Define normal. Because normal is an illusion, what’s normal for the spider is a calamity of for the fly! And what really is normal— a family? A secret? A ring? Sounds like you’re in for the least normal night of your life…or maybe the most normal if you go to the theatre every night like certain people do. Me. I’m the certain people. Buckle up, theatergoers, you’re in for anything but normal when it comes to spending one kooky night (or afternoon, as the case may be) with The Addams Family over at Beth Tfiloh Community Theatre this summer. They’re launching you into that cult classic of Broadway fame circa 2010, and wholly revamped touring/regional/local fame for some years thereafter and it’s creepy and spooky and delightfully— NOT NORMAL. (You wouldn’t enjoy it if it was!) Directed by Diane M. Smith with Musical Direction by Charlotte Evans and Choreography by Rachel Miller, this *snapsnap* musical has all of your favorite Addamses under one roof, a few Beinekes too! And an enjoyable afternoon/evening of theatre just waiting for you to experience it.
If you want creepy, spooky, mysterious, and kooky in the show’s aesthetic, you’ve got it with the Beth Tfiloh Community Theatre family and it’s coming at you in spades. Diane M. Smith is the show’s technical director and overall ring leader but she’s got a family tree larger than a great sequoia when it comes to her production staff and they are pulling out all the stops for spooky graveyard effects, haunting lighting and sound, and of course those ghastly ghoulish ancestors! It’s a whole family affair! Evan Margolis leads the team in scenic design. There’s moving components— like that ghastly coffin bed for Pugsley Addams featured late in the second act (is that scenery or Props? Which is Diane M. Smith, Talia Ross, and Caleb Giltlitz; either way it’s awesome.) and more static ones, like the Addams Family house that drops down as a backdrop. The crypt gates and tombstones— credited specially to John Lee as the ‘Graveyard/Grotto Designer/Constructor— are particularly morose and fit the bill for the show’s macabre and yet madcap humorous themes.
You’ve got Thomas Gardner on lights, providing all of those exquisite flushes of lurid green, zombie-twilight blues, and of course the lightning flashes. Working in tandem with Diane M. Smith’s sound design to create storms, New York City nighttime ambience, and a slew of other unique creations that are bespoke to the production, Gardner and Smith make an excellent team. If there’s a curious choice it’s the lack of lighting the moon during “The Moon & Me.” Fester gets a follow spot dedicate to him in that number and they go to all the trouble of suspending the moon from the fly-track as it glides in from stage right but they never light it, leaving it obscured in darkness and difficult to make out at times. (I think this was an oversight or a technical misfire rather than an intentional choice.) But otherwise the lighting and sound design are on track for an overall solidly tied-together aesthetic.
Costume Crew: featuring Nicole Smith, Lizzie Jaspan, and Anna Tsakalas on main costumes with that trio and Taylor Fruhling on wig, hair, and makeup really give that Addams Aesthetic the Broadway caliber sheen. Some of those Ancestor costumes are to die for— my particular favorite being ‘Beauty Pageant Ancestor’ (played by Julia Gitelson) because her sash says ‘Miss Addams 1996’ a nod to the film franchise. Though a close second and third favorite among the ancestor sartorial selection is The Bride (Kailyn Quince) because her makeup is so on-point with glitter in her painted on tears and also Pirate Queen Ancestor (Lizzie Jaspan) because it’s just so gosh darn clever. All of the Ancestors have that ghastly ghoulish ghost-face look about their various makeup plots and they read really well from the stage. The quartet of Smith, Jaspan, Tsakalas, and Fruhling do an excellent job of giving the main Addams’ those iconic film-franchise looks whilst maintaining respectability to the overall ethos of productions that occur at BTCT; it’s an impressive feat.
The aforementioned quartet lend their costume craziness to Charlotte Evans’ live orchestra pit— complete with Corpse Hats and all-white outfits, making the pit look like something out of a traveling Disney parade; it’s a perfect look as the pit itself is placed house left just at the lip of the stage. Evans and her pit (featuring Jarrett Rettman on keys2, Helen Schlaich on reeds, Wesley Freeman on trumpet, Gabriel Fazzino on violin, Andrew Baker on bass, and Sammy Jungwirth on drums) keep the heart and spirit of the show moving with their well-timed music, exceptional pacing, and vamping covers for those moments when scenic shifts take just a hair longer than anticipated. The pit is also well-balanced, despite being unmasked (shoutout to Terry Edwards on Sound Board Op for keeping the mics up!) and the live accompaniment is a beautiful bonus to the overall theatrical experience.
