The Addams Family

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 USING THE FIELD GUIDE
Camp Broadway is pleased to bring you this edition of
StageNOTES™ written for The Addams Family.

By using StageNOTES™, you will understand how

The Addams Family raises questions about current social
conditions (Social Studies), expands our visual and verbal
vocabulary (Language Arts), encourages creative thinking
and expression (The Arts), illuminates the human condition
(Behavioral Studies), and aids in our own self-exploration
(Life Skills).

Joan Marcus
The Camp Broadway creative team, consisting of theater educators, scholars, researchers,
and theater professionals, has developed a series of lesson plans that are inspired by
and themed around the musical The Addams Family. To assist you in preparing your
presentation of each lesson, we have included a discussion topic; a writing assignment;
Adam Riegler, Jackie Hoffman, Bebe Neuwirth, Nathan Lane, Kevin Chamberlin, and an exploration activity that encourages students to research and investigate on
Krysta Rodriugez and Zachary James in The Addams Family. their own.

The curriculum categories offered in The Addams Family study guide have been informed

Table of Contents by the basic standards of education detailed in Content Knowledge: A Compendium of
Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education, 2nd Edition, written by John S. Kendall and
Using the Field Guide................................................................................................1 Robert J. Marzano (1997). This definitive compilation was published by Mid-Continent
Regional Education Laboratory, Inc. (McREL) and the Association for Supervision and
Synopsis of the musical The Addams Family................................................................2 Curricular Development (ASDC) after a systematic collection, review, and analysis of
noteworthy national and state curricular documents in all subjects.
Overture to The Arts.................................................................................8
 Charles Addams: The Man Behind the Macabre The study guide for The Addams Family is for you, the educator, in response to your need
Overture to History and Social Studies.....................................12 for standards-compliant curriculum. We hope this study guide will help you incorporate
 The Addams Family—A Cultural Phenomenon The Addams Family into your classroom activities.
 Cartoonists of The New Yorker
Overture to Language Arts...............................................................18
 The Comics on Broadway: Adapting Cartoons to the Stage Rob Hartmann

Overture to Behavioral Studies.......................................................22

 Charles Addams: Facing Fear Through Art
 “Honesty is the Best Policy”
Chief Creative Officer
Overture to Life Skills..............................................................................24 Camp Broadway
 The Addams Family: Define Normal
Sources.....................................................................................................................29
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 Synopsis of

H
undreds of years ago, the Addams
family ancestors came from the old
country and settled on a plot of land
in what is now New York’s Central
Park. This was, of course, long
before it was a park, when it was still wilderness and
garbage. The family flourished for many generations,
and eventually, a huge house was built where a great
Spanish oak, the Addams Family Tree, had been
planted to protect the ancestral graves from such

Joan Marcus
annoyances as sunlight and tourists.

As the curtain rises, the last dead leaf of autumn

falls from the Family Tree, and all is right with
the morbid, macabre world of Gomez, Morticia,
Fester, Grandma, Wednesday, Pugsley and Lurch.
They’ve gathered – where else? – in the family Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane in
graveyard, to celebrate life and death in a yearly The Addams Family.
ritual to connect with their past and ensure their
future. They seem at peace, not just with each But, at the end of the ritual, Fester blocks the
other and their inimitable, unchanging Addams- ancestors’ return to their graves. Those unchanging
ness, but with their dead ancestors, too – who Addams family values are about to be tested. He
emerge from their graves on this night each year enlists their help to set things right, just in case a
to join in this celebration of continuity. new family secret goes terribly wrong. What’s the

Matt Hoyle
2 | | 3
 secret? Wednesday Addams, that irresistible bundle of malice, has grown up and decided to get married, though it’s clear they haven’t really thought such a big step
found love. So what’s the problem? The young man, Lucas Beineke, is from through. Lucas, trying to be cool, decides that he’ll break the news – when the
Ohio, and his parents are coming to dinner to meet the family. Two different time is right. Sometime during dinner.
worlds are about to collide. Will love triumph, or will everyone go home
vaguely depressed?

