At least 60 to 80 people gathered in the World Theater for a show by The Performing Otters, “The Addams Family” on Saturday, April 20. The musical/play was something that brought together students, staff and families.
The Performing Otters is a student-led theater group on campus. The group meets every
Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Heron Hall Lounge and every Thursday at 8 p.m. in the meeting house. They also host free improv shows on a monthly basis.
The performance was planned and executed over the past three months with around 30 students, each student having their own role in production or execution.
In short, the play follows the Addams family members as they navigate a new version of Wednesday Addams, who has changed stemming from her engagement to a boy named Lucas. While on this journey, the audience got glimpses into each character and their quirky personalities. A favorite sub-plot of mine was when Uncle Fester confessed his love for the moon.
Despite each student performing with great excellence, some of those who stood out to me include: Ty Ortega as Gomez Addams, Bailee Vranish as Morticia Addams and John Hammon as Uncle Fester. This was Hammon’s debut performance in a production/musical.
At one point, Uncle Fester left the stage to briefly join the audience. Carefully picking which seat to take, Hammon chose to sit behind his family members who were attending in support. His grandparents and aunt, Diane Armstrong, were some of the many who cheered on Uncle Fester.
“Everyone’s really enthusiastic… it’s a wonderful cast and crew,” said Armstrong. “I can tell they’re having a lot of fun on stage and that makes us as an audience kind of join [in] with the fun.”
With an intermission in-between acts one and two, there were a total of 23 songs that were performed. Gomez Addams was featured in around 13 of these songs, having to remember the most songs compared to other prominent roles.
The production was directed by Marlee Dial, a third-year at Cal State Monterey Bay. Dial was also the assistant director for last year’s performance of “Sweeney Todd.” A large part of the production that I really enjoyed was the costuming; the head of costumes role was student Eren George.
By the conclusion of the last song, the World Theater erupted with applause; this applause continued as students gave a bow. It was clear that The Performing Otters had lots of fun while acting in the play, as this fun was infectious and captivated attendees the whole evening.