Feb. 10—MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Colquitt County High School Choir Program opened its musical, "The Addams Family," to a nearly full house Thursday night at Willie B. Withers Auditorium.

The musical is inspired by American cartoonist Charles Addams' cartoons, 1960s television series and later 1990s movie titled "The Addams Family." Shows will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, and Saturday, Feb. 11, and the final show will be 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12.

The main cast members of Thursday night spoke with The Observer on what potential attendees could look forward to.

Wednesday Addams has become well known due to Netflix's 2022 comedy series release of "Wednesday." Lisa Loring, the American actress who originally played in the 1960s television sitcom, recently passed.

Julianna Chiasson, who played Wednesday Addams on Thursday night, said "[Wednesday is] very well known with the new television show, but I'm happy I get to portray her in a different perspective since she's happy in the show and she's in love."

The crowd was full of giggles and cheer when the students hit the stage with their opening performance "When You're an Addams."

Seniors Wade Swartzentruber and Holland Jarvis embodied their characters, Gomez and Morticia Addams.

"You'll be shocked at how advanced everything is from the sets to the acting, singing and music. Everything is so high class that you'll think you're watching a Broadway show and it's so worth it," Jarvis said in an interview prior to the musical.

Although the co-directors Bekah Ward and Jimbo Jarvis gave suggestions to the students, the students ultimately decided how they portrayed their character to the audience.

Morticia Addams is a reserved character. The audience can look forward to seeing a more emotional side of the matriarch, Jarvis said.

"You'll see her break down and show her feelings for once," she said.

Grandma was played by Marlie Daniels, a second-year choir student; Pugsley Addams was played by Mattie Jo Rigsby; Lurch was played by David Dos Santos and Uncle Fester was played by Enyer Oliveras.

The musical production has been in the works since October, and the cast began constructing the set in late December, co-director Jarvis told the audience. Thursday night was Rigsby,

Santos and Oliveras' first time participating in a musical and the CCHS Choir program. The students said being hands-on with the production has made the experience more memorable and made them more proud of the final outcome.

"It was a month of non-stop hard work," they said.

The audience had a great response to the show. Jade Horne, a graduate of CCHS, drove from Kennesaw, Ga., just to see it. Horne was a student director for three years during her time in the choir.

"The show was really good. The set was incredible. Obviously, the cast had fun and so did the audience which makes it a really great experience," Horne said.

Tickets for the remaining shows are on sale for $15 per person. Attendees can purchase an All-Access pass that allows entrance to all four shows for $40 each. Tickets can be purchased at the door, from a participating CCHS choir student or from the Colquitt County Tempo Club link: https://cchstempoclub.ticketleap.com.