THE ADDAMS FAMILY Plays 5th Avenue Theatre for Halloween, Now thru 11/11

Just in time for Halloween, the first national tour of the new musical The Addams Family, will make its Seattle premiere tonight, October 24-November 11, 2012 at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams, this smash Broadway hit brings the darkly delirious world of Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Grandma, Wednesday, Pugsley and, of course, Lurch to spooky and spectacular life.

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 to December 2011 where it grossed over $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 over 350 performances to date. Richard Ouzounian of the Toronto Star called the production a “wackily entertaining musical […] that moves with breezy style and an open heart” and Robert Trussell of the Kansas City Star praised it as “first class [with] unexpected pleasure at almost every turn.”

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 Australia (March 2013) and Argentina (June 2013).

ABOUT THE CAST:

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, Douglas 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. Sills 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 Gettelfinger was signed to DECCA/Universal Records with the classical-crossover trio Three Graces. Their self-titled, debut album was released in stores and online in March 2008, and reached 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 Gilliand (Alice Beineke). A Pittsburgh native, Gaelen is excited to be a part of the Family! Broadway: 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: 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. Gaelen is proud to be a part of Allegiance the new American musical that is Broadway-bound in 2013. www.GaelenGilliland.com

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 web series 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), 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. Many thanks and much love to family and friends for their undying support on this adventure!

Patrick D. Kennedy (Pugsley Addams) is 13 years old, a student at WPCA in Cleveland, and 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 Misérables, after which he was hooked on musical theater. Regional: Oliver! (Artful Dodger), Mame (Patrick), Bye Bye Birdie (Randolf), The Secret Garden (Colin). Kennedy would like to thank The cast and crew, Aunt Mary for being his “Mame,” Lynnette (voice teacher) and love to his family!

Curtis Holbrook (Lucas Beineke) is crazily excited to be revisiting The Addams Family. Broadway: The Addams Family, West Side Story, Xanadu, All Shook Up, Follies, The Boy From Oz, Taboo, Fosse, Footloose. Off-Broadway: Saved, Radiant Baby, Frog Kiss (NYMF Award). Regional: It Shoulda Been You (directed by David Hyde Pierce), Singin' in the Rain (Kevin Kline Award). Film/TV: Hairspray, Across the Universe, Smash, Nurse Jackie, Law and Order: SVU, Sesame Street, As the World Turns, All My Children. Love my rock, my best friend, my wife Patti.

Cortney Wolfson (Wednesday Addams) comes to us straight from the Broadway production of The Addams Family (u/s Wednesday Addams). Other Broadway/tour credits include the Les Misérables revival (u/s Eponine) and Legally Blonde: The Musical First National Tour (Serena, Brooke Wyndham). NYC Workshops/Readings: The Addams Family, Up Here (dir. Alex Timbers), Kinky Boots (dir. Jerry Mitchell). Other Favorites: April in Pool Boy (Barrington Stage Company), The St. Louis Muny, The Battery's Down (web series). Indiana Native and proud graduate of The University of Michigan. Thanks to Mom, Madama, Vallier, Abrams, and God. Go Blue! www.cortneywolfson.com.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM:

Charles Addams (Creator/Cartoonist). Born in Westfield, NJ in 1912, Charles Samuel Addams’ prodigal artistic talent led him to become one of America’s most beloved cartoonists. In 1933, at just 21 years of age, Addams had his work published in The New Yorker. Addams went on to become one of that magazine’s marquee contributors until his death in 1988. His body of work spans almost 60 years of output and is estimated to contain several thousand works. More than 15 books of his drawings have been published so far, appearing in many languages across the globe. Addams’ works appear in a number of prestigious Permanent Collections including The New York Public Library, The Museum of the City of New York and The Library of Congress. www.addamsfoundation.org.

Marshall Brickman (Book) Film/Co-Author: Sleeper, Annie Hall (Academy Award), Manhattan (Academy Award nomination), Manhattan Murder Mystery. Film/Writer-Director: Simon, Lovesick, The Manhattan Project, Sister Mary Explains It All. Television: The Johnny Carson Show (head writer), The Dick Cavett Show (head writer & producer). His first venture into musical theater, Jersey Boys, won an Olivier and four Tony Awards including Best Musical. In addition to his film, theater and television work, Brickman has been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Playboy, and other periodicals and is the 2006 recipient of the Writers’ Guild of America Ian McClellan Hunter Award for lifetime achievement in writing. He lives and works in New York and hopes to die in his bed, surrounded by his loving family and their attorneys.

Rick Elice (Book) co-wrote Jersey Boys (2006 Tony Award, 2007 Grammy Award, and 2009 Olivier Award for Best Musical) with Marshall Brickman. His new Broadway play, Peter and the Starcatcher, received nine 2012 Tony Award nominations (including two for Elice), and won five, more than any play this season. From 1982-1999, as creative director at Serino Coyne Inc., he produced ad campaigns for some 300 Broadway shows, from A Chorus Line to The Lion King. From 1999-2009, he was creative consultant for The Walt Disney Studios. MFA, Yale Drama School; Teaching Fellow. Harvard University; charter member, American Repertory Theatre.

