WEST POINT, Ala. – In less than a month, West Point High School’s theater department will showcase its talents on stage at Wallace State in “The Addams Family.” The students have been hard at work rehearsing for the upcoming musical about Wednesday Addam’s hope of marrying a young man from the “normal” Beineke family. West Point Theatre is under the direction of Jimmy and Kim Harbison.
Performances will be at the Betty Leeth Haynes Theatre on the campus of Wallace State Community College and are scheduled for Thursday, March 19 at 7 p.m.; Friday, March 20 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 21 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 22 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10. The Saturday evening performance will also include a silent auction.
“This will be our fourth year in a row (doing a) musical. We’ve done ‘High School Musical,’ ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Newsies,’ and this year we are doing ‘Addams Family.’ This story is a little different. The whole storyline is pretty much she (Wednesday) has to tell Morticia that she wants to get married. The Addams Family thinks the normal family is weird and of course the Addams Family-we know they’re weird,” laughed Jimmy Harbison.
The students have been practicing after school three times a week and will soon kick that up to four rehearsals a week. For this production, the students had to learn the tango- with a little bit of help from the school’s cheerleaders and dance team.
Student Presley Palmer said regarding the singing, “I have two solos, but Gomez has the most. He has about six different songs he does by himself. There are a bunch of group numbers where we all sing together. Wednesday has a couple of solos as well.”
Carson Partain, who shares the role of Gomez with Keaton Chappell, laughed about getting into character, saying, “My mom and I have been trying to figure what we are going to do about my hair. Whether we will use a spray or dye it. It will be interesting!”
Palmer, who splits the role of Morticia with Miriam Oldacre, is not as daring.
“I bought a wig for mine!” she laughed. “I said, ‘I’m not. I’m not! I can’t do that.’”
There are obstacles for West Point Theatre. Currently, the school does not have a theater or stage large enough to perform large productions.
Jimmy Harbison said, “We don’t have a theater, so basically, if you look down, you see tape on the floor. We practice in here and move all the tables. These kids are exceptionally talented to be able to move it from here to there. We only get on the stage three days before the performance. Thankfully, Wallace (State) was kind enough to work with us.”
Added Kim Harbison, “We are renting a set, so we don’t actually have a set until the week of the show either. We are just going to have to adapt when we get to Wallace.”
The Harbisons are hopeful that if the 1-cent sales tax passes in the March 3 primary election, West Point could eventually have a theater. The cast agreed that a theater would be fantastic as the department continues to grow.
“In Cullman County, this (theater) is completely unfunded,” said Jimmy Harbison. “We don’t have a cent allotted to us to start the year. Everything we do is fundraising, theater fees or selling ads for the playbill, and the goal is to make a little bit so we have some money next year to start with. Our administration is wonderful about letting us do what we need to do to put this on. Good Lord puts you in different places that you’d never expect. I never thought I’d be directing musical theater. They are great kids and I love every one of them like they’re mine.”
“The Addams Family” cast includes:
Gomez Addams: Carson Partain and Keaton Chappell
Morticia Addams: Miriam Oldacre and Presley Palmer
Wednesday Addams: Isabel Newby and Anna Armstrong
Uncle Fester: Dathan Campbell and Erik Griggs
Grandma: Macy Millsap and Lyssi Nuss
Pugsley: Leila Cherry and Rylee Harbison
Lurch: Declan Cornett
Lucas Beineke: Garrett Willingham and Kell Wilson
Mal Beineke: Tyler White and Lucas McAfee
Alice Beineke: Hayden Chandler and Anna Hancock
Cousin Itt: Matthew Harbison
Ancestors/Ensemble: Ethan Helms, Alexia Adair, Gaige Roberson, Gracie Rainwater, Heidi Armstrong, Katie Derrick, LaShay Robbins, Maddie Davis, Micah Oldacre, Patrick Sapp and Jonathan Fell
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