Gomez and Morticia are understandably leery. Wednesday is their baby, even if she is
Wednesday Addams, that irresistible bundle of
eighteen. Their doubts bloom into actual terror when they eavesdrop on Wednesday, malice, has grown up and found love.
who, in the midst of her afternoon play-date with Pugsley, refuses to torture her
Bebe Neuwirth
brother and involuntarily bursts into song – extolling all things bright and beautiful as
Nathan Lane as love pulls her in an entirely new, and cheerful, direction. Like any parents faced In a damp and moldy grotto in the bowels of the house, Gomez and Mal share Morticia
with a child in terrible trouble, they wonder, “Where did we go wrong?” cigars and “guy stuff ” – as Gomez shows Mal his collection of exotic torture
as devices, and introduces him to one of the family pets – Bernice, a giant squid that
Addams
Gomez Addams Wednesday begs her parents not to cancel the dinner, and exhorts the entire came up one night through the toilet. While Gomez tries to find out what makes
family to act as ‘normal’ as possible when Lucas and his parents arrive. She loves this Beineke fellow tick, Mal makes an offer to buy the house. Citing the sacred
her family just the way they are, but they clearly fall outside the realm of what the history of how these two acres were deeded to his great ancestor, Gomez politely,
Middle-American Beinekes are used to, and Wednesday’s afraid that, if his parents but firmly, refuses.
don’t approve of her, they’ll take Lucas back to Ohio, and she’ll never see him
again. Morticia and Alice have settled down in Morticia’s boudoir, leafing through family
photos and sharing stories about their kids. But the spider in Morticia draws in
Like any unconditionally loving the fly that is Alice, and before long, it’s clear that Alice’s marriage has lost some
family, the Addams’ promise to of its spark. Alice’s absolute belief that “women our age have had our fun, done
do their best to oblige, while, lost everything we’ve going to do, and now it’s time to step aside for the children,”
somewhere in Central Park, young gives Morticia pause.
Lucas asks his parents to resist any When Morticia overhears Wednesday and Lucas mocking their parents’ wasted
judgments and all catastrophic lives, the pause becomes a panic. Gomez, tempting her with a pre-dinner tango,
conflicts, so both families can tries to entice her from her malaise. But Morticia – suddenly convinced that the
enjoy one normal night. best times are behind her, that she and Gomez have wasted their lives – turns him
down, leaving her adoring husband alone and unsatisfied.
But the moment Lurch ushers
the Beinekes inside the decrepit In yet another part of the house, Pugsley, having witnessed Wednesday and Lucas
mansion, tension begins to making out, worries that he’s lost his best friend to her new, disgustingly sunny
mount. Mal, Lucas’s father, in disposition. Plotting to break up the happy couple, Pugsley steals a volatile potion
the demolition business, takes from Grandma’s private stache – Acrimonium – one swig of which is guaranteed to
Jackie an immediate interest in tearing bring out the dark side in anyone who drinks it.
Hoffman down the house. Alice, Lucas’s Adam Riegler
mom, begins to spout happy “Are you unhappy, darling?” After what is likely a less-than-normal meal, Wednesday quiets the table for Lucas’
as poems at random – a nervous “Oh, yes, yes! Completely.” surprise announcement. But Gomez reminds Wednesday that, before anything
as
Grandma habit. Pugsley, Grandma and else happens, it’s time for the traditional Addams family game, “Full Disclosure” Pugsley
Fester try so hard to be normal, they could hardly be more peculiar. And – during which everyone takes a sip from a sacred chalice and reveals something
Wednesday, having worn black every day for eighteen years, comes downstairs they’ve never told anyone. Gomez uses his Disclosure to try, again in vain, to calm
to meet her boyfriend’s parents in a bright, yellow dress. Morticia. Fester announces that he’s in the throes of a most unlikely love – with the
moon. When it’s Wednesday’s turn, Pugsley seizes his chance! He secretly pours the
As soon as they’re alone, Wednesday and Lucas plot when to reveal the real Acrimonium potion in the chalice and passes it to his sister. But his plan to awaken
reason for getting the families together: They’re so much in love, they’ve

