The Addams Family Cast Diary
DAY ONE
Well, here we go again... Day one we enter into the read through stage, both casts got to read at the same time through their scripts with the music. Reading aloud their dialogue and singing these fun and spooky songs. The Crew get to hear the amazing talent come to life and how well their casting worked from the audition phase. We also spent quite a bit of time on the opening number, getting to grips with the complexities of the different characters. Now onto the rest of the intensive week. By Joe Russell (Director) |
DAY TWO and THREE
A lot of time was spent on character work, establishing their individual needs and movement aspects to bring their performance to life. Each member of the Addams Family have their own little style of movement, posture and voice. Asking the cast to really thing about this and delve deep into the context of not only their role but how that fits into the family and the production as a whole. The talent is already showing and with such a great start to the rehearsals, it makes the production crew very excited about what's to come. Choreography next! By Joe Russell (Director) |
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DAY FOUR and FIVE
Our intensive week for rehearsals is really kicking in now! We reach over half way through blocking the scenes, dance rehearsals are going well and we concentrate on some difficult vocals. Hot few days as Adelaide goes through the longest streak of hot days in a row, but we persevere and muscle our way through. These cast members are so talented and simply enjoy creating with them friends! Can't wait to reach our fill run throughs. |
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DAY SIX
So great to have set and props as we move through our blocking, really gives the cast the chance to feel the characters and reach an understanding of the director's vision. With a huge number of ensemble members playing Ancestors, the mood is always lifted with their crazy ideas. Great friends and new Now Family members are getting closer and supporting each other throughout the process. One more day of blocking and the whole show is staged. Well done to all. By Joe Russell (Director) |
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DAY SEVEN
Final rehearsals for blocking the show. With some vocal and choreography sessions still to go, we're looking strong and some cast have already learnt their lines from memory with still over a month to go before showtime. Cast are always asking at these early stages about specific character work, but with suggestions towards self research - we are only targeting blocking of scenes. At Now Productions we always want our cast to find their stride, try new things themselves whilst we work on staging. Then, once the show movements are laid out, we can then delve into the character work and adding more layers to make the best all-round show we possibly can. We also had two of our Now Family members, Kane Mobbs and Connor Russell pop along for support and encouragement. Both these two are heading interstate in the next week or so for their dreams with NIDA and AFTT education in Sydney. The cast thoroughly enjoy seeing their friends and lifts the feel within the studio. Next week, full run throughs. By Joe Russell (Director) |
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DAY EIGHT
Our First Full Run Through! What a great start, a very humid day, but amazing to start seeing the show coming together. Great props and set pieces really brings the best out of our cast. Grisly cast were the first to hit the stage. With a key player missing due to a family birthday, our resident Now Family member, Connor Russell stepped up to play the ever-so-lovable Fester. We have so many crowd pleasing but not quite so well known songs which have really come the life. I mean, it's not every day that you get to see Morticia Addams dancing with Death! We move onto tomorrow for our second run through for the Gruesome Cast and then no doubt a bit of a mix up for fun! We also got to create some promotional photos with our Gomez and both Morticias. By Joe Russell (Director) |
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DAY NINE and TEN
DAY NINE and TEN was full on, running through our shows and playing around with some full costumes. With some promotional photos and full cast photos, it’s so exciting to get to grips with this show. At Now, we love these last couple of weeks. Adding extra layers and finessing the show to best ability we can. Set and props are really coming to life and the cast are starting to thoroughly enjoy themselves. By Joe Russell (Director) |
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DAY ELEVEN and TWELEVE
DAY Eleven and TWELVE were kicked off with a bang. However, there was a key member of the crew missing, the Director. I had to work over the weekend and left the crew in the capable hands of the Musical Director and Choreographer. Stage Manager stepped up taking notes and providing some feedback for the cast and amazing performances really taking shape. We played around with set and props whilst still homing in on the talent on stage. A great musical with so many 'kooky' laughs and 'over-the-kids-head' one liners to get the adult giggling along. Can't wait to see these guys and gals performing on stage in the Pre Show this week. By Joe Russell (Director) |
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SET DESIGN
SET design was the goal for Addams Family, wanting to create a backdrop of the Addams Family home was essential to the production. Having two different levels was the mindset of the director. The upper bedroom level where each character's room is located and then the lower level for the living areas, utilising picture frames that our Ancestors of the past could appear in whilst scenes are underway. Can't wait to see the final product come together, the set has taken some time to create but worth doing. By Joe Russell (Director) |
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DAY THIRTEEN
LAST of rehearsals in our studios. Both casts get to run their shows one more time to build their confidence and really step it up. All the set was taken to the Shedley Theatre last week when bumping in for Lion King Kids. Therefore, the cast only have minimal props to use in their final practice. To finish up with the day and to thank the cast for their commitment, the director set them a goal for their final run through - with only one simple rule! No one plays their own role. This was chaos personified and soooooo much fun. The joy and stress-free fun before the production week was a necessary tool and brought everyone into fits of laughter. By Joe Russell (Director) |
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BUMP IN
BUMP in was an eight hour day, very humid weather and a hot messy day, but man it's worth it. So great to see the final set come to life on the very stage the production will premiere. Global Staging have supplied the platforms and steps to create the internal home of the Addams Family. Doesn't it look amazing. The Shedley Theatre have been amazing, letting us simply take over and create our dreams for this show. We even took a part of the Shedley Theatre back to the studios with us to create a fun and kooky addition to our production. But, shush - I'm not telling you what that is - you'll just have to come a see for yourselves. By Joe Russell (Director) |
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TECH and DRESS RUNS
TECH and Dress Runs allows our cast and crew to work hard on finalising and testing the lighting, sound, costumes and make-up for this production. The majority of the cast have not seen the set in its true glory and will be excited to see the vision of the director. No doubt some last minute tinkering to make the show the best it can be, we believe that adding extra layers constantly sparks some originality to the production and allowing the cast and crew to really think outside the box. The more freedom the cast feel for themselves, the better their performance. By Joe Russell (Director) |
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SHOWS
SHOWS, of which we have four in total, are set to be amazing. Our first show is set for Thursday 23rd February at 7pm, then second on Friday 24th February at 7pm. Our final two performances will be held on Saturday 25th February at 1pm and 7pm. Straight after the shows, we bump out. All set, both Lion King Kids and Addams Family will be taken down and returned to the studios storage facility. A busy and hectic two weeks, but one to stand the test of times. Well done, cast and crew! By Joe Russell (Director) |