THE ADDAMS FAMILY Ends Cleveland Debut Tonight

The national tour of the new musical The Addams Family, based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams, made its Cleveland premiere April 10 through tonight, April 22, 2012, as part of the KeyBank Broadway Series at PlayhouseSquare. 

The Addams Family, which began performances in March 2010 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and ran through December 2011, immediately became one of Broadway's biggest hits. 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 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 production supervision 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 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.

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 tour is produced by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt, Five Cent Productions, Stuart Ditsky/AdamDitsky, Stephen and Mary Jo Schuler, Eva Price, James L. Nederlander, Stephanie P. McClelland, Pittsburgh CLO/Gutterman/Deitch, Vivek Tiwary/Jamie deRoy/Carl Mollenberg 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, visit www.theaddamsfamilymusicaltour.com.

The Addams Family will be at the Palace Theatre at PlayhouseSquare for 16 performances, April 10 – 22, 2012. Performances are Tuesday – Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets are currently on sale at The PlayhouseSquare Ticket Office (1519 Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland), online at www.playhousesquare.org or by calling 216-241-6000. Group orders of 15 or more may be placed by calling 216-664-6050.

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