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 the dark side in Wednesday goes horribly wrong when Alice, coughing, intercepts the
chalice and downs the potion instead. A whole new Alice, very dark and uninhibited,
is born. The powerful poison prompts her to reveal the long-buried problems with
her marriage, humiliating Mal, who, fed up with all the weird and creepy events
of the evening, makes to leave, with Alice and Lucas in tow. Wednesday blurts out
the news: “Lucas and I are getting married!” Chaos engulfs both families like a tidal
wave, and Fester, ever-helpful, urges the Family Ancestors to work some magic –
whipping up a sudden, terrible storm and trapping the Beinekes with the Addams
family for the night.

Joan Marcus
While the storm rages,
Wednesday packs a bag,
but Lucas has no appetite
for running away and
Krysta getting married without Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane in a scene from The Addams Family.
Rodriguez his parents’ blessing.
as Wednesday, furious at
everything it means to be
the thing he was most resistant to – his baby girl’s growing up – is inevitable, and
proper. He sees that she’s a young woman in love. And that makes him happy. And
Wednesday normal, and furious at a tiny bit sad.
herself for trying so hard
to become somebody his With her father’s blessing, Wednesday offers Lucas one test to prove that he’s The

Joan Marcus
parents would accept, One. The test involves her skills with a crossbow, an apple, and Lucas standing
leaves alone. with said apple on his head in front of the family tree. The boy is afraid of death,
but even more afraid of losing Wednesday. He chooses the possibility of death over
One more of Gomez’ foot- the certainty of loss… and wins.
Nathan Lane and Krysta Rodrieguez
in-mouth episodes prompts in The Addams Family
Morticia to throw him out
of her boudoir. Her world is Once the rains have stopped, Fester heads outside
changing and she’s not ready, and her only comfort is knowing that death is waiting for for a couple of hours of moon-bathing
her, just around the corner. But it is very cold comfort indeed.
Far below, in the grotto, Gomez and Mal, two displaced husbands, realize they
In the guest room, Alice, under the influence of the darkness potion, can no longer have more in common than they would have dared imagine only a few hours
rhyme. Neither can she tolerate her husband’s cynical attacks on Lucas and love. earlier. When Mal reveals a childhood desire to swim, just once, in the warm
She packs him off with a pillow and blanket to sleep somewhere else, as the storm ocean with the beautiful fish that beguiled him as a boy, Gomez leads him to the
inside her heart, and outside in the park, rumbles to a conclusion. gentle, grasping tentacles of Bernice, the squid. While Mal swims with the giant
cephalopod, Lurch ushers Alice down to the grotto. She’s a woman on a mission;
Once the rains have stopped, Fester heads outside for a couple of hours of moon- she’s going to lay down the law; changes must be made if the marriage is to
bathing, realizing – after observing the three couples fighting – the sheer luck of survive. But when she finds Mal, slimed and suckered from his swim, he’s a new
being in a long-distance relationship, with the distant silver orb in the sky that man. Embracing a dimly-remembered childhood dream in the arms of that squid
smiles down on him from the heavens. has helped Mal rediscover his love for Alice!

Sitting under the family tree, contemplating the twists and turns of this most
unusual night, Gomez stops Wednesday on her way out of the park. He realizes

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 following year made Charles decide to leave art Yorker. This first
Overture to The Arts school in favor of a job retouching crime scene
photographs for True Detective magazine.
cartoon depicted
a then-unnamed
Morticia (a lithe, dark
Addams’ first real success didn’t come until 1933, beauty inspired by his
Charles Addams:
when his second New Yorker cartoon was accepted. first wife, Barbara)
The Man Behind the Macabre This cartoon depicted three hockey players in full and a large man, later
uniform on the ice, one of them looking sheepish to be known as butler
and without skates. The caption read, “I forgot Lurch, standing in the
my skates.” Addams’ signature dark style had yet foyer of a dilapidated

C
harles Addams, the beloved creator of to emerge. Despite his early successes, he was Victorian house.
the dark and delightful Addams Family They are listening to
and thousands of other characters, was
born in Westfield, New Jersey in 1912. Addams
It was in 1940, with his “The a vacuum salesman

had a wonderful childhood complete with Skier” cartoon, that Addams pitch, “Vibrationless,
“Vibrationless, noiseless, and a
noiseless, and a great
devoted parents and middle-class comforts. His received worldwide attention and time and back saver.
great time and back saver.
No well-appointed home
first foray into art was at the age of eight when his first taste of fame. No well-appointed should be without it.”

