‘The Addams Family’ creeps onto campus

Amanda Vaughn
Thu, 23 Feb 2017 04:07:43 +0000
Arts & Life, Theater, addams family, boys and girls club of columbus, featured, off the lake, Off The Lake Productions, osu theater, OTL, otl productions, student org, theater

Off the Lake’s production of The Addams Family opens Feb. 24. Credit: Courtesy of Off The Lake.

They’re creepy, and they’re kooky, and they’re coming to Hitchcock Hall on Friday night. Ohio State student organization Off the Lake Productions will put on its annual musical this weekend, “The Addams Family.”

OTL’s presentation of “The Addams Family” revisits the peculiar clan a few years after the events of the 1991 movie, “The Addams Family,” and 1993’s “Addams Family Values.” In the OSU club’s production, Wednesday Addams falls for a regular guy from Ohio, instigating a host of shenanigans.

“It’s really about how there is no ‘normal,’ and that basically all families have their issues, but love conquers all,” said Erin McQuay the play’s director and a fourth-year in strategic communication.

While many cast and crew members are not pursuing acting as a profession, the club provides a creative outlet to express their love of theater. There is a range of different backgrounds, ages and majors taking part in “The Addams Family,” and the diversity is something the organization embraces, McQuay said.

“Part of what makes OTL so special is how different our members are,” she said. “Everyone comes from different backgrounds and majors, which creates this amazing variety of experiences and perspectives within the group. It really ends up helping us create an amazing show.”

Courtney Tipton, a third-year medical student who is portraying Grandma Addams, joined the group when she began medical school to continue her love of the arts. Tipton dual majored in cellular molecular biology and theater at the University of Michigan for undergrad and said she didn’t want to let her creative side go in graduate school.

Despite her plans to become a physician, Tipton said she isn’t leaving behind her passion for musical theater behind.

“I started doing musical theatre when I was probably seven years old,” she said. “I’ve been in over 25 shows at this point. It’s just something that I keep coming back to, something that performing arts is a huge part of my life. Even though I’m pursuing medicine as a career it’s something that I couldn’t give up.”

The cast and crew have been working on the production since it was chosen in April and their work culminates in five shows over the next two weekends. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., March 3 at 8 p.m. and March 4 at 4:30 and 8 p.m.

Tickets to “The Addams Family” are available at the door of Hitchcock Hall 131 for $1 or a canned-food donation. No cash will be accepted, only credit or debit card, BuckID and Venmo. Monetary donations go directly to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Columbus and canned goods to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank.

Editor’s note: Erin McQuay is the assistant production manager at Lantern TV