This fall, Lewis Palmer High School produced their own rendition of the musical “The Addams Family”. I went to the school to attend the play on opening night. To my surprise it was sold out, forcing me to purchase tickets online and see another showing.

Broadway originally produced the play, and the LPHS rendition of this musical, practically mirrored it. However, because the drama department doesn’t have unlimited money to spend on materials, they lacked realistic props and costumes. Instead, they looked as though they were purchased from Party City. The drama students seemed to do the best they could with the materials they were given, aside from the tacky paper mache decor.

It was made clear that the drama students invested time and effort into the entire musical. During the play, not a single line was missed, and if there was, it was not noticeable. The production was very smooth.

Because the production is a musical, that means the actors must be able to sing some of their lines. The audience seemed to be blown away by most of the solo acts, but some of the actors and actresses should not have been allowed to sing. A few individuals were off key, causing the audience to question their singing ability.

Specifically, Karlie Asman 12, as Morticia, and Conner Graves 10, as Gomez,  stole the show. Their fantastic singing voices and amazing acting failed to disappoint. Tallyn Gillespie 11, who played Uncle Fester, was also an amazing actor; he made the crowd roar with laughter every time he was on the stage. On the other hand, Josh Matalus 12, who played Max Beineke, was sub par at acting, but broke the audience’s eardrums with his flat-toned singing voice.

In general, the musical was pretty good, though some aspects of the play failed to impress, the students’ pure talent was able to conceal any imperfections that were shown throughout the production. Theatergoers that enjoy productions of Broadway musicals should not hesitate to attend a school musical performed by the students of Lewis-Palmer High.