Reprinted with permission from the Tee and

he was arrested for breaking into a Victorian home should be
house that was undergoing repairs and drawing fearful that he would “run out of funny things”. without it.” The house, in grand Addams style,
skeletons all over the walls. According to Linda In March of 1935, Addams found inspiration in is covered in cobwebs, dust, and crawling with

Charles Addams Foundation

Davis, Addams’ biographer, young Charles was a new cartoon—his drawing depicted a tabloid creatures, including a sinister figure peeking
“known as something of a rascal around the reading “Sex Fiend Slays Tot” amidst a line of New down from the top of the stairs. After the cartoon
neighborhood.” In her book, “Charles Addams: York Times’ rolling off a printing press. The success entitled “Vacuum Cleaner” debuted, Addams
A Cartoonist’s Life” she quotes Addams, “In of the risqué cartoon opened Addams up to a new made no plans to develop the dark characters
Westfield, I was always aware of the sinister style and freed him to explore his dark side. The further, but was encouraged by Harold Ross (New
family situations behind those Victorian façades.” pieces that followed featured touches of macabre Yorker founder) to explore “more characters in the
Addams got many of his ideas for his darker interest in the spirits of the dead.” Addams lived humor including a 1935 drawing depicting a delicious house.” A year later, Addams submitted
cartoons from his memories of Westfield, and in his imagination, and soon, that imagination woman, in a roller coaster car filled to capacity and his second Family cartoon. A few more followed,
from the stories drifting around town of family began to live on the page. When he was twelve, his inching up the first drop, pointing to the sky and including the introduction of Grandma, modeled
scandals. He also drew heavily from his own mother brought some of his drawings to the world exclaiming, “Alfred, look! Vultures!” after his own, and Morticia’s lover Gomez,
office of the New York Herald, where cartoonist modeled after Thomas E. Dewey crossed with a
H.T. Webster told her that Addams had no talent,
His first foray into art was and to forget him ever having an art career. The
It wasn’t until April 6th, 1938 that the first Addams pig. Even with the addition of more characters,
Family cartoon crept into the pages of The New Addams was uninspired by his family, and rarely
at the age of eight when he next year, Addams won his first drawing contest. made them the subjects of his cartoons.
was arrested for breaking into
After short stints at Colgate and the University
a Victorian house that was of Pennsylvania, Addams enrolled in the Grand
It was in 1940, with his “The Skier” cartoon, that
Addams received worldwide attention and his
undergoing repairs and drawing Central School of Art. One day in 1931, while first taste of fame. A simple drawing illustrating a
skeletons all over the walls. cutting class, he submitted a sketch of a window perplexed skier watching as another skier skis down
washer on a tall building to The New Yorker a slope leaving tracks in the snow—one on each side
offices, forgetting to include a return address. A of a tree as if she had gone right through it. Addams,
fears, especially his claustrophobia. According few months later, when he returned to the offices then 28, received more purchase and reprint
to Davis, Charles inherited his fears from his to pick up his drawing, he learned his work had requests for his cartoon than any other published in
mother: “Charlie...shared her fearfulness. And he been accepted. Although his career was off to The New Yorker that year. Later Addams expressed
developed something more than a typical childish a promising start, the death of his father the regret for selling the drawing for only $35.

