Ready for Season Two of ‘Wednesday’? Watch this play while you wait

Within three weeks of airing, “Wednesday,” the series based on the teenage daughter of the Addams family, became the most watched show of all time on Netflix with over 252 million views.

The reason for its popularity goes beyond the novelty of a Goth family or even Tim Burton’s signature style. The reason is resonance, said Robert Michael Sanders, the director of the upcoming production of “The Addams Family” musical at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

“The show has this message that just happens to resonate now, where everybody is embraced for their differences,” Sanders said. “It sounds cheesy, but it’s about acceptance, and the world doesn’t have a lot of that right now.”

From the beginning, “The Addams Family,” which first aired on television in 1964, has been about bringing together different types of people, Sanders said. Even though they’re weird, they accept everyone else and “are the epitome of people being open-minded.”

What’s more, everyone who gets to know the family’s dynamics takes away something different. For Sanders, it’s acceptance, but for members of the cast, self-confidence and familial bonds took center stage.

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Similar to the Netflix series, the play at MSU Denver revolves around Gomez and Morticia Addams’ only daughter, Wednesday, and the conflict she faces as she falls in love with someone who doesn’t share her family’s macabre sensibilities. Breakout star Chloe Price, 18, who plays Wednesday, said what really appeals to her about the play is Wednesday’s demeanor.

“I love how Wednesday is very comfortable being different,” Price said. “It wasn’t something that ever needed to change for her, and I really like that because a lot of women in media are portrayed in a similar way but Wednesday is really different from the norm.”

Price grew up in a Goth family and was familiar with the “Addams Family” characters prior to the play. She’s also a big fan of Jenna Ortega’s take on Wednesday in the TV series and the modern additions to her character, such as playing the cello and writing a blog.

“I also really love how she does have those moments where her emotions and her feelings do really show through,” Price said.

Perhaps that’s why the role — her first outside of high school — was a natural fit for her, to the point where you can’t tell where Wednesday ends and Price begins, Sanders said. “So much of (Price) is in the role,” he said. “It’s less somebody trying to act like Wednesday and so much of her. She’s able to be very stoic and yet very emotional at the same time.”

While the musical numbers take full advantage of the family’s peculiarities, including their “taste for death,” Price believes the play’s staying power stems from its emphasis on family. “It works because no family is perfect,” Price said, adding that the show resonates because everyone has a weird side to them and that the family members love one another no matter how they express themselves.

Chrisnel Akele, who plays Gomez, couldn’t agree more. He had been Gomez’s understudy in high school, and though the MSU Denver senior wasn’t planning to join another Theatre Department production this year, he couldn’t resist. Gomez has always appealed to him because the character has such strong family values.

“This play is about family and how you rely on each other for support,” Akele said. “And the moment it’s gone, you just get lost quite easily. So I hope people see the different ways of loving one another — and that it’s OK for people to be weird.”

Akele has helped guide some of the younger cast members, such as Price, by having fun and allowing their relationships to shine on stage but also in a more literal sense, said Samantha Atchison, who plays Morticia. She praised Akele for helping her let go while learning the tango.

“Partnered dances are always the most difficult because you have to entirely trust that the other person will catch you if you fall,” Atchison said. “I had to learn to relinquish control and trust Chrisnel to literally have my back.”

The joy that the students find in the bonds they form makes their performances extra-special, Sanders said, adding that so many of the cast members are “just blowing the doors off.” He has no reservations about whether “The Addams Family” will be a crowd-pleaser while still addressing modern themes.

“Nobody will leave depressed or sad about the world,” Sanders said. “Even though there are some contemporary themes in there, this play is about embracing the weirdness and figuring out what your path is moving forward.”