Snap to it: ‘The Addams Family’ is coming to West Mifflin

West Mifflin Area High School’s Theater Department will premiere “The Addams Family,” the school’s spring musical, on Thursday.

West Mifflin Area High School will present a comical feast that embraces the wackiness in every family with “The Addams Family Musical.”

The show will be the first event with the newly renovated high school auditorium.

Adapted from the original Broadway production, the musical features an original story and a dilemma that’s every father’s nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family — a man her parents have never met.

And if that wasn’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.

“It’s a fun, family comedy with a twisted little sense of humor, which is still modernized and relevant,” said junior Dayton Jackson, who plays Gomez Addams. “This is a family, this is a community and being connected, I hope to inspire people and encourage the people that are new this year.”

Show times will be 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, along with 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for students and can be purchased at https://wmasdmusic. weebly.com/hs-musical.html.

A preview of the show will be presented today for the younger students in the district.

The district tried to do the show in 2020, but was unable to put it on the stage due to the pandemic.

The auditorium was damaged by a fire Dec. 16, 2024. It was opened for rehearsals on Feb. 28. They have been practicing at the middle school in the meantime.

Musical director and high school chorus/drama teacher Melissa Prutz said the cast will adjust well to the change, and the crew has been building sets in the meantime.

“(The students) were off book before I could even ask,” Prutz said. “We had a week of no school while we were remote, and some of the kids, they begged me to have rehearsal, and I came in a couple days with the kids, and we did some choreography and some blocking. They come in and the scene is memorized. They are highly disciplined, and I am very, very proud of them.”

Junior Katie Cooper, who plays Alice, said that while they started late, they were able to run through the show quickly. She said it’s coming together well and is of the better musicals she has done because everyone is working so hard.

Prutz added that there are a lot of talented performers in the cast, which is made up of 38 students.

Julianne Washington, who has worked on the musicals since 2018 and graduated in 2002 from West Mifflin, said she kept in touch with Prutz and took over as choreographer when the former one retired.

“I’ve danced my entire life, and so I tried to pull in some fresher, newer choreography based on what I thought the kids would be into versus a traditional musical,” Washington said. “We’ve done a lot of shapes, a lot of transitions and the kids have been amazing. It’s a fun show with a lot of upbeat music that you wouldn’t expect, and I feel like each song has its own personality. We have such an amazing cast this year.”

Senior Miles Sacunas, who plays Lurch, is involved in his first musical. He wanted to try something new after being in the pit orchestra and the crew for shows in the past.

Senior Annie Wilcox, who plays Grandma, said it’s a fun outlet and a good way for her to express herself.

Jackson added that this is only a small part of what the arts does every year, and encourages people to see the show to bring some joy to their lives.

Sophomore Abby Price, who plays Morticia Addams, said the show is really fun and the ensemble cast is like working with her family every day.

Price added that coming to see the show is a way for people to connect with the community and students and is a way to put smiles on people’s faces.

“I did the show this year because musical theatre is my biggest passion,” Price said. “Singing and acting is truly what brings me the most happiness in life, and it is definitely my safe space. This is a place where I feel like I am at home and I am with my family, and I never feel jealous.

“It brings me a lot of joy. We are sharing our love for what we do with others. It’s a way of sharing our creativity and what we can bring to the stage. It’s a lot of fun.”

Prutz said hopefully people will come out from not just West Mifflin, but the surrounding communities to support the kids who have worked hard through a transition of losing an auditorium and have adapted to tell a “beautiful story.”

“The music is amazing, the dialogue is hilarious,” Prutz said. “It is just a feel good show that I feel like a lot of people in the older generations that I feel like would be able to relate to. It is just an amazing story with a beautiful message about accepting people for who they are.”

Cast members are Dayton Jackson (Gomez), Abby Price (Morticia), Sofia Glover (Wednesday), Jayden Davidson (Lucas), Colin Tiboni (Fester), Katie Cooper (Alice), Jeremiah Brown (Mal), Brody Kocher (Pugsley), Annie Wilcox (Grandma), Myles Sacunas (Lurch), Jeremiah Dewberry (Gomez, Fester understudy, Ancestor), Lourdes Doswell (Morticia understudy, featured dancer, Ancestor), Riley Cochenour (Wednesday understudy, dance captain, Ancestor), Jamere Davidson (Lucas understudy), Leila Rea (Alice understudy, featured dancer, Ancestor), Pablo Franco (Mal understudy, Ancestor) and Hayden Mroz (Pugsley, Grandma understudy, Ancestor).

The rest of the featured dancers are dance captain Destiny Lewis (also an Ancestor), Mia Black (Ancestor) Victoria Caroll (Ancestor), Gianna Doswell (Ancestor), Mina McConnell (Ancestor) Aubrey Holmes (Ancestor) and Olivia Kier (Ancestor).

The rest of the ancestors are Alexis Lewis, Charlton Wright, Emma Colbert, Emmalyn Sorg, Lilah Hamilton, Stefan Neal, Tanya Moldovan and Taylor Wilson.