THE ADDAMS FAMILY: BEHIND THE SCENES
By, Maggee Bleyer (MCHS Student Media Manager and Reporter for Music Department, Interact Club, and NHS)
February/March
It’s time to “wake the dead” as musical students work extremely hard to make The Addams Family as spooky and amazing as possible. With every practice and dance rehearsal, the cast and crew members are getting even more excited to finally perform the musical on stage. However, there is still a LOT of work to do!
When the snowstorm hit Mt. Carmel and caused schools to shut down, students were either devastated or happily delighted. Although only one practice was able to be squeezed into the two-week Snowpacolypse, musical kids continued to practice by themselves. Students in the musical consistently memorized their lines, practiced their moves with the help of choreographer Paige Heinrich’s virtual dancing videos, sang their songs, and kept the spirit alive.
One of the most common questions for musical students is, “How much do masks impact singing?” Masks are now obviously a huge part of everyone’s daily lives. This means that every musical student has to wear some sort of mask to keep their face covered. Whether it is a face shield or a classic cloth mask, musical students have to do what they do best as they wear masks to protect themselves. I asked Riley Allen (Role: Ancestor) and Eli Sherman (Role: Fester) how it is like to wear masks during the musical season and how much impact masks have over singing, dancing, acting, and other factors. I also asked them about their roles, how they are bringing the characters to life, and how it feels to still be able to do a musical during the pandemic.
Riley Allen: “I’m a principal dancer so I play one of the Addams family’s ghost ancestors. Aside from the costumes, the entire ensemble works to insert ourselves into these scenes. We don’t have many lines, but we try our best to make the stage and settings feel more alive. Practicing in a mask is not as difficult as I think people imagine it would be. It does tend to slip off sometimes while singing, and it’s hard to see facial expressions of course, but that’s it. We’ll be using clear face coverings for the actual performances, so that gets rid of one of the problems. Regarding being able to do a musical during a pandemic, it’s a relief that we’re able to do something relatively normal in a year that has been anything but that.”
Eli Sherman: “I play the role of Uncle Fester this year. I am trying to act as weird and psychopathic as possible in rehearsals. Practicing in a face shield is very different, because it deflects the sound of your voice back towards your ears, so you get very self-conscious. You can also get off with the timing of the music and your voice since you are singing into a face shield. Acting and dancing remain relatively unchanged, other than the inability to have kissing scenes and touch each others’ faces. However, it is really exciting to be able to do a musical this year. The best part is that it will happen no matter what since The Addams Family musical came with streaming rights. It was a real bummer that we were so close to putting on Newsies last year, and we couldn’t because of COVID. Now, we actually get to do it again!”
I also asked Mrs. Kim Mandrell, MCHS musical director, the big question: How do masks affect directing?
Mrs. Mandrell: “Masks have muzzled the volume of speaking and singing both on and off the stage. Communicating has become difficult simply because students don’t always speak with enough confidence/volume for me to hear them. In the past, I have always read their lips, but now that isn’t an option either. Mask wearing has also eliminated facial features which help us relate to the audience but also to each other. We have been using clear masks and or face shields since auditions so that we can better “see” each other. I have purchased special clear masks specific for our performances that will allow even more visibility by our patrons due to the fact that they have anti-glare technology.
Then, for my final question, I asked her, “How does it feel to still be able to do a musical during the pandemic?”
Mrs. Mandrell: “I’m grateful. The normalcy is really good for the soul. It feels like we’re going to make it through this thing.”
Will anyone make it out alive in this musical? Only one way to find out! The Addams Family is set for April 22-25. More information is yet to come. Stay tuned for monthly updates about the behind-the-scenes production of The Addams Family.
