Ammon Arts Community Theatre to present ‘The Addams Family’

IDAHO FALLS — A group of local actors are bringing a musical comedy to Idaho Falls this week.

Ammon Arts Community Theatre is putting on “The Addams Family” at Thunder Ridge High School. The play runs from October 19 to October 24, excluding Sunday. All shows start at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, a matinee will take place at 2 p.m. prior to the evening show.

“This is a new story of the Addams. You’ve got the same characters but it’s a brand new story,” Beth Crossley, the show’s director, explained. “If you grew up watching the TV show or the movies, (this version) is pretty different. It’s a good different.”

Crossley said the Ammon Arts Community Theatre usually puts on about three shows a year. She said a few years ago the community expressed interest in seeing “The Addams Family.”

“It’s a great show for this time of year,” Crossley said. “You get the spooky, fun part of Halloween.”

In the musical, the daughter, Wednesday Addams, has fallen in love with a young man named Lucas who is from an “ordinary family” and is “as un-Addamsy as they can possibly be.” The Addams invite Lucas’s family to their mansion for dinner and “chaos ensues.”

“Of course, it all happens with song and dance thrown in there,” Crossley said. “It’s a sweet story. It’s about family and learning how to work through differences in family groups and loving who everyone is in the family.”

Rehearsals got underway in August and the cast — which is made up of 27 members — dedicated three nights a week to rehearsals with a few Saturdays mixed in. Crossley, who said she has assistant-directed shows but never been a director until now, said this has been a “perfect cast” to work with.

“They are professional. They are talented. It’s been really collaborative, and they’ve been great to take my wacky ideas and make them come to life and make them look good,” she mentioned.

While Crossley is looking forward to making her debut as a director, she is also excited for community members to see the cast members hard work pay off.

“I can’t say enough good things about this cast. They’ve put in so much work to make this an amazing show,” Crossley said. “We didn’t hold back at all with the music or the choreography. You’re going to see talented people having fun on stage.”

Crossley said the musical is roughly 2.5 hours and is for people ages 12 and up. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased here or at the door.