Choreographer Rachel Miller knows how to work the strengths of her cast whilst still giving those in the ensemble with a less than hearty dance background more than ample opportunity to prove their movement capabilities. Miller utilizes the Ancestors in a lot of crossline-shuffling, which gives them more stage time and creates a fun visual as they jazz-hand-shuffle-swing their way across the stage from side to side. Utilizing featured dancers— Lizzie Jaspan (Pirate Queen Ancestor), Julie Lazzeri (Flapper Ancestor), Bree McCrary (Marie Antoinette Ancestor), and Kailyn Quince (Bride Ancestor)— alongside Morticia during “Keep No Secrets” to showcase the self-aware “dance routine” is choreographic genius. And the tangoes that get executed during “Tango de Amor” which features the aforementioned quartet of featured dancers, plus Conquistador Ancestor (Connor McIntyre) and Jane Austen Ancestor (Brooke Brotman) as well as Morticia and Gomez are divinely suited to their respective song-style.
With a ‘family line’ that’s 14 Ancestors Deep (Brooke Brotman, Benny Ellentuck, Taylor Fruhling, Julia Gitelson, Lizzie Jaspan, Julie Lazzeri, Mayah Lohrmann, Bree McCrary, Connor McIntyre, Carl Oppenheim, John “Gary” Pullen, Kailyn Quince, Morgan Spector, Michael Turniansky as various named ancestors) Director Diane M. Smith puts those ghoulies to background use and quite cleverly to boot, though there are times where the stage— due to its vast cavernous size— feels as if it could have more than two or three ancestors hanging about in the background at one time. One of the most clever uses of the Ancestors in this production is Greek Philosopher Ancestor (Carl Oppenheim) appearing in the Portrait Frame whenever Gomez is in his parlor/study. And of course the Ancestors (in accordance with the scripted rewrite once the show left Broadway) play a major part in the dialogue-scene break of “Crazier Than You” with the light-up arrow. Though by far, Smith’s most clever adjustment for this production is Fester’s wording during his initial “Fester’s Manifesto” (the old verbiage had something to do with an outdated reference to Charlie Sheen) and Smith has provided the character with the gloriously relatable line of “Was replacing Harbaugh right for the Ravens Team? Who’s to say!” (the audience ate it up!)
It wouldn’t be a true Addams Family reunion without the ‘undecided’ in Gomez’ famous opening bid of “…living, dead…and undecided…” wherein the last descriptor references Lurch (Bill Kohlhoff), the ‘zombie butler of mythically tall proportions. Kohlhoff, by way of foam lifts, lives up to the challenge of looming stature, and shuffles about in various scenes, providing hints of stoic comedy here and there, particularly when the Alice Beineke character puts him to use during her big solo.
And of course there’s the awkward narrative lighthouse of Uncle Fester (Brian Singer.) Think of Fester as that beacon of blinking-on-the-fritz guidance, who might be leading you safely to shore or also to craggy rocks for a shipwreck, either way it’s going to be an adventure. Singer does nail the sustain at the end of his big solo number in the second act, “The Moon & Me” and serves as the conduit between the Ancestors, Audience, and the family. And while we won’t give away any particular spoilers here— this Fester is the first Fester I’ve ever seen get to— well, do what he does— at the very end of the performance as the family is singing “Move Toward the Darkness.”
A comedic crackup and arguably the production’s most impressive physically expressive asset from a ‘stays locked in the character’s physicality’ standpoint, Kendra Kaiser is serving up that wildly zany Grandma Addams and has all those little moments that just make you giggle until you feel it tingle in your bladder. Her interactions with Pugsley are a hoot, the way she flips from sweetly sincere to growling granny in that scene is hysterical and when she toodles on in, dragging her light-up cart behind her (again shoutout to the props and scenery team) singing a Spamalot song, it’s simply aces.
As for Pugsley (Luke DiBello) that kid is going places! With a stellar voice, impressive tonal control over his sustains and his pitch, especially for such a young performer, DiBello will have you eating out of the palm of his hand, so much so that you wish Pugsley was gifted more musical opportunities in the show. He’s got spunk for sure, particularly when mouthing off at Lucas, and when he’s shrieking with enthusiasm during Wednesday’s “Pulled” you won’t be able to keep from snickering at his antics. And he just nails “What If?” with this sublime, professional sound that tugs at the heartstrings (though the lyrics to that number are something else!) DiBello plays the perfect innocent, yet wholly mischievous ‘lil-brother’ stereotype and is one of the best parts of the production.
