Throughout November, the Morgan-Wixson Youth Theatre program will perform The Addams Family Musical, based on the darkly comedic characters seen in various television and movie projects. The musical centers around the titular family hosting a dinner for daughter Wednesday Addams’ new boyfriend, tackling issues of togetherness as well as what it means to be "normal."
"I love that it shows that we all have differences, but it does it in such a magnified way, and in such a humorous way that it’s a good reminder that you look deeper, and through those differences we really realize that, as a matter of fact, we’re all very much the same," said director Eve Keller of the project.
Keller helms the latest project of the Morgan-Wixson Youth Education and Entertainment Series (YES), which gives youth opportunities to flex creative muscles in both plays and musicals throughout the year. The Morgan-Wixson has been an innovator in Santa Monica theater for 75 years, training new generations of actors, actresses and production practitioners. To provide a proper training ground for the cast, ranging from 12 to 16 years old, Addams Family is the full-on adult version of the musical rather than choosing the "youth version" of the show.
"We want an opportunity for our youth actors to be able to portray more weighty material … we want them to be able to play more adult-like characters, so they’re not always playing people of their own age," Keller said. "We feel like it just gives them [an opportunity] to learn and grow as actors.
Providing opportunities for youth of all backgrounds has also been a point of pride for the YES program, as the cast contains a considerable amount of BIPOC actors. Keller credits the program’s online workshops during the pandemic as a bridge gap for equity, as the "pay what you can" model of the sessions brought in more children of color that were not exposed to the arts beforehand. Producer Cory Goldberg, who saw biracial daughter Maia earn the role of Grandma in Addams Family, says that the YES commitment to curbing the financial equity issue allows for a less "homogenous" cast.
Once brought together for Addams Family, Keller noted that the cast has been "incredible" and "risen to the occasion" by bringing a maturity to the characters.
"They love what they do, so they put the work in," Keller said. "And they approach it from a really professional manner, or as best they can at their age, but it’s really quite impressive."
Professional opportunities also extend to the production end of the musical. During the Addams Family run, various positions like tech crew, stage manager, light operators and sound operators are all youth ranging from 12 to 18 years old. 17-year-old Monty Oxman serves as assistant to the director, while 15-year-old Ever Golden serves as Stage Manager and 16-year-old Walden Sullivan handles assistant duties for the show’s musical director.
Between the cast and crew, the Morgan-Wixson program has become its own family collective, says 16-year-old Chase Klein who plays Morticia Addams.
"I’m particularly excited for The Addams Family because of the incredible production team, as well as the fantastic cast," Klein said. "The Morgan-Wixson has been a home to me for three years now because of the welcoming, loving, and close community. We have been hard at work these past months and have grown so close."
The Addams Family will run at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, located at 2627 Pico Boulevard, on Friday nights Nov. 10 and Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. Saturday shows on Nov. 11 and Nov. 18 run at 2 p.m., while Nov. 25 runs at 7 p.m. Sunday showings on Nov. 12, Nov. 19 and Nov. 26 all begin at 2 p.m. For more information, visit morgan-wixson.org.