Andrew Lippa (Music and Lyrics) received a 2010 Tony nomination for Best Original Score and 2010 Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics for The Addams Family. New York theater credits include The Wild Party (Manhattan Theatre Club); the score for Aaron Sorkin’s The Farnsworth Invention (Broadway); new songs for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Broadway); john & jen (co-written with Tom Greenwald). Regional: A Little Princess (book/lyrics by Brian Crawley) at Theatreworks in Palo Alto; Jerry Christmas (book by Daniel Goldfarb) at NY Stage and Film; Asphalt Beach (book by T.C. Smith and Peter Spears) at AMTP at Northwestern. Recordings: The Addams Family, The Wild Party, john & jen, Charlie Brown, A Little Princess, Bat Boy (Producer). Awards: 2000 Grammy nomination; winner of Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, ASCAP/Richard Rodgers and Gilman/Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Awards. Kristin Chenoweth’s Music Director: Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco Symphonies; Carnegie Hall; and The Metropolitan Opera House, among others. Andrew is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music. Next up: Big Fish, sprint/summer of 2013. andrewlippa.com

Phelim McDermott (Original Direction; Set and Costume Design) has been directing and performing since 1984. His initial shows include Cupboard Man (Fringe First Award), Gaudete (Time Out Director's Award), The Vinegar Works and The Sweet Shop Owner. He co-directed Shockheaded Peter (West End and Off-Broadway), winning an Olivier Award. His company Improbable's award-winning shows include 70 Hill Lane, Lifegame, Spirit, Theatre of Blood and Philip Glass' Satyagraha at the English National Opera. With Julian Crouch, he directed the Metropolitan Opera's 125th Anniversary Gala. Improbable was recently awarded the Total Theatre Significant Contribution Award for their work in theater including their Open Space events “Devoted & Disgruntled: What are we going to do about theatre?” McDermott improvises with The Comedy Store Players and is an honorary Doctor of Middlesex University.

Julian Crouch (Original Direction; Set and Costume Design) With Phelim McDermott, he designed and associate directed Philip Glass' Satyagraha at the English National Opera and the Met, as well as the Met’s 125th Gala and The Enchanted Island. As co-founder of London’s Improbable Theatre he co-directed and designed the international sensation Shockheaded Peter. Other Improbable productions include Animo, 70 Hill Lane, Lifegame, Coma, Spirit, Sticky, Cinderella, The Hanging Man and Wolves in the Walls. Designs include Dr. Faustus, Improbable Tales, Servant of Two Masters, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the multi award-winning Jerry Springer The Opera, A Funny Thing Happened … Forum for The National Theatre and Dr. Atomic at the Met. He is currently designing Christopher Wheeldon's Cinderella for the Dutch National and San Francisco Ballet and La Traviata for the Chicago Lyric Opera.

Sergio Trujillo (Choreographer). Broadway: Leap of Faith (Drama Desk, Astaire noms), Tony Award-winning Best Musical Memphis (OCC Award, Astaire, Drama Desk Award noms.), Tony and Olivier Award winning Best Musical Jersey Boys (Olivier, Drama Desk, Dora, OCC Award noms.), The Addams Family, Next to Normal (Lucille Lortel Award nom), All Shook Up, Guys and Dolls (Astaire Award nom.). Off-Broadway: Saved (Playwrights Horizon, Lucille Lortel nom.), The Capeman, Romeo & Juliet (Public), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Kismet (Encores!), Salome (NYC Opera). Regional: White Noise (director/choreographer), The Wiz, Zhivago (La Jolla), Mambo Kings, The Marriage of Figaro (L.A. Opera), Chita and All That Jazz. International: Disney’s Tarzan (World Theatre Award nom.); West Side Story; The Sound of Music (Stratford); Peggy Sue Got Married (West End); Kiss Me, Kate (Japan). TV: Judging/choreographing on So You Think You Can Dance: Canada, Broadway: The American Musical (PBS), The 14th American Comedy Awards (ABC), Triple Sensation (CBC). Ovation Award for Empire: A New American Musical, and four Dora Award nominations in Canada. Upcoming: Director/Choreographer: Flashdance, Arrabal.

Jerry Zaks (Production Supervisor) is currently represented internationally by Sister Act and The Addams Family. Zaks has directed more than 30 productions in New York and has received four Tony Awards, four Drama Desks, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, and an Obie. His credits include Guys and Dolls, Six Degrees of Separation, Lend Me a Tenor, House of Blue Leaves, A Funny Thing…Forum, Smokey Joe’s Café, Anything Goes, La Cage aux Folles, The Foreigner, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, A Bronx Tale, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Assassins, Sister Mary Ignatius… and Beyond Therapy. He directed the award-winning film Marvin’s Room, starring Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton, and Who Do You Love, which was featured in the Toronto Film Festival. For TV, he has directed episodes for the long-running hit comedies Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier and Two and a Half Men. Zaks is a founding member and serves on the board of Ensemble Studio Theater. He received the SSDC’s George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre in 1994 and an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Dartmouth, his alma mater, in 1999.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is one of the nation's premier incubators for new musical theater. Since 2002, the celebrated company has produced 14 new musicals. Five have moved on to Broadway premieres, earning a combined 14 Tony Awards, including two for Best Musical (Hairspray and Memphis). 5th Avenue premieres number six (Saving Aimee – now called Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson) and seven (A Christmas Story: The Musical) are opening on Broadway in November of 2012. The 5th Avenue Theatre is also known for its world class, critically acclaimed productions of musicals chosen from both the contemporary canon and the Golden Age of Broadway.

Unique in its Chinese-inspired design, this exquisite theater opened in 1926 as a venue for vaudeville and film. In 1980, the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre began producing and presenting top-quality live musical theater. Today, under the leadership of Executive Producer and Artistic Director David Armstrong, Managing Director Bernadine C. Griffin and Producing Director Bill Berry, The 5th Avenue Theatre attracts an annual attendance of more than 287,000 and ranks among the nation's largest and most respected musical theater companies.

In addition to its main stage productions, The 5th Avenue Theatre is also committed to inspiring the next generation of theatergoers through its extensive educational and outreach programs which include: The Adventure Musical Theatre Touring Company, The 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater, the Student Matinee Program, and Spotlight Nights.

For more information about The 5th Avenue Theatre, its season and its programs, please visit www.5thavenue.org.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel

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