THE ADDAMS FAMILY Comes to the Kennedy Center, Now thru 7/29

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents 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, in the Opera House tonight, July 10 to July 29, 2012. Press opening night is Thursday, July 12, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.

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.

Starring Tony Award® nominee for The Scarlet Pimpernel, Douglas Sills as Gomez, and Sara Gettelfinger, last seen on Broadway in A Free Man of Color and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, as Morticia, the cast also includes Tony® 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, Brian Justin Crum as Lucas Beineke and Cortney Wolfson as Wednesday.

Portraying the ancestors are Ted Ely, Karla Puno Garcia, Steve Geary, Victoria Huston-Elem, Patrick Oliver Jones, Lizzie Klemperer, Alexandra Matteo, Pilar Millhollen, Christy Morton, Brad Nacht, Jonathan Ritter, Roland Rusinek, Geo Seery, Samantha Shafer, and Ethan Wexler.

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 tour is produced by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt, Five Cent Productions, Stuart Ditsky/AdamDitsky, Stephen Mary Jo 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, currently playing, and Australia (March 2013) with others to be announced shortly.

For more information, please visit www.theaddamsfamilymusicaltour.com.

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