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There are few things that bring my theater-loving family more joy than watching a beloved classic come to life on stage. When I heard that The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy was coming to the Morris Performing Arts Center in South Bend this March, I literally squealed with delight. If you could have seen me jumping up and down in my kitchen, phone in hand, you’d have thought I’d won the lottery—or at least found a way to make my children clean their rooms without threatening to sell their belongings on eBay.
A Family Affair (Both On and Off Stage)
Last Halloween, our family went all out with our Addams Family costumes. My husband transformed into the dashing Gomez, complete with pinstripe suit and mustache that made him look less like a romantic Latino lover and more like a questionable used car salesman. I channeled my inner Morticia with a floor-length black dress and dead-straight hair, which my teenagers helpfully pointed out wasn’t much of a stretch from my everyday “dead inside” mom aesthetic.
Disclosure: I was gifted tickets to attend the show. However, all opinions and love of theater are my own.
The kids? They embraced their roles as Wednesday and Pugsley with an enthusiasm that was both heartwarming and slightly concerning. Bella’s Wednesday braids were perfect, though her scowl was perhaps too authentic—the result of me confiscating her phone for the evening. Finding fake poison bottles as props was… interesting. Let’s just say our local craft store employees now have us on some kind of watch list.
We even thought of getting our dog, Stella, involved as Cousin It with a blonde wig but we had to accept she looks more like Scooby than Cousin It. Poor thing spent the evening walking away from us and giving us looks that clearly said, “I don’t get paid enough treats for this humiliation.”
So when the American Theatre Guild announced that the Broadway National Tour of The Addams Family would be part of the 24-25 BROADWAY IN SOUTH BEND Series, taking the stage March 14-16, 2025, it felt like fate. Or perhaps a haunting. Either way, we’re here for it.
Why This Show Speaks to Us (Besides My Natural Affinity for the Macabre)
I’ve always believed that the Addams Family represents something special in American culture. On the surface, they’re macabre and mysterious, but at their core, they’re a family that loves fiercely and accepts each other completely—which is more than I can say for my relatives who still bring up my “goth phase” at every Thanksgiving dinner.
As a mother who writes about the messy truth of family life, I find the Addams Family incredibly relatable. They embrace chaos while maintaining unwavering family loyalty. Meanwhile, I’m over here just trying to convince my children that wearing the same sweatshirt for three weeks straight is, in fact, not acceptable in polite society.
The musical’s storyline centers on Wednesday Addams—the ultimate princess of darkness—who has grown up and fallen in love with a “normal” young man from a respectable family. She confides in Gomez and begs him not to tell Morticia, forcing him to do something truly terrifying: keep a secret from his beloved wife. Everything changes on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s boyfriend and his parents.
Can anyone else relate to family secrets threatening to unravel during important dinners? Raises hand enthusiastically while having flashbacks to the time my Gabs announced that I was in “heat” after catching a glimpse of me flushing a tampon.
More Than Just a Show (It’s Cheaper Than Family Therapy)
On the heels of “Wednesday”—the third most-watched show in Netflix history—this musical feels more relevant than ever. These characters created by Charles Addams have remained beloved for generations because they remind us that “normal” is relative, and the family that embraces their uniqueness together, stays together. Or as we say in our house, “The family that’s weird together, doesn’t have to explain themselves to the neighbors… as much.”
I can already imagine my daughters’ faces lighting up when they see Wednesday on stage, though she’ll pretend to be unimpressed because she’s 20 (as of Monday) and legally obligated to act like nothing her mother suggests is cool. Gabs will undoubtedly cackle at Pugsley’s antics while taking mental notes for future torment of her sister. And my husband? He’ll be squeezing my hand during Gomez and Morticia’s romantic moments, whispering, “Why don’t we dance like that anymore?” To which I’ll reply, “Because my back went out last month when I sneezed too hard, dear.”
These shared experiences are what build our family story—one awkward, slightly twisted moment at a time.
The Details You Need (Because I’m Helpful Like That)
Performance Schedule:
- Friday, March 14, 2025: 7:30 p.m. (Perfect for date night, assuming you can find a babysitter brave enough to watch your little monsters)
- Saturday, March 15, 2025: 2:00 & 7:30 p.m. (Matinee for those of us who can’t stay awake past 9 p.m. anymore)
- Sunday, March 16, 2025: 2:00 p.m. (Just in time to go home and panic about the upcoming work week)
Tickets are available at BroadwayInSouthBend.com, MorrisCenter.org, and Etix.com. If you’ve got a group of 10 or more (family reunion, anyone? Or just the number of personalities living inside my head after a decade of parenting), you can score group ticket savings by contacting Groups@ATGuild.org.
Important PSA: Only purchase tickets through these official sources to avoid inflated prices and ticket guarantee issues! Because the only thing scarier than Thing is paying double for tickets that turn out to be fake. Trust me, we’ve all been bamboozled.
Join Our Theater-Obsessed Family (We Promise Not to Judge Your Singing)
Whether you’ve been an Addams Family fan since the original cartoons (thanks mom and dad for letting me watch in syndication), fell in love with the 90s movies (Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston, forever), or discovered them through the Netflix series (which my kids insist is “actually good, Mom”), this musical promises to deliver something for everyone.
It’s the perfect show for families like mine who appreciate that sometimes the most beautiful love stories come with a touch of darkness, and the strongest families are those who celebrate their weirdness together. After all, in a world where everyone’s trying to appear perfect on social media, there’s something refreshingly honest about a family whose house looks like it’s perpetually ready for Halloween.
We’ll be there opening night, probably overdressed and definitely overexcited. Look for the family singing along a bit too loudly—that’ll be us. I’ll be the one with black lipstick slightly smeared on my teeth, whispering “please don’t embarrass me” to my husband while simultaneously taking 47 photos of our children looking annoyed.
Mysterious and spooky, altogether ooky… see you at the theater! Unless you’re normal. In which case, why are you even reading my blog?
