New theater group working on the Addams Family musical
A newly formed theater group is rehearsing for their debut show, which will soon take place at the Ro-Na Theater in Ironton.
The Ohio Valley Theater Group was recently formed by director Jessica Price, assistant director Katelyn Fowler, and music director Kaitlyn King-Moore, according to Jake Kinkade, an intern with the group.
In recent weeks, the group has rehearsed at the Yvonne DeKay School of Dance for “One Normal Night,” a musical based on the Addams family characters created by cartoonist Charles Addams.
“Wednesday Addams found love,” Kinkade says of the plot, in which the family’s daughter, played by Vinessa Fressola, turns 18 and is set to marry Lucas Beineke and the two instruct their families to act “normally.” . when they meet for a dinner.
“We have an amazing crew and we’ve worked hard to do it,” said Kinkade of the group, which has a cast of about 15 people under the age of 20.
He said the group is all Ironton-based and made up of members with experience in the Ironton High School theater program and local theater groups, as well as some beginners.
“This is our first show,” Kinkade said of the production.
Performances were originally scheduled for last week, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and positive cases among the cast, production has been halted and shows have been rescheduled, with details to be announced soon.
Kinkade said the group is especially grateful to Ironton’s friends who have allowed the use of Ro-Na, free of charge.
“They have been so generous,” he said. “Rick Jansen was incredible.”
He also thanked Yvonne Sinnott for using her school as a space for preparations.
Kinkade said the group hopes to perform several Addams family shows in the theater, which seats up to 200 people.
“We want to do four or five,” he said.
He said they also hope to have a showcase of artists during production, showing the work of local creators at the theater.
Kinkade said the group has received funding through community donors.
“Many generous people have helped us and we are always looking for donations,” he said.
Moving on, he said the focus is on this show first.
“We are really excited,” he said. “We have a wonderful team that has put all of this together.”
Subsequently, he said the group plans to offer theater classes in the off-season before starting their next production.
Tickets for the show cost $ 15 for adults and $ 12 for children 12 and under. They can be purchased at the door or by visiting www.ovpaa.org. Details on the new dates will be announced shortly. The group also has a Facebook page for updates.
Addams worked with the Ironton native at the New Yorker
The Ohio Valley Theater Group will perform a musical version of the Addams family.
It’s a suitable choice for their first production, as Charles Addms, the creator of the famous macabre characters, has a small connection with Ironton, in acclaimed cartoonist Gardner Rea.
Born in 1894 in Ironton to an art-focused family, Rea sold his first cartoon at the age of 15 to Life magazine.
He went on to attend Ohio State University, where he was the founder of the school’s humor magazine, The Sundial.
Eventually, Rea moved to Manhattan, where he found his fame by making designs and covers for the newly launched New Yorker magazine and was part of his original lineup as cartoonists.
Rea also had other artists he wrote draw gags, and one of those cartoonists was newcomer Charles Addams, who joined the magazine in the early 1930s.
Addams would then go on to write and draw his signature characters and debut them in The New Yorker in 1938, where they would appear until his death in 1988. They have since been adapted for television, film, animation and stage. .
Rea died in 1966 in New York. The work of the Ironton native is included in the collection of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and the OSU museum in Columbus.
