The Addams Family
In this special online programme:
- Director’s Notes
- List of musical numbers
- Cast biographies
- Creative team biographies
- Production gallery
Director's Notes
What an absolute joy it has been directing the Addams Family Musical. First of all, it was lovely to return to the Festival 22 years after directing four of the family Musicals and to see so many faces still involved.
I will be honest, I had never heard the music from the show before I agreed – I simply have always loved the Addams Family, and being a fan of composer Andrew Lippa’s show The Wild Party, I knew that this would be a dream.
Then I heard the score and fell in love with it. Particular Highlights being “One Normal Night” – a perfect mini piece of theatre all in itself, the gorgeous “Happy Sad”, and of course the crowd favourites “Pulled”, “The Moon and Me”, and “Just Around the Corner”.
But what makes The Addams Family so appealing to me is its great big beating (and a little macabre) heart. This family who love the darker side of everything are also a wonderful role model to us today – they care so deeply about each other and always put each other’s interests first.
Which is why I have been so lucky to work with a wonderful team of cast, crew and creatives to bring this family and their Ancestors to life. Some I had worked with before many years ago and some were brand new to me, but all shared the same passion for the show, from the set and the costumes to the music and the choreography.
And I have had such a blast with each of the Ancestors – this is a musical where the ensemble can really put their stamp on their own part and help create their character while also inspiring their director with what they bring to the table. Many of my favourite moments in the show came from being inspired by what someone in the cast had done in a particular scene.
I so hope you enjoy the show and continue to support community theatre.
Be happy, and keep clicking those fingers
Ash ☺
Musical Numbers
ACT ONE
- Overture
- When You’re An Addams
- Fester’s Manifesto
- Two Things
- Wednesday’s Growing Up
- Three Things
- Trapped
- Pulled
- Four Things
- One Normal Night
- But Love
- Secrets
- Trapped (reprise)
- What If
- Full Disclosure / Waiting
ACT TWO
- Just Around the Corner
- The Moon and Me
- Happy/Sad
- Crazier Than You
- Not Today
- Live Before We Die
- El Tango de Amor
- Move Toward the Darkness
Cast
Creative Team
GREG ASHTON (Director)
GREG ASHTON trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Directing credits include The Tempest Project and The Shrew Interactive (Theatre Royal Plymouth), Hansel & Gretel (Simply Theatre Geneva), Guys & Dolls, The Wizard of Oz, (Bridgend College) Little Red (JW Productions Brighton), Cinderella (Pendle Productions National Tour) Little Red (RWCMD) and Jorinda & Jorindel (Welsh National Opera Community Project). For Perfect Pitch Musicals he directed the audiobook Barry the Penguin’s Black & White Christmas featuring Christopher Eccleston & Kerry Ellis and he is currently directing audio recordings of The Sheep Chronicles. As assistant director he has worked on The Santa Claus Adventure (Jamie Wilson Productions), The Snow Queen, Alice in Wonderland (The Storytellers Blackburn), The Canterbury Tales (Dyffryn Gardens) and Some Enchanted Evening (Drury Lane / televised by PBS America). He co-founded the award-winning fringe company Ripley Theatre and is an associate director of the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus. He is proud to have been involved with the Festival since 1993, having been drafted in last minute as a Policeman in The Pirates of Penzance.
CHRISTOPHER FOSSEY (Musical Director)
CHRISTOPHER FOSSEY works variously as a freelance composer and arranger, accompanist and music director. A composition graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, he has written numerous arrangements of varying scale for groups including the Welsh Musical Theatre Orchestra, the Novello Orchestra, and the South Wales Gay Men’s Chorus. Last year he was selected as one of the composers for Leeway Productions’ 10 Minute Musicals development programme. As an accompanist, Christopher regularly plays for classes at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Wales Academy of Voice and Dramatic Arts, as well as for auditions in both Cardiff and London. As a music director, Christopher has worked with Youth Music Theatre UK, Superstars in the Making, The Stage Centre, Academi Leeway, Mess Up The Mess Theatre Ltd, Concept Players and with students at both RWCMD and WAVDA. Last year he was appointed music director of the South Wales Gay Men’s Chorus, having served as their accompanist since their inception in 2008.
EMMA-JAYNE PARKER (Choreographer)
EMMA-JAYNE PARKER is a director, choreographer, teacher and producer. She has appeared in professional musicals, pantomime and cabaret across the UK, Europe and the Far East. She is Head of Dance at Simply Theatre, Geneva, Switzerland and has co-produced, directed and choreographed all the Family shows at the Cardiff Open Air Theatre Festival since 2013.
Other productions – as Director: Carrie, 13, Be More Chill, Godspell, Urinetown, The Snow Queen and Once On This Island. As Movement Director/Choreographer: The Addams Family, The Night Before Christmas, The Merchant of Venice, Disco Inferno, We Will Rock You, A Christmas Carol, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Bugsy Malone, Hansel & Gretel, Our House, Old Hands, Much Ado About Nothing, The Flint Street Nativity, Macbeth, ‘Allo ‘Allo, Twelfth Night & The Comedy of Errors.
Emma-Jayne is a qualified teacher with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD) and teaches Jazz, Tap, Contemporary and Ballet. She is Principal of Go Theatre and Dance Academy – a thriving part time performing arts school for children and young people, providing excellent opportunities for students to perform, build confidence and follow dreams. Students are wonderful ambassadors for the Go ethos and make an excellent impression wherever they go.
The Addams Family - 2023
