April 12, 2019

Ram’s Head brings The Addams Family, living, dead and undecided, to Stanford

Woeful Wednesday Addams invites her ordinary boyfriend and his family to dinner. Hilarity ensues.

By Robin Wander

From casting to set design, Stanford’s Ram’s Head Theatrical Society takes advantage of the diverse talent on campus to present their perennial spring musical. This year’s production is The Addams Family.

The Addams Family musical takes the humorously macabre characters drawn by cartoonist Charles Addams and places them in an original story on stage. Wednesday Addams, a woeful child in an extraordinary family, is all grown up and in love with a regular guy from an ordinary family. In an attempt to announce their engagement and unite the families over their shared love, Wednesday and her fiancé Lucas bring them together for a dinner where they discover their differences and what they have in common.

Performances are April 12, 13 at 8 p.m., April 14 at 2 p.m. and April 18, 19, 20 at 8 p.m. in Memorial Auditorium. Tickets can be purchased for this family friendly production here. This year, the Senior Gift Committee has reserved 200 tickets to the April 18 performance that are available for free to graduating Stanford seniors. Click here to reserve complimentary senior tickets; Stanford University ID required.

Amanda Lim as Wednesday Addams tortures her little brother, Pugsley, played by Valerie Trapp.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Gomez Addams (Rio Padilla-Smith) with Lucas Beineke (George Hosono) and Wednesday Addams (Amanda Lim) conspire to keep a secret.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

In trying to calm their nerves, the loving couple Wednesday (Amanda Lim) and Lucas (George Hosono) prepare for the evening the best way they know how: a sword fight.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

The seven members of the Addams Family sing. — The Addams Family sings “When You’re an Addams,” where it’s “family first and family last and family by and by.”
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Joshua Chang, musical director, leads the production’s 15-piece orchestra.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

At the family dinner table, Grandma (Julian Bernado) will say what she needs to say, even if it’s a little too kooky for the Beinekes.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Río Padilla-Smith sings to his family and guests. — Río Padilla-Smith as Gomez Addams fully discloses the secret he’s been keeping throughout the show.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Brooke Hale as Alice Beineke, the bubbliest person to enter the Addams’ home; she lets loose and sings her ballad.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

After the chaos of a confessional game, the entire household is torn apart by the families. Some make it through unscathed, others are forever changed.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Reflecting on the terrible plums of life, Morticia chooses instead to dance with her ancestors and the Grim Reaper (Brooke Hale) about the joys of mortality.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Vincent Nicandro as Uncle Fester sings in the graveyard with the ancestors.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Rio Padilla-Smith as Gomez Addams consoles his daughter Wednesday played by Amanda Lim.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Brooke Hale and Temi Bolodeoku as Alice and Mal Beineke perform a song — After a life full of conflict and bottled emotions, Alice and Mal Beineke (Brooke Hale and Temi Bolodeoku) finally reach out.

Image credit: L.A. Cicero

Eve La Puma and Rio Padilla-Smith as Morticia and Gomez Addams perform a tango.
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

The cast of *The Addams Family,* Ram’s Head Theatrical Society’s spring production
Image credit: L.A. Cicero

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Over 80 cast and crew members have been working on the two-act production accompanied by a 15-member orchestra. Ram’s Head members made a concerted effort to assemble a diverse cast: Over 50% of the named leads and the ancestor ensemble went to people of color, and the orchestra, staff and crew averaged about the same percentage. The show’s producer, CJ Paige, ’19, said: “We wanted students coming to see the show from all backgrounds to be able to see themselves in the show. It was really important that we had a production that reflected the community at Stanford, especially when the story being told has been traditionally been told and cast as white.”

Several of the multitalented cast and crew have been involved in campus theater productions in various roles, including this year’s set designer and scenic artist Nora Kelly, ’19, who has been at different times an associate producer, a costume designer and master carpenter. For The Addams Family, Kelly created a life-sized toy paper theater with beautifully painted backdrops. She and director J.B. Horsley, ’19, chose a colorful set design because, Kelly said, “often designers are drawn to a completely desaturated look for The Addams Family. After all, the lyrics say, ‘You have to see the world in shades of gray.’ However, because of the passion and energy this musical effuses, even in embracing mortality, we wanted to explore an Addams Family world that could be more colorful. Not bright, but beautiful in variation. I knew that this was something we could do well with the people we had.” Kelly and fellow senior Polly Capps tag-teamed to lead the company in the scenic painting of over 1,800 square feet of flats in nine days.

For Horsley, the musical is about connecting with characters, even in a made-up world: “In a show that is such a large production told about a family known to be larger than life, there are moments where we really can dive into the humanity of these characters and discover just how similar we are to them: We all love, hurt and laugh. We’re all human.”