Pueblo County Addams Family Musical receives 4 nominations for state awards

The Arts Academy at Pueblo County High will be well represented this year at the Colorado high school version of the Tony Awards.

Through its production of "The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy" in March, Pueblo County High School received four nominations for the Bobby G Musical Theatre Awards in Denver. The ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. at the Ellie Calkins Opera House, 1385 Curtis St., on Thursday, May 18.

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Mark Gomez, a senior at County, has been nominated for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role. He played Gomez Addams in "The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy." Freshman Elliet Johnson, who played Pugsley Addams, was nominated for the Robert and Judy Newman Rising Star Award.

Behind the scenes, junior Ayneli Gonzalez Parra and sophomore Willow Stephenson are nominees for Outstanding Hair and Make-Up Design. Freelance music instructor Becca Klock and instrumental music teacher Josh Mueller are nominees for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Direction.

"Every single person contributes and that's why we have such strong productions," said Taylor Gilman, drama teacher and director. "Being able to see a variety of people be acknowledged for their hard work — it makes me so exceptionally proud to be a part of this group."

Klock and Mueller worked with 17 student orchestral musicians and 29 vocalists during production of the musical. Students played and sang compositions identical to those in the Broadway production of "The Addams Family" with music by Andrew Lippa. Compositions in the play were based on a variety of complex Latin styles.

"It's something you really have to immerse (students) in and teach them the feel of how the music is rather than just reading straight from the page," Klock said. "They have to feel it."

This is the second Bobby G Musical Theatre Awards in which Gonzalez Parra and Stephenson have been nominated. The duo was part of a five-student team nominated for outstanding costume design in last year's production of "Zombie Prom." Other members of last year's costume design team included Joy Lopez, Grace Secora and Paloma Tapia.

"(Lopez), our former lead, I think everything we do is to make her proud ... I think our big goal is to just make the people that came before us proud," Stephenson said.

As a nominee for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role, Gomez has been rehearsing with nine other lead nominees throughout the state to perform at the Bobby G Musical Theatre Awards ceremony. Judges will score the lead nominees based on their performance in the role they were nominated for, along with their onstage performance in the ceremony.

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The winner of the Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role award will be invited to the national Jimmy Awards in New York hosted by High School Musical star Corbin Bleu on June 26.

While Gomez is part of a star-studded senior class graduating later this month, the future is promising for the Arts Academy at County High. Johnson has not only demonstrated her acting chops while playing Pugsley Addams, she also has demonstrated talent as a writer by winning an award in the Denver Center for Performing Arts' Middle and High School Playwriting Competition.

Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached by email at JBartolo@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo musical receives nominations for 4 statewide 'Bobby G' awards