Of course Pugsley is getting himself all riled up because of the interloping Lucas Beineke (Cormac O’Malley.) Succeeding in being that all-America down-to-earth-normal boy that the audience ends up cheering on when it comes to his hopeful future with Wednesday, princess of darkness, O’Malley lends his smooth vocals and clean sound to “Crazier Than You” with ease, complimenting Wednesday superbly. Mouthing off at his father, Mal (Alex Frazier) and almost wholly ignoring his mother, Alice (Kerry Jungwirth), O’Malley’s Lucas fits perfectly into the confines of the character.
As the rhyming explosion of cheery sunshine, Jungwirth’s Alice is a textbook performance in versatility, going from the gooey-eyed simplicity of ‘cheey-plastic-housewife-mother’ figure to that darkly unleashed woman who has finally hit her breaking point. The expressiveness with which Jungwirth hits “Waiting” is unparalleled and she really belts it out, letting all of those years of pent-up frustrations burst into that number unchecked. It’s pretty epic. And when she’s mouthing off at Mal (Frazer, who plays the role well, but Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice just didn’t give the Mal character much to work with in the show’s rewrite, though he does sing delightfully alongside Jungwirth in their half of the “Crazier Than You” duet-quartet number) you can feel that ire erupting from that deeply darkened, recently awakened place from inside her character’s soul.
There’s a zaniness to Brian Mellen’s Gomez that reads like Nathan Lane met Raul Julia in a dark alley one night and together they joined forces with John Astin to create this stage incarnation. While his accent comes and goes, and that’s alright because Gomez Addams’ family lineage is rather questionable at the best of times, Mellen holds his own in the singing challenges of the Gomez character. He’s deeply lost in the nostalgia of “Happy/Sad”, a beautiful song that sheds light on the difficulties of watching one’s daughter grow up and become an adult, and he brings that zippy, spastic energy to “When You’re An Addams” in just the right dose.
It’s really a showdown between Morticia (Nicole Smith) and Wednesday (Bella Comotto) as to who is walking away with ‘audience favorite.’ Both women are incredibly talented and knocking it out of their park in their respective roles. The beautiful irony therein is that they hardly have any direct interactions with one another. A terse word or so split between them with Gomez trapped in the middle, the biting back-and-forth at the dinner prior to “Full Disclosure” but really all of their respective interactions are with other characters and yet it’s their volatile dynamic that drives most of the tension in the show.
As Morticia, Smith is bringing an aggressively enthusiastic energy to the forefront of her character portrayal. Taking that matriarch of the macabre character and fully fleshing her out into something dynamic is a fascinating choice that reads perhaps a little differently from your textbook Morticia, but I’m here for it and you will be too once you see her in action. There’s still that patented stoicism and gloom radiating in Smith’s purview but there’s an electricity and a zestiness— almost like she bit Fester’s lightbulb— that animates her take on Morticia in a fascinating fashion. You get those most when she’s heartily rebuking Gomez, launching into “Keep No Secrets” and when she’s putting her full cheeky edginess into “Just Around the Corner.” And what a voice, particularly with “Just Around the Corner”, she’s knocking you out of Central Park with that one.
As Wednesday, that irrepressibly charming ball of malice, Bella Comotto is serving up her own variety of gloom, which is perfectly matched against her attempts to be ‘normal’ for her new ‘normal’ boyfriend and his ‘normal’ family. With belting pipes for miles, she all but takes the roof off of the Mintzes Theatre when she blasts her way through “Pulled” and her articulated patter during the double-bridge of that song is flawless. There’s expression, emotion, and vocal explosion happening in that song and Comotto is master of it all, which she aligns expertly against the otherwise restrained, reserved, and darkly devious characterization of Wednesday. When she’s dueting alongside Lucas in “Crazier Than You” the passion that’s fueling that song is its own glorious inferno and she’s sharing it in liberal doses with Cormac O’Malley. There’s a finesse to Comotto’s stage presence as well as her comedic timing, which relies heavily on the sarcastic and stoic nature of the character, and she’s serving up goth-glow every step of the way.
It’s certainly a family affair— family first and family last and family by and by— and you should bring your family out to see their family, their Addams Family for their next two performances. Beth Tfiloh Community Theatre will give you an excellent afternoon/evening of musical theatre and you won’t want to miss it!
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes with one intermission
The Addams Family, a Beth Tfiloh Community Theatre production, plays Sunday August 16th & Sunday August 23rd 2026 at 2:00pm and Wednesday August 19th at 7:oopm in the Mintzes Theatre of the Rosen Arts Center on the Beth Tfiloh Congregation and Community School Campus— 3300 Old Court Road in Pikesville, MD. Tickets are available for purchase at the door, by calling the box office at 410-413-2417, or in advance online.
To read “The Family” interview, click here.
