By Sara Sadeghi Aval
Mixing the best of ghoul and groove, Badanai Theatre’s next production will be the Broadway musical The Addams Family. Based on the original TV show, Tony Award winner Andrew Lippa’s music styling is combined with comedic writing in the production. In a show that will make you fall in love with your family all over again, the iconic and creepy Addams family appears on stage depicting a grown-up Wednesday Addams, who is hiding a secret love that only her father knows about. Will the star-crossed lovers unite? Will Morticia find out? Everything unfolds onstage as the family dynamic encounters new hilarious circumstances.
Candi Badanai, the troupe’s director, says the show has already been cast, and the troupe has been working on the production since fall of 2021. Returning Badanai Theatre stars Nancy Freeborn and Robert Perrier take on the roles of Morticia and Gomez Addams. Lakehead University music graduate Katherine Nemec, who is also returning to performing with the troupe, plays a smitten Wednesday Addams. Along with the favourite core characters, 30 other actors and actresses have been cast in grand Badanai fashion for roles like Uncle Fester, Pugsley, and Lurch.
“It’s fun, it’s light, and yet heartfelt. Because the characters are so well known you can quickly relate,” says Badanai. Rehearsals have been well underway, and she is confident the songs will have everyone in the family singing along. From the first opening Addams Family theme song to the closing ensemble number, the troupe brings energy to each piece. The show comes to life on the Paramount Theatre stage, and the director assures us we will be transported into the Addams’s ghostly castle home, just as Badanai Theatre has previously transported us to the Greek Islands of Mamma Mia or the church halls in Sister Act.
“During the pandemic we know how important each of our relationships are in our theatre family, and coping with COVID precautions and keeping each other healthy is second nature now,” says Badanai.
