By Broadway World News Desk
10/30/08
Broadway In Chicago will host the world premiere of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a new musical based on the bizarre and beloved family of characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams, beginning performances Friday, November 13, 2009 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph St., Chicago). Produced by Elephant Eye Theatrical (Stuart Oken, Michael Leavitt and Five Cent Productions) and Roy Furman, THE ADDAMS FAMILY will play a limited engagement in Chicago through January 10, 2010 prior to opening on Broadway in the spring of that year. Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth participated in a closed reading of the musical this past August in New York, but no official casting has been announced. It is expected in the coming months.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY will feature a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice (librettists of the 2006 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Jersey Boys), music and lyrics by Drama Desk Award-winning composer/lyricist Andrew Lippa (The Wild Party), direction and design by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch (Shockheaded Peter, the Metropolitan Opera’s recent acclaimed production of Philip Glass’s Satyagraha), choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys), lighting by Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (The Coast of Utopia, Aida) and musical direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Company).
In a prolific career spanning six decades, Charles Addams created several thousand cartoons, sketches and drawings, many of which were famously published in The New Yorker. But it was his creation of characters that came to be known as The Addams Family that brought Addams his greatest acclaim. With a unique style that combined the twisted, macabre and just plain weird with charm, wit and enchantment, Addams’ drawings of Gomez, Morticia, Fester, Wednesday, Pugsley, Grandmama, Lurch and Thing have entertained millions worldwide and served as the inspiration for multiple television series and motion pictures.
“It’s an extraordinary privilege as well as a daunting responsibility being entrusted with Charles Addams’ most beloved creations, but I’m confident this outstanding creative team is re-imagining the work in a way that would have made Charlie proud,” said producer Stuart Oken of Elephant Eye Theatrical.
For more information on THE ADDAMS FAMILY visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com
