The Addams Family Musical
Addams Family: Addams with ancestors (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: Wednesday and Gomez (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: Wednesday shows her yellow dress (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: Morticia, Grim Reaper, and ancestors (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: Fester and Moon (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: moon close up
Addams Family: full cast (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: Grandma Addams (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: Grandma and Pugsley (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: ancestor ladies (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: story time with Alice and Morticia (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: "Gomez, Morticia, and Pugsley" rendering
Addams Family: "Fester, Lurch, and Grandma" rendering
Addams Family: "Wednesday and Lucas" rendering
Addams Family: Beinekes meet Grandma (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: Beineke introductions (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
Addams Family: "Mal and Alice Beineke" rendering
Addams Family: wedding (photo courtesy of Lois Rothstein)
The Addams Family Musical
Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa
Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice
Based on the comic by Charles Addams
Directed by Heather Mastromarco, Great Northern Theatre Company 2019
While designing costumes for The Addams Family Musical, I drew inspiration from the original Addams Family comic strips and decided to play with a cartoon-like style in my costume renderings. As a production team, we wanted the comedic and sometimes almost surrealist moments to feel heightened by the design of the show. One way we achieved this was through a very limited and intentional use of color. The bright primary colors of the Beinekes, black and white of the Addams, and ghostly greyscale of the ancestors help visually identify each as a distinct group. The challenge of this limited color palette was in trying to outfit the ancestors, as historical styles were not always easily available in the colors I wanted. Ultimately, I achieved a look I liked by using costumes from Great Northern Theatre Company’s collection, borrowing from other local theaters, finding vintage pieces, and filling in the gaps with historical fashions I recreated using fabrics that fit my palette. Because our ensemble cast was large, director Heather Mastromarco gave me the creative freedom to develop a list of possible historical identities for the additional ancestors including Marie Antoinette, Amelia Earhart, a gold rush prospector, a pirate, a suffragette, and several others.