8 | | 9
Despite his newfound fame, Addams was still as a sinister character. Davis remarks, “People and libraries including The Museum of the City of What are some expectations you’ve had about
haunted by the dark family that had begun to expected Charles Addams to live among crossbows New York, The New York Public Library, and The someone that turned out to be wrong? In what ways
emerge in his cartoons. According to Davis, and skulls...and the cartoonist was happy to Library of Congress, where his works are part of their can we keep ourselves from making generalizations
Addams told a reporter, accommodate them.” Addams even used a permanent collections. about people based on their outward appearance or
discarded headstone he found in a desecrated the way others perceive them?
People always want to know more about them, but graveyard reading, “Little Sarah, Aged Three” In 1988, Charles Addams died of a heart attack inside
I’ve never been able to figure out what they’re doing. as a cocktail table in his apartment. “He had his car, parked in front of his apartment. Addams’ wife, The Arts
Maybe they are at a gathering with some hobby in the unfortunate tendency to laugh at funerals”, Tee Addams remarked in his September 30th, 1988
common. I’ve become quite attached to them. I think remarked one of his close friends. Davis speculates New York Times obituary, “He’s always been a car buff, Writing
maybe I’m in love with the young looking witch. that Addams was merely satisfying the world’s so it was a nice way to go.” Charles Addams was inspired to
perception of him, “Addams Define create his ghoulish Addams Family
He didn’t have to wait long himself had invited the Normal characters from people in his life.
for his answer. In 1944, misperception—if only in Think of a member of your family
Addams expanded his family— jest...He had long delighted in or a close friend and use them as
including two children in telling reporters about some the inspiration for a short story. What are some
his latest drawing entitled of the gifts he had received: special things about them that would make them the
“Poison” featuring a round, a gilded skull, a human subject of a good story? Do they have a specific look
mean-looking little blonde thighbone...he was known to or style that sets them apart? What about them is
boy with a glass bottle and a picnic in graveyards, and he humorous, mysterious or exciting?
thin, anemic-looking girl with sometimes took souvenirs.”
braids wearing a black dress Addams once remarked that he In thinking about the traits that set them apart,
complaining to her mother. thought he looked like Uncle consider what impact your story will have on how
The caption reads, “Well don’t Fester (a character added to the the person is perceived by those who read the story.

Joan Marcus
come whining to me. Go tell cartoon in the mid 1940’s), a Will the reader’s opinion of the person change based
him you’ll poison him right “toothless grinning ghoul” who on what they read in your story? Will something
back.” The children later was depicted in one cartoon that is perceived as “normal” to you be seen as odd
became known as Pugsley sitting in the audience of a to a reader who doesn’t know the subject as well as
and Wednesday in the 1964 movie laughing at a scene that you? Think about other stories you know that have
television series. The popularity was making everyone else in the characters that you think are odd or different. Does
Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as your experience with your own story change how
of his Addams Family cartoons began to grow theater cry. Davis notes, “One quickly saw that the Gomez and Morticia
despite their relative scarcity in his output (only Addams wit, unlike that of many comic geniuses, you perceive other characters?
30 out of 244 were Family cartoons in the 1940’s). was not confined to his art.”
Davis recalls, The Arts The Arts

Like film stars, they attracted a devoted and eager

Despite his reputation as a ghoul himself, Addams
was a consummate professional who took his
Discussion Explore
following. Even the children of New Yorker readers, who art very seriously. Over his nearly 60-year career, “People expected Charles Addams to live among Charles Addams created thousands of cartoons
would not otherwise have picked up the magazine, had Addams maintained his position as one of the most crossbows and skulls...and the cartoonist was happy during his life as a cartoonist. Go to the library
come to watch for the cartoons that made scary things celebrated cartoonists of all time. He created several to accommodate them.”—Linda Davis and look through one of Charles Addams’ fifteen
funny and celebrated breaking the rules...the children thousand cartoons and drawings. In addition, published anthologies of cartoons. Find a cartoon
who loved Addams’ cartoons understood that there was fifteen anthologies of his work have been published Charles Addams had a reputation for being as that excites you, and write a short story using it as
nothing really scary going on in them. in numerous languages worldwide. Addams’ Family ghoulish and sinister as his famous characters, but inspiration. If it has a caption, try to include the
cartoons have inspired a television show, two major many suspected that he was only satisfying the caption in your story. Make sure your story has a
While many seemed to understand that Addams’ motion pictures, a cartoon television show based on world’s perception of him. Was Charles Addams beginning, middle, and end. It can include dialogue
Family was more funny than scary, his dark the films, as well as a Broadway musical. Addams’ really as dark a figure as his characters, or was he or not. When you are finished, share the story and
subjects began giving him a personal reputation work can also be seen in many prominent museums merely playing a sinister role to fulfill the public’s the cartoon with a friend or family member.
expectations?
10 | | 11
 moonbathing and electric trains; as in
Overture to History and the cartoons, Morticia was observed
knitting three-armed garments, snipping
Social Studies rosebuds from their thorny stems, and
lovingly tending her garden of poison
hemlock and deadly nightshade.”

