With opening night three weeks away, Allen Community College students are working at fever pitch for the ACC Theatre Department’s 2016-17 season.
“The Addams Family,” a musical based on the classic 1960s TV sitcom and subsequent movies, runs Oct. 6-8 at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
“It’s a fun show,” noted director and ACC drama instructor Tony Piazza.
Because while “The Addams Family,” obviously, revolves around dark humor, at its core is a loving family.
“It’s a satirical take on the family, but it’s still a very loving show,” Piazza said.
The musical centers on the budding love of Wednesday, Gomez and Morticia’s daughter, to a young boy from what’s considered a “normal” family.
Much of the plot deals with the two lovebirds and their families trying to interact.
“It’s kind of like ‘You Can’t Take It With You,’” Piazza explained. “You have a straight family and a weird family meeting.”
A bevy of talent, much of it local, spearheads the production.
Iolans Kate Terhune and Judd Wiltse, who have graced the stage on numerous productions in the past, are among the ensemble.
Wiltse is the iconic Lurch, the Addamses’ manservant. “He’s perfect for the part,” Piazza said.
Terhune, meanwhile, portrays the mother of Wednesday’s boyfriend.
Two more Huskey offspring, siblings Aaron and Kate, also play leading roles.
“It seems like everybody in the Huskey family can sing,” Piazza said. “It’s great having them here.”
Aaron is Gomez, the Addams patriarch; Kate portrays Wednesday.
Emily Pierce, a sophomore out of Tonganoxie, returns to the Allen stage as Morticia.
“Emily has always been a wonderful actress. She’s been taking choir, and her alto singing voice has improved a great deal.”
Two Anderson County natives, Chandler Betts (Uncle Fester) and Ashley Holloran (Grandma), have joined the cast, as has Brogan Falls of Le Roy.
Among the newcomers is Emporia’s Ian Malcolm.
“It’s a good cast that works well together,” Piazza said.
THE OCT. 6-8 production features the introduction of some new technology never before used in an Allen production.
The college recently acquired ImageCue digital hardware system.
When used with the Bowlus’ new projection system, ImageCue provides digital backdrops.
“It’s kind of the wave of the future,” Piazza said. “This show features some very quick scene changes. This won’t replace the traditional sets, but it gives us much more flexibility. We can do things like add animation to the background.”
And with one “Addams Family” scene, the ImageCue will portray Fester flying to the moon.
The hardware is adaptable both to the Bowlus’ new projector and with the system already in place at the College Theatre.
STUDENT-DEVISED pieces will highlight much of the rest of the ACC drama season.
“Deal With It,” will run Dec. 1-3.
Through devised theater, students will huddle with Piazza en masse to discuss a number of topics about life, their views on the world, fears, hopes, etc.
From there, they’ll create a number of skits, monologues and group numbers.
“We’ve never done anything like this before, we don’t know what it’s going to be like,” Piazza said.
The idea’s genesis came after a number of Allen students attended a devised theater workshop last spring at Wichita State. The two workshop leaders, Jeannine Russell and Paula Makar, will visit the students in the coming weeks to help polish the performance.
“It’ll be interesting,” Piazza promises. “The students should like it. Hopefully, something like this speaks to topics they’re interested in. We’ll see what happens.”
From there, the student-directed one-acts return March 2-4.
The final ACC production of the school year, “Dearly Beloved,” is a Southern-style comedy about a group of sisters getting together for a wedding.
It, too, is considered a heart-warming comedy, Piazza noted.
THE ANNUAL Summer Theatre production, “Jump ’N Jive Juliet,” returns June 23-24 at the ACC Theatre.
“We had a lot of good feedback from ‘Rock Around The Block’ last summer, so we thought we’d try another musical,” Piazza said.
“Jump ’N Jive” follows the story of a drama troupe attempting to stage a production of “Romeo And Juliet,” while another group hopes to use the same venue for a jitterbug dance contest.
“It’ll be a fun project,” Piazza said.
The summer theatre production is sponsored by the Sleeper Family Trust.
