The BC Performing Arts Department recently presented their production of the “Addams Family” musical comedy play.
While the musical was performed on the BC campus, the performances made by the cast and crew were from students at BC and students from other schools across calif. Many of these students had previous connections to the performing arts community or previous experiences of creating other productions BC has held in the past.
Giselle Alaniz, who played Wednesday Addams stated in her program biography that, “Although it is a dream to live in San Diego [State University], she realized nothing tops the Bakersfield theater community and is happy to be back in it.”
Ivan Dario Vielma, who played Uncle Fester, stated in his portion of the cast biography that he is currently a student at San Jose University, majoring in Music Education with a choral emphasis. He also had experience in a previous local production of “The Addams Family” as he previously directed a production held at East High.
Each of the characters performed by the cast had been portrayed very well. Characters such as Gomez Addams, Morticia Addams, and Uncle Fester are often considered the main portion of what the Addams family franchise is known for today, which made bringing the characters into life in the musical crucial.
These characters were genuinely portrayed very well in the musical. Gomez and Morticia Addams, played by Jesse Magdaleno and Savanna Lux, were brought out with full passion and the character’s known love and passion for each other was portrayed perfectly through these cast members. Some musical numbers evidently proved this to be true, such as “When You’re an Addams,” “But Love (Reprise 1),” and “Gomez’s What If’” as each of these numbers brought the characters out to perform spectacular dance numbers that synchronized with each of the character’s time together on stage.
Uncle Fester, played by Vielma, was evidently the emphasis of the production. Their character was not only very comedic but had also interacted with the audience which made the musical more entertaining as they were breaking barriers within the fourth wall.
When it came to the production’s musical score, the performing arts department brought out the orchestra to perform each musical piece which stood out to many in the audience as it isn’t often that BC’s theater productions bring out live music and instead play music digitally.
While watching the musical, something that also stood out to me was the production crew’s efforts in making the stage feel more real for the audience. The fly system operators were constantly bringing in and out several pieces of the set and it did genuinely make it seem like the story’s setting was progressing and constantly changing as the story went along.
Although the musical will no longer be presenting any more shows through the rest of the summer, there are many other productions that will be occurring locally throughout town. Local live theaters such as The Empty Space, Stars Theater, and Ovation Theater, are all presenting productions of “Spring Awakening,” “The Marvelous Wonderettes Dream On,” and “Footloose.” throughout August to late Sept.