Films
The Addams Family—A Cultural Phenomenon
In 1991, Paramount Pictures released
the film The Addams Family. Directed
“They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky,
by Barry Sonnenfeld, the film starred
they’re altogether ooky: the Addams family.”
Anjelica Huston as Morticia, Raul
Julia as Gomez, Christopher Lloyd as

C
harles Addams’ iconic Family began as a Uncle Fester, and Christina Ricci as
single-panel cartoon first appearing in The Wednesday. The plot of the film centers
New Yorker magazine in 1938. Over 70 around a con artist and her son who try toy train, the octopus painted on the footboard of
years later, The Addams Family still thrives as a pop to steal the Addams fortune by passing the son off Wednesday’s bed, and Pugsley holding a road sign.
culture phenomenon, with characters appearing in as Gomez’s long-lost brother, Fester. The film pays In 1993, a sequel arrived: Addams Family Values.
commercials, merchandise, movies, television, and homage to the recreates many of the iconic images Retaining the same lead cast and director, the film
an upcoming Broadway musical. Take a look at from the Family’s early appearances in The New received greater critical acclaim than the first film
the history of The Addams Family as a pop Yorker. The most notable reference to the original because it focused more on the macabre humor
culture phenomenon. illustrations are in the film’s opening sequence that made the Family cartoons distinctive. In the
where the Addams family pours a cauldron of oil second film, the family tries to save Uncle Fester
Television on some Christmas carolers. Other images drawn from marrying his gold-digging new love interest,
In 1963, 25 years after they chilled the pages from the cartoons are the passengers on Gomez’s played by Joan Cusack. The film also introduced
of The New Yorker, Addams was asked to name a new baby Addams named “Pubert” which was
the members of his ghoulish Family (they had, Charles Addams’ original name for Pugsley. The
up until then, been nameless characters) for a film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Art/Set
new television series being developed by ABC. Direction and Anjelica Huston was, for the second
Addams named his three main characters first, time, nominated for a Best Actress Golden Globe.

