Family takes center stage in Grant Community High School production

FOX LAKE – For those involved with Grant Community High School’s spring musical, the production is more than just another show.

They’ve rehearsed hours upon hours and worked since January to create the best show possible.

For some, it will be their last high school production.

For many, the theater has become home.

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Candace H. Johnson for Shaw Local News Network The Company works on the "Move Towards Darkness," in Act II during dress rehearsal for the Spring Musical-The Addams Family at Grant Community High School in Fox Lake. Performances are on Friday, April 21st and Saturday, April 22nd at 7:00pm and Sunday, April 23rd at 2pm. (4/18/23) (Candace H.Johnson)

“The spectacle and the stage and the shows are fantastic. It’s great being a part of that, but for me what really hits is the emotional connection I can make with the people around me,” senior Andre De Luna said. “That’s something I’ve never been able to experience outside of theater.”

De Luna will star as Gomez Addams in “The Addams Family Musical,” opening at 7 p.m. Friday, April 21, at Grant Community High School, 285 Grand Ave. in Fox Lake. Performances also are scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, April 22, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 23.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students and children. Tickets can be bought at www.grantbulldogs.org.

The musical depicts the ghoulish Addams family on a visit to the graveyard for an annual gathering of all family members – living, dead and undecided – to celebrate what it is to be an Addams.

“‘The Addams Family’ musical tells the story of love and friendship through adversity, with a comical and macabre yet poignant spin,” according to a description.

De Luna has performed on stages since second grade and wants to pursue a career in voice acting.

For students such as De Luna, high school theater productions mean everything. Athletes shine on fields and courts. Theater lovers give it their all on stages.

That’s apparent in this year’s production, said Jeff Austin, the musical’s director and an art teacher at Grant. From promotions to stage to sound to set production, the show involves more than 75 students.

“They’ve been working incredibly hard,” Austin said. “Every day, I’m humbled and in awe of their dedication. … Our dance routines for this show are amazing and the students are just completely on top of it. Every day I’m just a little bit more like, ‘Holy cow. These kids are the best.’ I might be a little biased.”

Austin has helped with the technical side of Grant theater productions for about 14 years and stepped into the director role for the first time this year.

His former student art director Amanda Jacobs, who is now an art teacher Grant, has taken on the role of art director for the musical.

“It’s a bit of a legacy,” Austin said.

As symbolized in a back hallway where seniors can leave their mark behind with Bulldog pawprints, Grant is all about legacy, he said, especially when it comes to this year’s musical.

“I really push that idea of family, legacy and tradition,” he said. “It deals so much with the idea of family, acceptance. The Addams accept everyone for who they are, and that’s really one of the big pulls.”

That message from the musical has carried over into rehearsals, he said, where talent and camaraderie combine.

“The [theater] community is just so amazing, and it’s where I met all of my friends,” said Samantha Lopatowski, a senior who plays Wednesday Addams in the production. Lopatowski began doing theater in kindergarten.

“Everyone is so supportive and caring of one another,” she said. “It becomes like a family and a whole new community. I’ve learned so many things about acting and singing I wouldn’t have learned otherwise.”

Starring as Morticia, junior Samantha Cruz said this year’s musical stands out because of the wide variety of elements, including a tap dance number, and the “many talented actors.”

Performing since she was three years old, Cruz hopes to pursue theater after high school.

“This role is definitely one of my favorites,” she said.

As Uncle Fester, senior Michael Sligting said he is channeling “Beetlejuice,” a character played by Michael Keaton in a 1988 film of the same name for his inspiration.

Like his castmates, he said it was tough getting through the pandemic years when live theater was limited. For them and the audience, that makes this year’s production even more poignant.

“Here I am being able to do my last production,” he said. “I’m going to give it my all.”