It’s that time of the year again, Albemarle’s annual spring musical is finally here! The Addams Family; a new musical comedy will bring a kooky show with gloom, giggles, and googly eyes, according to this year’s leads.

To the Addams Family, strange is normal. Morticia and Gomez Addams want to continue living amongst death and gloom. However, Wednesday Addams, their daughter, has fallen in love with a sweet, smart boy: Lucas Beineke. Everything will change for the family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s ‘normal’ boyfriend and his parents.

“I don’t think that the audience will expect the amount of love that they will get when they come to the show. Because, when you think of Addams family you think creepy and cold, but this show is so warm,” senior Olivia Wicheloe, who plays Morticia, said.

The audience does experience a lot of love from both the odd collection of characters and the romance between them. “It’s intense. It’s one of the best loves that any person could have. I’m always holding her in my arms, we are always a couple of centimeters away from each other, or making googly eyes,” senior Aaron Hoffman, who plays Gomez Addams, said.

This musical plays to all of the audience’s emotions. It’s not only passionate, but it’s also hilarious. “Man, this is fun and it’s an odd choice for us– we are so used to picking the well known, big, classic pieces,” director Fay Cunningham said.

This sort of  unfamiliarity with the musical leaves room for the cast to really own their characters. “It’s really interesting, because you get to embody the character using their cartoon past, but also how they have progressed with their life that you don’t see on the cartoon,” Whicheloe said.

“There are so many things in the show that are really cool, they don’t make sense, but you like them,” senior Joey Wharton explained.

One example of this miscellaneous humor is Grandma Addams. “She is an old fart that doesn’t know what she is doing and it’s really funny listening to her talk,” Hoffman said.

“It’s got a variety of characters, it’s funny, it’s got great music, and the students have had a great time with the dances,” Cunningham said.

To pull off such a complex musical it takes a lot of commitment, both physical and mental. “Especially for this show, students have to be willing to take those steps to make themselves really different to play the part,” Cunningham said. Sophomore Izzy Johnson cut and dyed her blonde hair black and Wharton shaved his head for their roles.

So if you’re sold on checking the “mysterious and spooky” show out for yourself, shows are at 8 P.M. May 1 and 2  or a 3 P.M. matinée on May 3. Tickets are $12 for students and $19 for adults and the box office opens two hours before each performance.

Additional reporting done by Maggie Rombach.