![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/DSC_0021-FOR-WEB.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cFor this show, I went back to a lot of the original drawings from The New Yorker<\/i> from the \u201930s, and Charles Addams had a lot of input on the original sitcom,\u201d says Rundell. \u201cI still pull a lot of inspiration from the films, so fans of the films will still see some familiar things and some flashbacks and nods, but I really wanted to be true to who Charles Addams wanted the Addams family to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first and most iconic The Addams Family<\/i> adaptation was the 1964\u011066 television sitcom, opening with the familiar harpsichord and finger-snapping theme. The 1991 film, starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, and Christina Ricci, was a popular remake, and it was followed by a 1993 sequel.<\/p>\n
Ad campaigns, a 1999 TV series still in reruns, and the highest-selling pinball game of all time have kept the Addamses a part of popular culture, notes Rundell, a longtime fan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s still a lot of love for the family,\u201d he says. \u201cI think the Addamses are still relevant and still very prominent in pop culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
After comics, TV, pinball, and films, we finally get to meet the Addamses in a stage musical. But how do the family\u2019s macabre sensibilities survive a translation to live musical form on stage?<\/p>\n
\u201cVery well,\u201d says Rundell. \u201cThe musical is extremely funny, but it\u2019s very… touching at the same time. It\u2019s very kooky, you know the old theme song: \u2018They\u2019re creepy and they\u2019re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they\u2019re altogether ooky.\u2019 That really comes through in the musical; it\u2019s something really kooky, but with a kind of tongue-in-cheek dark side at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this new story, the Addamses face a common family milestone: their daughter Wednesday is all grown up, and she\u2019s bringing home her first boyfriend with his parents to meet her family. The issue at hand? Formerly grim Wednesday\u2019s new man, Lucas, is from a perfectly average, ordinary family. Will her morbid and sophisticated parents ever approve of these typical Midwesterners? Just as importantly, couldn\u2019t her family just act normal for one<\/i> evening?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Addamses are a little bit… different,\u201d explains Rundell. \u201cSo it\u2019s very nerve-wracking for Wednesday because she knows that her parents won\u2019t approve. Lucas\u2019 parents are very different from who the Addamses are. They go to church every Sunday and are a very typical, all-American family.\u201d<\/p>\n
From Rundell\u2019s first suggestions to select the show, which originated on Broadway in 2010, and right through production, staging this macabre clash of cultures has been a welcome experience for the director, cast, and crew.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a lot of fun getting it created and a lot of fun assembling the costumes, building the larger-than-life set pieces…\u201d he says. \u201cEveryone has jumped on board and they\u2019re very excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The play is creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky, but also fun, funny and heartwarming. With an enthusiastic team behind it, Rundell hopes the audience will take something away from the production.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a great show, and it\u2019s a fundraiser for the company, so I really want them to have a great time, learn a bit about Kaleidoscope, and take away the meaning of what family is,\u201d he says. \u201cThis musical is all about family and unconditional love.\u201d<\/p>\n