The Addams Family brings spooky goings-on to Pāpāmoa College stage

Rehearsals are under way for Pāpāmoa’s production of 'The Addams Family'.

For those of a certain age, the Addams family conjures up images of a creepy family from an old black-and-white TV series.

Those from a younger generation, thanks to the Netflix series Wednesday, have a different perception.

The Netflix show - rather than the old black-and-white comedy - gave Pāpāmoa College’s production of The Addams Family musical a big dose of credibility.

The show is on stage at the college this week.

“It’s a musical comedy based on the [TV] show, so we have all the main characters - Gomez, his wife Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley. It’s actually a bit of a love story, as Wednesday Addams has been proposed to,” says stage manager Karyn Winters.

Interest in playing Wednesday was particularly high.

“With the popularity of Wednesday on Netflix earlier this year, there was definitely more understanding of the Addams family and who they were and it piqued a big interest. We had quite a few girls wanting to be Wednesday Addams.”

The cast is drawn from across the school, with some surprises from auditions.

“It’s been amazing. For example, Morticia is played by Abbie Jacob, and she’s been in plays for Pāpāmoa College before. But Riko [Davis], our Gomez - when he started singing, we were taken away. We didn’t know that one of our head students had such an amazing voice.

“And our Lurch [Daniel Forsyth] is a dead ringer for Lurch.”

Pugsley is played by Vinny Haynes, who is the lead singer of school rock band Radiation, which came third in the Bay of Plenty Smokefree Rockquest finals in June.

To add to the pre-opening night challenges, the costumes and sets are primarily black and white, with the odd pop of colour “which Morticia doesn’t care for”.

Karyn says the script has been slightly altered to make it less dark and suitable for all ages.

It isn’t just students who make up the team.

“At least 30 staff members have been involved in lighting, prop-making, stage managing, making costumes and helping with scenes. It really is a whole-school production.”

Karyn teaches French at the college.

“Drama was never my thing and I’ve never been part of a production, and I’m just amazed at how many people are needed to make something like this go off.

“It’s looking really good right now and we are really excited about opening night.”

Karyn was shoulder-tapped for the stage manager role by director Gayle Spence.

“[She] said, ‘I need somebody who’s really well-organised and loud’.”

The show opens on Wednesday and there are evening performances each night until Saturday, as well as a matinee on Saturday afternoon.

Tickets are available from the school office or Eventbrite.