Things at Carle Place are getting pretty creepy and kooky. The Carle Place Student Run Theater Company is gearing up for its upcoming musical production of The Addams Family, which will haunt the high school stage on Sept. 7 and 8.
An annual tradition in Carle Place, the Student Run Production allows students the opportunity to be the cast, crew, director, producer, choreographer and everything and anything in between. Taking the title of co-director, co-producer and choreographer for this year’s production is Juliana Ferolie.
“I was always in the shows and then I got the wonderful opportunity to direct them. I’m also doing the dances, doing the advertising and helping them with their scenes and acting,” Ferolie said. “It’s so much, but such an amazing opportunity seeing the kids on stage and seeing them change from one emotion to another, and helping them fix a scene is the coolest thing ever.”
Helping Ferolie direct and produce the show is Gabriella Deninno.
“We’ve been able to spread the workload and it’s been going so smoothly,” Deninno said. “She does more the directing and I do more the producing but we help each other out.”
She added that the summer shows allow students the opportunity to have a lot more freedom, including in picking the show. Ferolie noted that one of the reasons they chose The Addams Family is because it was a funny show that would illicit audience response.
“I always wanted to do something funny. I think something really funny would make the crowd go insane,” said Ferolie. “We as actors get a lot of feedback from the audience and we can take more risks when the audience is interacting. To do a comedy is a great choice because we can interact with the audience.”
The show centers around the quirky and macabre Addams family, who finds themselves thrown for a loop when 18-year-old daughter Wednesday falls in love with Lucas, a normal boy from Ohio. When Wednesday invites Lucas and his family over for dinner, she pleads with her family to just be normal, a tall task for this not-so-average family.
Taking on the role of patriarch Gomez is Antonio Urrutia. Though he’s been on the Carle Place stage before, this is the Carle Place freshman’s first lead role, a challenge he’s embracing.
“This is the most difficult show, but it makes it more fun,” said Urrutia. “The show is the most fun I’ve ever done because it’s about this crazy family meeting this normal family and it’s insane. The whole show never gets boring and all the songs are fantastic. Everything about it is great.”
Also taking on a first-time lead role is Gabriella Bratta, who plays Gomez’s wife, Morticia.
“It’s kind of different for me but I love it. The hard work pays off and it’s really rewarding,” said Bratta.
At 50 students, both on and off stage, this year’s show is smaller than prior years, as well as reuses old sets to save on costs. Students also held multiple fundraisers and received a $1,000 grant to help offset costs of the $6,000 production.
Though students give up several days of the end of summer as well as the first weeks of school to rehearse, they all agree it’s worth it.
“It’s great to have this as a summer thing. I’m in the school every day, which is not your ideal situation but it’s so much fun and I love it,” said Deninno.
Carle Place students will bring The Addams Family to life on Sept. 7 and 8, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10, $7 with a student ID.
