THE ADDAMS FAMILY Closes at the Providence Performing Arts Center

The Addams Family, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams, will make its Providence premiere through Sunday, March 25 at the Providence Performing Arts Center as part of the 2011/2012 Broadway Series. Tony Award nominee Douglas Sills and Sara Gettelfinger will star as Gomez and Morticia in a principal cast that also includes Tony Award nominee Martin Vidnovic as Mal Beineke, two-time Tony Award nominee Crista Moore as Alice Beineke, Blake Hammond as Uncle Fester, Pippa Pearthree as Grandma, Tom Corbeil as Lurch, Patrick D. Kennedy as Pugsley,Brian Justin Crum as Lucas Beineke and Cortney Wolfson as Wednesday.

Portraying the ancestors are Ted Ely, Karla Garcia, Steve Geary, Victoria Huston-Elem, Patrick Oliver Jones, Lizzie Klemperer, Alexandra Matteo,Christy Morton, Brad Nacht, Jonathan Ritter, Roland Rusinek, Geo Seeryand Samantha Shafer. 

The Addams Family features an original story and it's every father’s nightmare. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family. A man her parents have never met. And if that weren't upsetting enough, she confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he's never done before - keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday's "normal" boyfriend and his parents.

The Addams Family features a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. The production is directed and designed (sets and costumes) by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch with production supervision by Jerry Zaks and choreography by Sergio Trujillo.

The production features lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by ACME Sound Partners and puppetry by Basil Twist. The production also features music supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, music direction by Valerie Gebert, orchestrations by Larry Hochman, dance arrangements by August Eriksmoen, hair design by Tom Watson, make-up design by Angelina Avallone and special effects design by Greg Meeh.

In a prolific career spanning six decades, Charles Addams 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.

The Addams Family, which began performances in March 2010 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and ran through December 2011, immediately became one of Broadway’s biggest hits. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune described the production as “classic, full-tilt, fast paced, old-fashioned musical comedy!” and John Simon of Bloomberg News called it “Uproarious! A glitzy-gloomy musical entirely worthy of the macabre drawings by Charles Addams.”

The Addams Family tour is produced by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt, Five Cent Productions, Stuart Ditsky/AdamDitsky, Stephen Mary Jo Schuler, Eva Price, James L. Nederlander, Stephanie P. McClelland, Pittsburgh CLO/Gutterman/Deitch, Vivek Tiwary/Jamie deRoy/Carl Moellenberg and Mary Lu Roffe, by special arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical. International productions have been announced for Brazil (March, 2012) and Australia (March, 2013) with others to be announced shortly.

The Addams Family is sponsored by Coastway Community Bank.

Tickets for The Addams Family are $70-$43; all ticket prices include a $3 per ticket restoration charge and are subject to change without notice. Tickets are available at the PPAC Box Office, online at www.ppacri.org and by phone at (401) 421-ARTS (2787).

The PPAC Box Office is located at 220 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence. Regular Box Office Hours are Monday through Friday, 10A to 5P; Saturday, 10A to 2P and through curtain time(s) on performance days.

Discounted admission is available for groups of 20 or more; for more information and to order, please contact Group Sales Representative Paul Hiatt at phiatt@ppacri.org or(401) 574-3162.

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