Danbury's Musicals At Richter Kicks Off 39th Season Under The Stars With THE ADDAMS FAMILY

Musicals at Richter kicks off the summer with "The Addams Family," playing July 7 to July 22. Featuring a live band and a cast of talented local actors, performances take place outdoors under the stars at the Richter Arts Center, 100 Aunt Hack Road, in Danbury, adjacent to the Richter Park Public Golf Course, just off I-84, Exit 2.

Based on characters created by Charles Addams, "The Addams Family" explores the creepy, kooky, weird and wonderful household immortalized in cartoon, television and big screen. In this new musical comedy, Wednesday Addams has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet young man from-gasp-a respectable family. She confides in her father and now Gomez Addams must do the unthinkable-keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Change is just around the corner for the entire family in this delightful tale, created by "Jersey Boys" authors Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music and lyrics provided by the award-winning Andrew Lippa.

At the helm of "The Addams Family" is director Skip Ploss (Wilton). A seasoned director, actor, set designer and board member who has been involved in community theater for over 30 years, Ploss has worked at Wilton Playshop (where he also served as president), Westport Community Theatre and Town Players of New Canaan. For the past 14 years, he has directed numerous musicals for Wilton Children's Theater. By day, Ploss is a special education paraprofessional at Wilton's Miller-Driscoll School, co-advisor for MDTV Video Production Studio Program and an author/illustrator of 7 books for young people available on Amazon

Joining Ploss as music director is Andrew Gadwah (Wilton) who was last at MAR playing keyboards for "Shrek the Musical" (2019). Gadwah teaches chorus and music theory at New Fairfield High School, where he also music directs the theatrical productions, including "Urinetown" (2023) and "Seussical" (2022). Other local music direction or keyboard credits include "A Grand Night for Singing," "Carrie" and "Once on This Island."

Richter veteran Lindsay Miller (Wappingers Falls, NY) serves as choreographer for the production. At MAR, Miller choreographed "The Sound of Music" (2022) and "Shrek the Musical" (2019) and appeared onstage in six previous shows. She has created the steps for numerous community theater and school productions throughout eastern NY. When she's not teaching dance or competing in ballroom dance, Miller works as a Membership Associate for American Ballet Theatre in NYC.

"The Addams Family" features a talented cast of MAR veterans and newcomers. The glamorous and ghoulish Gomez and Morticia Addams are portrayed by Jacob Rogotzke (Oakville) and Ariana Straznicky (Southington). Madison Bielmeier (Stratford) takes on the role of their strong-willed teenage daughter Wednesday and Nathan Reilly (Wilton) plays her charming but annoying younger brother, Pugsley.

Joining the family fun are Ted Schwartz (Brookfield) as the childlike Uncle Fester and Jen MacNeil Danenberg (Newtown) as the ever-feisty Grandma. Tom Woodman (Fairfield) portrays the Addams' watchful and zombie-like butler, Lurch.

Nicholas Eklund (New Fairfield) plays Wednesday's love interest, Lucas Beineke. Michael Solano (Danbury) and Denise Milmerstadt (Carmel, NY) portray his hopelessly suburban parents, Mal and Alice.

Featured as a variety of quirky Addams Ancestors are Jackie Alleva (Bethel); Molly Tarnowski (Danbury); Blu Arbesman, Sarah Bollacke, Christian Eklund, Zoe McCartney, April Smith and David Stevenson (New Fairfield); Lynn Priest (New Milford); and Alex Kirkman (Newtown). New York State residents include Taylor Byrne, Nicholas Byrne and Isabella DiDio (Brewster, NY) and Ciara Cuneo (Patterson, NY).

Set design for the production is by Skip Ploss (Wilton) with costumes by Sue Haneman (Dover Plains, NY) and lighting by Jeff Klein (Norwalk). Grace Kersting (New Fairfield) serves as stage manager and Joyce Northrop (Danbury) is producer.

"The Addams Family" is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized performance materials are supplied by Theatrical Rights Worldwide, 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036 (www.theatricalrights.com).

Musicals at Richter's 2023 season is underwritten in part by a generous grant from the City of Danbury Cultural Commission. Additional funding support has been provided by the David, Helen and Marian Woodward Fund (Watertown), CT Humanities CT Cultural Fund Operating

Support Grant, CT Department of Energy and Economic Development, Danbury Savings Bank, Ridgefield Thrift Shop, and many individual donors.

Performances for "The Addams Family" are Friday-Sunday evenings at 8 PM, with specially discounted performances on Thursdays July 13 and 20. Grounds at Richter Arts Center open at 7:00 p.m. for picnicking, with the show at 8:00 p.m.

Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 for seniors (65+) and students (with ID), and $15 for children 10 and under. For the Thursday performances (July 13 and 20), tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students and $10 for children 10 and under.

Audience members are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets for lawn seating. A limited number of chairs are available free of charge at the concession area, and a snack/soft drink concession is on site.

New this year, two pairs of comfortable, VIP front row seats will be available at each performance. The tickets cost $150 per pair, which includes a $90 tax-deductible donation to support MAR's Renaissance of Richter stage and facility improvement campaign.

Following "The Addams Family" is the quintessential Broadway gem "The Music Man," playing July 28 to August 12.

For younger audiences, MAR's Fairy Tale Theater presents a series of interactive plays for young people Saturday mornings July 8-29 at WorkspaceCT, 16 Trowbridge Drive, in Bethel. Tickets for Fairy Tale are $5 and are available at the door.

For further information on all our offerings and to purchase main stage tickets, visit the website at musicalsatrichter.org, leave a message at 203-748-6873 or e-mail info@musicalsatrichter.org.

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