THE ADDAMS FAMILY Creeps into Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Now thru 12/30

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, which will make its Orange County premiere tonight, December 18 - 30 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

Tony Award nominee Douglas Sills and Sara Gettelfinger will star as Gomez and Morticia in a principal cast that also includes Tony Award nominee Martin Vidnovic as Mal Beineke, Gaelen Gilliland as Alice Beineke, Blake Hammond as Uncle Fester, Pippa Pearthree as Grandma, Tom Corbeil as Lurch, Patrick D. Kennedy as Pugsley, Curtis Holbrook as Lucas Beineke and Cortney Wolfson as Wednesday.

Portraying the ancestors are Sara Andreas, Lauryn Ciardullo, Steve Geary, Victoria Huston-Elem, Megan Jimenez, Patrick Oliver Jones, Lizzie Klemperer, Michelle Marmolejo, Christy Morton, Brad Nacht, Jonathan Ritter, Murray Rundus, Roland Rusinek, Matthew Schmidt and Geo Seery.

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 national tour 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 choreography by Sergio Trujillo. The entire production is under the supervision of four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks.

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 Ben Whiteley, 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 played Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre from March 2010 - December 2011 where it grossed more than $85 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 North American tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY premiered in New Orleans in September 2011 and has played more than 350 performances to date.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY tour is produced by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt, Five Cent Productions, Stuart Ditsky/Adam Ditsky, 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 Australia (March 2013) and Argentina (June 2013).

Douglas Sills (Gomez Addams) received Tony and Drama Desk nominations as well as the Los Angeles Ovation Award for his performance as The Scarlet Pimpernel on Broadway and on tour. He recently starred in the Chicago tryout of the new rock musicAl White Noise. Additional Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors. National Tours: The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Secret Garden, Into the Woods. New York: Music in the Air, Carnival (Encores), On the 20th Century, Moonlight & Magnolias (MTC), Disney's When You Wish. Regional: She Loves Me, Peter Pan, A Little Night Music, Much Ado About Nothing, She Stoops To Folly, Showboat, Mack & Mabel, The Philadelphia Story, Chess, Summer People, Mrs. Warren's Profession and many leading roles with California Shakespeare Festival. Recordings: The Scarlet Pimpernel, Cyrano. Television: PBS with the Boston Pops, CSI, The Closer, Numb3rs, Will & Grace, Any Day Now, Party Of Five, Sabrina, Murphy Brown. Film: Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Funny About Love. In addition to Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, Sills has been honored in New York with The Theater World, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Awards. In Los Angeles, he has received The Garland, The Dramalogue, and Robby awards. He is a founding member of The Antaeus Company and studied at The University of Michigan and The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

Sara Gettelfinger (Morticia Addams) most recently appeared as "Dona Athene" in John Guare's A Free Man of Color at Lincoln Center. Broadway: Seussical the Musical, The Boys from Syracuse, "Carla" in Nine with Antonio Banderas, "Jolene Oakes" in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels opposite John Lithgow, as well as the first national tours of Fosse and 101 Dalmatians as "Cruella De Vil." Other NYC area credits include: "April" in Company (Helen Hayes), "Fastrada" in Pippin (Papermill Playhouse), Tenderloin and Carnival at City Center Encores!, Anything Goes at Lincoln Center and "Little Edie Beale" in the world premier of Grey Gardens at Playwrights Horizons. In 2009, Gettelfinger starred as "Fastrada" in the Deaf West production of Pippin at L.A.'s Mark Taper Forum. Television: Guiding Light, Ed, Without a Trace. Film: 10 to Midnight, Sex In the City, Forbidden Love. In 2006, she was signed to DECCA/Universal Records with the classical-crossover trio Three Graces. Their self-titled, debut album was released in stores/online in March 2008, reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Crossover Charts, followed by a worldwide, critically acclaimed concert tour.

Martin Vidnovic (Mal Beineke). Broadway credits include Brigadoon (Tony nomination), Baby (Drama Desk Award), Oklahoma! (L.A. Drama Critic's Award), A Grand Night For Singing (Backstage Bistro Award), The King And I (Lun Tha) and Home Sweet Homer (Antinuous) both starring Yul Brynner, Guys And Dolls (Sky), King David (Saul), Olympus On My Mind (Jupiter) and Bellomy in the Off-Broadway revival of The Fantasticks.

Gaelen Gilliland (Alice Beineke). A Pittsburgh native, Gilliland is excited to be a part of the Family! Broadway credits: Wicked (Mdm. Morrible u/s), Legally Blonde (Mom/Whitney/Courtney & Paulette/Vivien u/s) Original Broadway Cast, 9 to 5 (Judy/Doralee u/s) Original Broadway Cast. Regional theatre credits: Beauty & the Beast (Mdm. de la Grande Bouche) MUNY theatre of St. Louis, Legally Blonde (Paulette) North Shore Music Theatre-IRNE nomination, Guys & Dolls (Adelaide) Riverside Theatre Vero Beach, FL, Hairspray (Velma Von Tussle) Houston TUTS. Gilliland is proud to be a part of Allegiance the new American musical which is Broadway-bound in 2013.

Blake Hammond (Uncle Fester) is eerily excited to be the bald member of the Addams family. Broadway: Sister Act (Ernie), Elf (Chadwick), Billy Elliot (Braithwaite), Hairspray (Edna), The Lion King (Pumbaa), The Music Man (Quartet), Kiss Me Kate (u/s Gangster), On the Town (Uperman/MC). Off- Broadway: 6, most notably the Drama Desk- and Obie-winning When Pigs Fly. National Tours: 5. His many film/TV credits include the recent films Handsome Harry and An Englishman in New York and a current webseries about four couples in group therapy at ThenWeGotHelp.coM. Hammond has received the L.A. Critics, Carbonell and Chicago After Dark Awards.

Pippa Pearthree (Grandma). Broadway: Boeing Boeing, The History Boys, Frozen, Titanic, Taking Steps, Whose Life Is It Anyway. Off-Broadway: The Dining Room, Hamlet, Aunt Dan and Lemon (Public), American Days, The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, The Miss Firecracker Contest (MTC). Film: Village of the Damned, The Hurricane, Mrs. Soffel and Taking Woodstock. TV: Law & Order, Bored to Death and NBC series Buffalo Bill.

Tom Corbeil (Lurch) performs regularly with opera companies across North America. Credits include: Don Giovanni (Leporello), La Bohème (Colline), The Barber of Seville (Don Basilio), Death in Venice (English Clerk), Moses in Egypt (Pharaoh), Alceste (Oracle, Infernal God), The Desert Island (Enrico), Tosca (Angelotti) and The Hotel Casablanca (Tom Carter). Corbeil has received Metropolitan Opera National Council and Liederkranz Foundation awards; he trained in the studios at Florida Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera and the Merola Program at San Francisco Opera.

Patrick D. Kennedy (Pugsley Addams), 13 years old and a student at WPCA in Cleveland, is excited to be part of The Addams Family's first national tour! During his free time, he enjoys playing basketball and, like Pugsley, annoying his three sisters. His first role was playing Gavroche in a high school production of LES MISERABLES, after which he was hooked on musical theater. Regional: Oliver! (Artful Dodger), Mame (Patrick), Bye Bye Birdie (Randolf), The Secret Garden (Colin).

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