The Addams Family is known for being creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky, but the cast and crew of Mountain Community Theater (MCT) are bringing another well-deserved adjective to the list: talented.
Under the direction of Daria Troxell, MCT is launching their fall musical production with a dusting of the humorous and macabre as they present “The Addams Family.”
Packed with a litany of familiar faces in the world of MCT, the musical runs from Sept. 19 to Oct. 19 at Park Hall in Ben Lomond and is sure to leave attendees snapping their collective fingers to the infamous theme song (snap, snap).
In the upside-down world of the Addams, to be sad is to be happy, to feel pain is to feel joy, and death and suffering are the stuff that dreams are made of. The clan has lived by their unique values for hundreds of years, and Gomez (Dave Leon in his MCT debut) and Morticia (Amy Carlson), the patriarch and matriarch of the family, would be only too happy to continue living that way.
Nonetheless, this eccentric family still has to deal with many of the same challenges any other family faces as their kids grow up and endeavor to carry on the family’s spookiness, but in moderation.
Their dark, macabre, beloved daughter, Wednesday (Ana Bogren), is now an 18-year-old young woman who is ready for a life of her own. She has fallen in love with Lucas Beineke (Zed Warner), a sweet, smart boy from a normal, respectable Ohio family. Wednesday has invited the Beinekes to her familial home for dinner, and in one fateful, hilarious night, secrets are disclosed, relationships are tested, and the Addams Family must face up to the one horrible thing they’ve managed to avoid for generations: change.
Leon has some great insight into what makes Gomez Addams who he is.
“Gomez makes no apologies for who he is. What you see is what you get. It’s fun to play a character who is so fun and free of inhibitions, but never malicious,” Leon said. “There is a song called ‘Happy Sad’ that Gomez sings. I won’t spoil it, but it really resonated with me. I knew I had to sing that song, and Gomez has been on my bucket list ever since.”
Bogren is a familiar face to MCT fans, and her rendition of Wednesday Addams is an absolute show-stopper. Prior to “The Addams Family,” Bogren was seen in “Mamma Mia!,” “The Robber Bridegroom,” “Something Rotten!” and “New Works Weekend 2025.”
“Wednesday is appealing because she gets to be weird and a hero. She’s the one we root for, the protagonist we want to see, but with an edge. I’ve never played a role like Wednesday before—she’s very introspective and stoic, and picks certain moments to speak. It’s been a challenge not to giggle or smile onstage because my fellow costars are terrific and hilarious,” Bogren said. “It’s a unique production for the community and an outstanding group of local talent. The audience will enjoy it if they like all things spooky and kooky.”
Maia Mosher Yates is 40 in real life, but in this production, she plays the ambiguously-aged Grandma Addams and has a blast doing it.
“It’s a classic! It’s different than the movie but possesses similar elements. I love how emotional this show is—it’s a wonderful ride for all. Grandma is wild, she is up/down, she’s sassy and funny, lovable but insane. She’s in another wacky world of her own and she does not care what others think of her,” said Yates, who encourages the community to support live, local theater. “You will laugh, cry and be completely entertained. This show brings you into the darkness and shows you the light all at the same time.”
Zed Warner’s Lucas Beineke is full of love for Wednesday Addams, and Warner has a great time helping to bring that emotion to life.
“The conceit of the show is that Wednesday’s ultra-normal boyfriend is coming to visit, but we come to learn over the show that no one is really ‘normal.’ Lucas has weirdness and darkness inside him, like all of us, that he only learns to embrace alongside the Addams,” Warner said. “It’s also interesting that as the typical normative all-American boy of the show, Lucas is the least concerned with tradition or expectations from their families—just wanting to follow his heart, however impossible it seems.”
Troxell has spent the majority of her life in theater, and is thrilled to bring this musical to the community as director.
“What sets this production apart from previous shows that I’ve directed are the ‘pop culture’ expectations,” Troxell said. “At present, the Netflix show ‘Wednesday’ has brought the family and their unique outlook on life (and death) to the forefront of our collective consciousness. People are obsessed with the series. In addition to this, the musical has a cult following. Several of the cast and crew are well familiar with it, which has challenged me to accurately represent the production as well as the characters. I hope that I’ve done the Addams family justice.”
At the heart of this story is the love that parents have for their children.
“There’s one song, which I consider to be the spine of the story, that speaks to a parent’s conundrum in being both happy for their children as they grow up and launch out to live their own lives, coupled with the pain in letting them go on to make their own mistakes and to experience the challenges of being an adult,” Troxell said. “In fact, anyone who has loved and lost someone, in any capacity, can hopefully identify with this conundrum of our human condition. Love is love is love.”
Whether you’re bringing your love along or looking for love in the audience, make plans to see “The Addams Family” at Park Hall, 9400 Mill St. in Ben Lomond. There will be an Opening Night Reception immediately following the performance on Sept. 19. Community Night is Sept. 27, where all tickets are two for $35, and a post-show talkback will be held on Sunday, Oct. 5, after the performance. And for some added fun, attend the performance on Saturday, Oct. 18, for MCT’s Dress As Your Favorite Character night. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8pm; Sunday matinees are at 2pm. Tickets are available at mctshows.org.
