Douglas Sills and Sara Gettelfinger Led ADDAMS FAMILY Kicks Off Tonight

The national tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams kicks off tonight at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in New Orleans. The show runs here through September 24th. Joining Tony Award® nominee Douglas Sills as Gomez and Sara Gettelfinger as Morticia are Tony Award® nominee Martin Vidnovic as Mal Beineke, two-time Tony Award® nominee Crista Moore as Alice Beineke, Blake Hammond as Uncle Fester, Pippa Pearthree as Grandma, Tom Corbeil as Lurch, Patrick D. Kennedy as Pugsley, Brian Justin Crum as Lucas Beineke and Cortney Wolfson as Wednesday.

Portraying the ancestors are Ted Ely, Karla Garcia, Steve Geary, Victoria Huston-Elem, Patrick Oliver Jones, Lizzie Klemperer, Alexandra Matteo, Christy Morton, Brad Nacht, Rebecca Riker, Jonathan Ritter, Roland Rusinek, Geo Seery, Samantha Shafer and Jason Eric Testa.  Next, as previously announced, the production will begin performances September 27 at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis for 16 performances through October 9.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY features an original story and it's every father's nightmare. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family. A man her parents have never met. And if that weren't upsetting enough, she confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he's never done before - keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday's "normal" boyfriend and his parents.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY features a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. The production is directed and designed (sets and costumes) by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch with creative consultation by Jerry Zaks and choreography by Sergio Trujillo. The production features lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by ACME Sound Partners and
puppetry by Basil Twist. The production also features music supervision by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, music direction by Valerie Gebert, orchestrations by Larry Hochman, dance arrangements by August Eriksmoen, hair design by Tom Watson, make-up design by Angelina Avallone and special effects design by Greg Meeh.

In a prolific career spanning six decades, Charles Addams created several thousand cartoons, sketches and drawings, many of which were published in The New Yorker. But it was his creation of characters that came to be known as The Addams Family that brought Addams his greatest acclaim. With a unique style that combined the twisted, macabre and just plain weird with charm, wit and enchantment, Addams' drawings have entertained millions worldwide and served as the inspiration for multiple television series and motion pictures.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY, now in its second year on Broadway, began performances in March 2010 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre where it has since grossed over $72 million. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune described the production as "classic, full-tilt, fast paced, old-fashioned musical comedy!" and John Simon of Bloomberg News called it "Uproarious! A glitzy-gloomy musical entirely worthy of the macabre drawings by Charles Addams."

THE ADDAMS FAMILY tour is produced by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt, Five Cent Productions, Stuart Ditsky/AdamDitsky, Stephen Schuler, Eva Price, James L. Nederlander, Stephanie P. McClelland, Pittsburgh CLO/Gutterman/Deitch, Vivek Tiwary/Jamie deRoy/Carl Moellenberg and Mary Lu Roffe, by special arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical. International productions have been announced for Brazil (March, 2012) and Australia (March, 2013) with others to be announced shortly.

For more information on THE ADDAMS FAMILY, visit www.theaddamsfamilymusicaltour.com.