For the first time in 17 years a musical is taking stage at Lambrick Park secondary.
“It’s overdue, and the kids are pumped,” said musical theatre teacher Nette Martin.
The Lambrick musical theatre program raised the curtain on Addams Family Tuesday with the production continuing nightly, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee finale at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“This year we decided to jump in with both feed and add musical theatre,” Martin said. “The kids hadn’t made sets, hadn’t danced, hadn’t sung, so they’re brand new.”
The musical is based on the 2009 Broadway show by Andrew Lippa and was the right pick for several reasons, said Grade 12 student Dawson Gittens, who plays Gomez.
“It’s a comedy and it has a small cast,” Gittens said. “It’s a little easier to start with a comedy and as a first-year class we are pretty small, it brings everybody into the play.”
At 16 people apiece, the cast is the same size as the crew. There’s also a seven-person band which nailed the opening score during Friday rehearsal, if there was any questions as to the talent level of the production.
It’s one of the most intimate theatre settings amongst the Saanich high school plays this year, which works well with the comical energy of the dance numbers (when the deadly serious get seriously silly).
And yes, it’s all hands on deck, and has been since Martin and company began hand building the set in October (if you spot an adult buzzing behind the scenes, that’s probably Nette’s husband). That includes everything, the stage, curtain, backdrop, and of course the paint (in the same series of movements actor Yami Hsu was literally pulled away from painting the set to join the rest of the cast of the opening scene on Friday).
“It’s a band room but once upon a time it was a theatre,” Martin said.
There have been drama performances at Lambrick as recently as about six years ago. But there’s been no stage performances for Gittens and his Grade 12 co-lead Marren Dodds (Morticia), who arrived there four years ago, Gittens said.
“I came to Lambrick excited to be in a play, so this is a long time coming,” Gittens says.
“I’ve wanted to do a musical theatre production since I got here, it’s been missing from the school culture,” Dodds said.
Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. March 7 to 10 (Tuesday to Friday) and 1:30 p.m. March 11. Tickets are $10 at the Lambrick Park school office. For more information call the school at 250-477-0181 or email jemartin@sd61.bc.ca.