character would step forward and break the fourth wall. The actors in the background demonstrated a lot of skill in their ability to stay still and allow the attention to be directed to the narrator.
JP De Leon, a first-year theatre and dance major, played Gomez and was proud to be part of the cast for the year.
“I feel weird to boast it, but the entirety of our cast [is] really good,” De Leon said. “Singing wise, we’re a really good sounding cast. All of our leads have different moments in songs. It just sounds so good.”
When Nikki Villalon, a fourth-year animal science major who played Wednesday, stood on stage and performed “One Normal Night,” my eyes bulged out of my sockets. Not only was Villalon’s pure talent mind boggling, but De Leon’s was as well. De Leon’s voice is perfect for musicals. He knows how to capture the audience, whether it be with small glances or the twirl of a prop.
The ensemble was comprised of Addams family ancestors that were forced to stay on Earth in order to help Wednesday’s family be accepting of Lucas, Wednesdays’ love interest.
“While being that [they’re dead], they’re also so alive,” De Leon said. “The ensemble makes up a lot of our show, they dance in all the numbers and they’re giving the feel for the audience. They are really making the sets and the moments really fun.”
Each lead character played their role perfectly. Tannah Boyd, who played Morticia Addams, impressed me. As an actor, she is someone who I would continuously pay to see perform.
“We do this because we love doing this,” De Leon said. “So it’s kind of this cathartic thing where it’s at the end of the day when I’m stressed out of my mind at a classes or something, I get to come to a place where I get to just sing and dance with my friends.”
When I went home and my housemate asked how it was, I only had one response: “you missed out.”
“I think when you have a really talented cast it gets you really excited to put on this show, especially with a fun show like this,” said Raegan Price, a third-year theatre and dance major. “It kind of puts your worries away because you can focus on having fun and putting on a really good show.”
Written By: Itzelth Gamboa — arts@theaggie.org
