News: Young Cast Wanted For Customs House Show

SUMMER SCHOOL RETURNS WITH A ‘MONSTER’ HIT

Young Cast Wanted For Customs House Show

 

The Customs House is looking for creepy and kooky young actors to join its Summer School production of The Addams Family.

And if they’re mysterious and spooky too, all the better!

The Addams Family started as a cartoon series in The New Yorker, penned by American cartoonist Charles Addams, which ran from 1938 until his death in 1988.

The macabre household has since been depicted on TV, in both live action and animated form, in film and most recently, on Broadway and the West End in a new musical comedy.

It is this musical version that will be adapted by The Customs House Summer School this year and applications to take part are now open.

The Addams Family characters are Gomez and Morticia Addams, their children, Wednesday and Pugsley, close family members Uncle Fester and Grandmama, their butler Lurch, the disembodied hand Thing and Gomez’s Cousin Itt.

Director Gareth Hunter

Director Gareth Hunter said: “The Addams Family is a great show full of catchy tunes and comedy moments. People may not know the show, but they know the characters and the quality and talent that the Summer School has become known for. We are looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces and hopefully new ones at the auditions.”

Gomez was played by John Astin in the 1960s live action TV series, Raul Julia in The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values films in the early 1990s and Tim Curry in the TV film The Addams Family Reunion in 1998.

Morticia - the real head of the eccentric family - has been portrayed by Carolyn Jones in the original TV series, Anjelica Huston in The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values and Daryl Hannah in The Addams Family Reunion.

Last year’s Summer School cast for Legally Blonde 

The Addams Family Musical opened on Broadway in 2010, starring Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia, which was followed by a North America tour in 2011 and a UK tour in 2017. Featuring an original story, it sees Gomez do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his wife when his daughter confides in him that she has fallen for a ‘normal’ boy. So what happens when they invite his family over for dinner?

Last year’s Summer School production of Legally Blonde was named Best Amateur Musical in the North East Theatre Guide Best of 2017.

Gareth will be joined once again by an award-winning team of Andrew Clarence as musical director and Hazel Pude, who will be in charge of choreography.

The Customs House Summer School is open to children aged eight to 21 and runs from Monday, July 23, to Sunday, August 12. The production will conclude with five performances over three days.

The project will be held at The Customs House, Mill Dam, South Shields, working between the hours of 10am and 5pm, with some weekends and additional rehearsals for principal roles. There is a participation fee, but some funded places are available.

To take part, download an application form from The Customs House website www.customshouse.co.uk and return it with two passport-sized photographs no later than Monday, April 16.

All applicants will be invited to attend an audition on Sunday, April 22, from 10am to 5pm.