This semester, Amador Valley High School and Foothill High School are collaborating on their annual production showcasing the musical The Addams Family, rehearsing relentlessly to delight audiences with their stunning performances. From dance practices to vocal rehearsals, Amador is ready to take the stage by storm.
A Creative Inspiration
“My favorite part is definitely dance rehearsals. I really enjoy seeing what we’ve learned with vocals come to life,” said cast member Audrey Tonkin (‘27).
The cast has been working together to put an unique, collaborative twist on a fan-favorite musical. Rehearsing every day after school, the beginnings of a magical experience are starting in Amador’s theater. Their dedication to the craft brings a fresh energy and unforgettable moments to the stage.
“Working with everyone has been fun – for example, seeing what other people would do with a role and taking some of that into your own account and seeing the performance from there,” said Tonkin (‘27).
Behind the Scenes
“It’s a show we’ve been talking about doing for a couple of years now and the second is it’s so different from the past few shows that we’ve done both design wise and musically that we thought it would be a really fun experience for the students and for us as directors,” said director Hannah Davies.
The collaborative effort doesn’t just stop on the stage; students contribute their own ideas to add innovative touches to every facet of the production process while still trying to remain true to the original story.
“We also have an additional design challenge, which is that the Addams ancestors appear in the show as ghosts, and they’re a little bit generic in the original script, but we decided that we were going to use actual Addams ancestors from the canon going all the way back to the 1930s. So that has been really fun, letting the kids kind of create their own characters,” said Davies
The Power of Collaboration
“I’m especially excited to see the effects come together during the opening song. There’s going to be lights and sound effects for a hurricane feel. The orchestra is going to help play into those emotional scenes as well.” said stage manager Maya Boorman (‘25).
Behind the scenes, there’s arduous work before the curtains part for opening night. Every member on the team does their part to stun audiences with their annual production.
“They’ve done their own play separately from us so they bring a new perspective in the theater community of what they know, what they’ve done, what they’ve worked with technical-wise and also different types of music, different types of acting, dialects, that sort of thing. Everything is a collaboration,” said Boorman.
