Pioneer Theatre Guild presents the Addams Family School Edition Nov. 9-12

The Pioneer Theatre Guild (PTG) will present the musical comedy The Addams Family School Edition at Pioneer High School’s Schreiber Auditorium from Nov. 9 to 12.

The show features a cast and crew of more than 100 students bringing the iconic spooky family to life through song, dance, and humor.

Performance Dates:

• Thursday, November 9th @ 7:00 p.m. (Opening Night Gala)
• Friday, November 10th @ 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday, November 11th @ 2:00 p.m. (matinee)
• Saturday, November 11th @ 7:00 p.m.
• Sunday, November 12th @ 2:00 p.m. (matinee)

Tickets: $15 for Students/Seniors/Pioneer Staff; $20 for Adults; $50 for Opening Night Gala

Reserved seating tickets are on sale now at: www.showtix4u.com/events/ptg 

Opening Night on Nov. 9 will feature a special pre-show gala at 5:45 p.m. in the Pioneer Annex with dinner, music, a silent auction, and more to benefit PTG scholarships and educational opportunities for PTG students. Black and white attire is suggested.

The show features iconic Addams family characters, including Gomez Addams (senior Samuel Aviles), Morticia Addams (senior Marisa Andoni-Savas), and Wednesday Addams (senior Lucy Dineen), who falls in love with Lucas Beineke (junior Emmanuel Morgan). The two families’ clashing leads Gomez to struggle with keeping a secret from Morticia.

Samuel Aviles describes Gomez’s conflict in the show as: “He’s just trying to please both of the women that he loves in his life, his daughter and his wife. The struggle for him to try to figure out whether to go side with his daughter or side with his wife, keep a secret or tell the truth—either way, he’s disappointing someone.”

Aviles has been doing theater since he was in third grade, but this is his first show with PTG. He is excited to be in the Addams Family and is enjoying connecting with students at his school with similar interests. 

Marisa Andoni-Savas describes Morticia as “the hand that is puppeteering the family.” She says that Morticia has a lot of confidence and power, and her family—especially her husband—often defer to her. Andoni-Savas also points out that “you can see a mother’s concern in Morticia… she’s like, ‘This is my kid! And she’s getting married at 18!’ and it’s a little concerning but it’s also she’s happy for her and she wants it to work.”

Andoni-Savas plans on pursuing musical theater in college and is grateful for the experience and mentorship she has received through PTG.

In addition to the 40-person cast, the production involves over 70 crew members working on sets, props, lighting, sound, paint, makeup and costumes. The 10-piece student pit orchestra provides live accompaniment.

In addition to the cast, there are 73 students in the crew helping the show behind the scenes. PTG has seven student crews: sets crew, props crew, lighting crew, sound crew, paint crew, makeup crew, and costumes crew. There are also 10 students involved in the pit orchestra.

Senior Olivia Callanan is the sets crew head for the Addams Family and has been involved in sets crew since school started back up from Covid her sophomore year. She is excited to be working on the set for this show because “this set is gigantic and huge and amazing, and there’s a lot of things that open and little doorways that go more inside their world,” which she says are fun to build. She also points out that it is exciting that the set is “spanning the entire stage… because it’s so big and we have so many people on sets crew to work on it.” Callanan is excited for people to see the show because, “it’s perfect for fall and it’s just a classic, I think kids will like it, but adults will like it too.”

Junior Kiran Parekh is one of the costume crew heads for The Addams Family and has been involved in PTG since his freshman year. He is excited to work on the costumes for this show and recreate all the classic looks for the members of the Addams Family, alongside new designs for the Beinekes and the Ancestors: “All the ancestors are really neat, they’re all from different time periods, so that’s sort of fun to get to move around in time as opposed to having them all in one time period.”

The musical is directed by Gabriel Sanchez and Lleyton Allen, sophomore Musical Theater majors at the University of Michigan, who aim to convey themes of embracing individuality and not conforming through the show’s celebration of the Addams’ eccentricities.

In a statement, they said they love the show’s “unique blend of dark humor, catchy songs, and quirky characters,” as well as its themes of acceptance and celebrating individuality, noting: “It’s essential to embrace our eccentricity and not conform to societal norms. In a world that often encourages conformity, this story’s relevance lies in its celebration of the unorthodox.” 

The box office opens one hour prior to shows for cash and check ticket sales. 

*For more information, visit: https://a2ptguild.org/