The Salem Community High School Drama Club’s performance of the Addams family opens Thursday night at the Salem Community Theatre.
The show will be performed at seven Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights this week and next, with a single matinee performance at three this Sunday afternoon.
Director Drew Johnson is promising this may be their best show yet as they have rented $40,000 in special effects equipment and students are spending an hour and a half in make-up to look authentic. He notes that 46 students are involved in the production which required the selection of a play that had a large number of parts.
“Different than a lot of shows because you have what you would consider most shows a main cast, but the ensemble plays a role in the show as well as ancestors or ghosts. It’s a lot of fun, it’s based on the Addams Family TV Show. This particular show focuses on Wednesday and her story of having a secret engagement.”
Johnson says this is the final performance for the large number of seniors.
“We had a pretty good trajectory going as a program goes, then of course we had to start over. These are the groundbreakers that came in, got to work, and rebuilt the machine. And if you have seen our past few productions, people would see we are back to where we were pre-pandemic.”
The Addams Family features dark comedy and a large number of dance and musical themes. Senior Alexis Woodruff not only plays the part of an ancestor by is also student choreographer.
“Takes a lot of looking into videos of other adaptations of the Addams Family. I’m looking at high school shows like ours as well as Broadway shows. And I have integrated some of the Broadway choreography, I don’t like to tell them it’s from Broadway or they will think it’s too hard. But it’s been fun deciding what I like and don’t and making it our own for Salem.”
Woodruff says this is her first performance due to her commitment to dance but for many of the other seniors they are completing their sixth performance.
Many say they will continue to pursue theater in college.
Tickets for the show are $10 for adults and $8 for students. They are available at the SCHS main office or online at SalemILTheatre.org. Johnson encourages everyone to get their tickets early because some past shows are sold out before the doors open for that evening’s performance.
The SCHS cast includes:
| Noah Slater | Ancestor/Construction Manager |
| Olivia McCormack | Ancestor |
| Jaci Gammon | Alice |
| Casper Waggoner | Props Manager |
| Myca Lyday | Ancestor |
| Marley Donoho | Ancestor |
| Jordyn Carter | Ancestor/Student Chorographer |
| Kiley Vieira | Ancestor/DA |
| Alexis Woodruff | Ancestor/Student Chorographer |
| Emma Turner | Sound |
| Ethan Baldridge | Lurch |
| Melanie Knaak | Grandma |
| Cole Wimberly | Gomez |
| Gavin Buchanan | Ancestor |
| Onyx Howe | Morticia |
| Rebecca Hays | Wednesday |
| Shayla Prosise | Ancestor |
| Gabriella Pineda | Costume/House |
| Mallory Hopkins | Ancestor |
| Evan King | Lucas |
| Sierra Blank | Ancestor |
| Larisa Carpenter | Ancestor |
| Kenzie Moheit | Tech |
| Valerie Collier | Tech Manager/Lights |
| Emma Wood | House Manager |
| Eden Russell | Ancestor |
| Payton Phillips | Mal |
| Madison Barringer | Costume Manager |
| Kaia Mitchell | Art |
| Jillian Bailey | Ancestor |
| Sarah Morris | Ancestor |
| Aaron McDaneld | Art |
| Avery Jones | Ancestor |
| Halle Nix | Makeup/Art |
| Ameerah Adenekan | Art/Stage Manager |
| Atiana Pitty | Makeup |
| KJ Engel | Ancestor |
| Jess Wagoner | Ancestor |
| Luci Schaubert | Makeup |
| Paula Schneider | Art |
| Laci Harrell | Art Manager |
| Skyylar McElroy | Fester |
| Elara Brubaker | Ancestor |
| Krisjewlynna Kuntsman | Ancestor |
| Damon Anglen | Stagehand/Construction |
| Serenity Brubaker | Pugsley |
Ria Niepoetter Art
