Reviews: The Addams Family at Falls Church HS
Written by Lucy Baboyian of Annandale High School
Full disclosure: The Addams Family at Falls Church Theatre Company was a hilariously dark romp through the world of the macabre, where even the dead can make the stage come to life.
Inspired by Charles Addams's iconic creations, this macabre musical comedy deftly blends dark humor with an unexpected undercurrent of warmth. The show centers on the delightfully twisted Addams household as they host a dinner for their daughter's suspiciously normal boyfriend and his uptight family. As secrets unfold and worlds collide, chaos erupts, revealing the absurdity and deep emotion lurking within the Addams's peculiar world.
The dynamic between Colt Armstrong and Kate Schlagetter-Prettyman, who played Gomez and Morticia, was electric. Armstrong's portrayal of Gomez was a whirlwind of flamboyance and charm, with each gesture amplified to theatrical perfection. His rich, resonant voice captivated audiences, particularly in the ballad "Happy/Sad," where his emotional range effortlessly transitioned from comedy to heartfelt vulnerability. Armstrong's presence was the driving force of the show, bringing an irresistible energy to every scene. In contrast, Schlagetter-Prettyman's Morticia exuded poise and restraint, with every arch of her brow and sharply delivered line landing with elegance. Her smooth, commanding vocal delivery anchored the production, grounding even the absurd moments in an air of sophistication. Together, their climactic tango was a brilliant fusion of sensuality and absurdity, capturing the gothic romance that defines the Addams family.
The supporting performances further elevated the production's unconventional charm. Ellie Child's Wednesday was a stoic study in deadpan delivery; her rigid posture and icy vocal tone conveyed the character's morbid intensity with precision. As the story unfolded, subtle cracks in her stoic facade revealed a touching emotional arc, especially in her scenes with Gomez, where moments of vulnerability softened her typically aloof demeanor. Complementing this was Benjamin Rodriguez-Chicas's portrayal of Uncle Fester, who brought a steady stream of offbeat energy to the stage. With his off-kilter physicality and playful vocal quirks, he was a consistently funny presence, infusing the show with delightful oddball charm. Adding yet another layer of comedic unpredictability, Sasha Wendell's Grandma burst onto the stage with wild abandon. Her gravelly voice, chaotic movement, and gleeful eccentricity made every entrance a vivid and hilarious highlight.
Visually, the production conjured an eerie yet playful world. Lighting designers Chloe Brown and Brian Gutierrez-Lujan used a mix of saturated purples and flashes of red to create an atmosphere that was both spooky and theatrical. Spotlights enhanced the musical numbers and were used for comedic effect, particularly during Gomez's hilarious musical asides. Shadows and bursts of color added contrast, accentuating the show's allure. The hair and makeup team, Juliana Esen, Vin Watts, Amelia Underwood, and Kiara Valerio-De, further elevated the Ancestor Ensemble with vibrant wigs, exaggerated makeup, and period-specific styles, making each character distinct and unforgettable. From circus performers to flapper girls and aerobics instructors, these unique designs contributed to the quirky nature of the Addams family world.
Falls Church Theatre Company's The Addams Family was a wickedly fun blend of dark humor and surprising heart. From standout performances to clever tech, the production brought the Addams clan to gloriously ghoulish life, where the morbid was merry, the bizarre was beloved, and being creepy was the ultimate charm.
Written by Alden Walcott of South Lakes High School
Pull the petals off those flowers, brush up on your tango, and leave your bright colors at home, because Falls Church High School's production of The Addams Family has a not-so-normal night in store!
Based on the long-running comics of Charles Addams, The Addams Family musical found a home on Broadway in 2010, with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa delivering a kooky, joyful charm that continues to resonate with audiences around the globe years later. The drama unfolds as Wednesday Addams prepares to bring her new fianc� and his normal (gasp!) family from Ohio over for dinner. During an evening of delightfully macabre jokes and a rousing game of truth telling, secrets begin to surface, relationships are rattled, and their parents must ultimately reconnect with each other to set the young lovers back on course.
Armed with an impeccable Spanish accent, commanding stage presence, and an impressively rich vocal range was Colt Armstrong's Gomez. Whether dancing a flirtatious tango or obsessively polishing his sword, Armstrong brought a palpable warmth and playful sense of the absurd to his nuanced portrayal of a man who carries himself with strength but remains endearingly vulnerable with those he loves the most, anxiously pacing and wringing his hands as he wrestled with his emotions. Many of Armstrong's sharpest comedic moments came from his deep connection with his wife, Morticia, played with ghastly panache by Kate Schlageter-Prettyman. Confident and brash, with deadpan gallows humor and barely contained joy in watching her husband squirm, Morticia's deep rasp and effortless vocal range made their duets a soaring joy to watch.
When you're an Addams, you're a family, and this family was chock full of tantalizingly zany members. Wednesday (Ellie Child) displayed a determinedly off-kilter quirkiness that slowly cracked and softened as she learned from her father that she could balance love with her sense of self. Adding to the mix, Fester (Benjamin Rodriguez-Chicas) was a lovable blur of dance and movement, commanding the committed ensemble of ghoulish Addams ancestors with neurotic aplomb, while breaking the fourth wall to deliver zinging comic relief. And is any family complete without a slightly nutty grandma? Sasha Wendell brought reliably silly fun as the family's resident senior citizen, quick with both a dance move and a classic literature reference, but always leading with her heart.
From the Addams family manor to the graveyard beyond, this whimsically gothic world was brought to life with care by cohesive technical teams. The set design (by Kristina MacFarlane, Max Purtill, Miles Alexander, Tiffanie Heng) included elements ranging from manor walls with embedded picture frame cutouts to a field of hand cut gravestones, even featuring smoke seeping from an elaborate crypt. The walls also featured hand painting in a variety of styles, including dry-brushing techniques in deep-hued colors. The set was highlighted by the efforts of the lighting team (Chloe Brown and Brian Gutierrez Lujan), whose design enhanced the dark, otherworldly ambiance, using several dark purple and blue hues to capture the foreboding nature of an eerie night. To hone a cast of the un-dead, the hair and makeup team (Juliana Esen, Vin Watts, Amelia Underwood, and Kiara Valerio-De) made tutorial videos for the ancestor ensemble and applied special effects makeup to make each character come alive.
An entertaining feast of darkness, dance and doom, Falls Church High School's production of The Addams Family is a reminder that love and family are the ties that bind us all.