Joan Marcus
Morticia (the tall, sleek mother), Wednesday (the The character
mischievous daughter), and Pugsley (Wednesday’s of Wednesday was named by
scheming brother whom Addams originally Commercials and
Aboriginals, LTD.—the company Merchandise
wanted to name Pubert), and as the television Kevin Chamberlin as Uncle Fester. that made the original Addams
series began to take shape, he named the rest of Family dolls for the television The Addams Family characters and famous
the family. He chose Gomez (the name of an old series. She is named after the theme have appeared in countless commercials
family friend) over Repelli (a name offered as an Vic Mizzy, featured a memorable four-note bass line “Wednesday’s child is full of since the 1960’s including advertisements for
option by the producers), Uncle Fester, Lurch (for line and finger-snap punctuation. woe” in the Mother Goose poem, Addams Family cereal, Crest toothpaste, Tostitos
the way the Frankensteinian butler walked), and Monday’s Child is Fair Tortilla Chips, Casa Modena (Spain), Coors Light
Grandma Frump (after his own Grandmother on John Astin starred as Gomez opposite Carolyn of Face. (featuring “Thing”), a 1995 Honda Odyssey
whom he had originally based the character). Jones as Morticia. Addams biographer Linda commercial featuring the cast of the second
Davis remarks, “Though the television family was film (Japan), and most recently as their M&Ms
The Addams Family premiered on ABC on Friday, a considerably softened version of the Addams counterparts to promote M&Ms Dark Candies.
September 18th, 1964, and ran for 64 regular originals, the show did make an attempt to
season episodes. The series theme song, written by honor the cartoons. This family was also fond of
12 | | 13
All sorts of Addams Family memorabilia can be disposable, the single-panel comic cartoon is also phrase, “Well back to the old drawing board” in
found on ebay.com and similar websites – Addams instantly forgettable.” one of his cartoons depicting an engineer walking
Charles Addams is one of
Family pinball machines, trading cards, magnets, away from a crashed plane. the few, if not the only, New
card games, the official movie magazine, and The New Yorker published its first issue in 1925 Yorker cartoonist whose name
Addams Family house model kits, demonstrating as an alternative to the unsophisticated humor Helen E. Hokinson (c. 1893-1949) is recognizable and can be
the long-lasting popularity of the Family with magazines of the time, and soon developed Helen E. Hokinson was a cartoonist for The New
collectors and fans. into one of the most well-known and respected Yorker in the 1930s and 40s; her work (captioned by
linked to his life’s work.
literary publications in the world. Although the James Reid Parker) is known for capturing the spirit
The cultural impact of the Addams Family is magazine offers a variety of essays, short stories, of that time. An estimated 1,700 of her drawings specifically for the magazine. His work has
significant: what began as an occasional cartoon commentaries, criticisms, poetry, and fiction, the were printed in the magazine from 1925 to the time been featured in over 80 museums and galleries
in The New Yorker gave rise to films, television most widely recognized element of its pages are its of her death in 1949. The majority of her cartoons worldwide including the 1958 Brussels World’s
series, commercials, merchandise of all kinds, and single-panel cartoons and distinctive cover art. depict robust, upper class women with a fondness for Fair and the Institute for Modern Art in Valencia,
now a Broadway musical. The Addams Family has fashion, pets, and gardens—her “marvelous matrons” Spain in 2002.
become an American icon. Charles Addams is one of the few, if not the only, they were called.
New Yorker cartoonist whose name James Thurber (c. 1894-1961)
is recognizable and can be linked In addition to her work at The New Yorker, James Thurber began writing for The New Yorker
to his life’s work. This is largely due Hokinson published several books of her own in 1927. He originally started as an editor, but
to his cartoons being adapted into cartoons, and, with Parker, created a monthly soon found his calling as a writer. His work as a
many other mediums including cartoon for Ladies Home Journal called “The Dear cartoonist began by accident when, in 1930, his
television, film, and theatre. Unlike Man”. Tragically, she died in 1949 in a mid-air friend and author of Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White,
Addams, most cartoonists whose collision over Washington National Airport. fished some of his drawings out of the trashcan
work has appeared in The New
Yorker over the course of its 84-year Saul Steinberg
history never achieve such status, (c. 1914-1999)
but are nonetheless important in Saul Steinberg is most
understanding the history and artistic famous for his 1976 New
landscape during which Charles Yorker cover “View of the
Addams lived and worked. World from 9th Avenue”
in which an abbreviated,
Following are profiles of six brilliant sparse US and Pacific
Cartoonists of New Yorker cartoonists who, in addition to Ocean is depicted beyond
The New Yorker Addams, strove to reflect the zeitgeist of the day the Hudson River.
and shape the humor of a century. According to The Saul
“What do you do?”
Steinberg Foundation,
“I’m a cartoonist.”
“his art is about the ways
“I love cartoons. Where do you publish?” Peter Arno (c. 1904-1968)

Joan Marcus
artists make art. Steinberg
“The New Yorker.” One of The New Yorker’s first cartoonists, Peter
did not represent what he
“I love The New Yorker. What’s your name?” Arno’s work was published in the magazine from
saw; rather, he depicted Nathan Lane (left) and company in The Addams Family.
“Frank Modell.” 1925-1968 and included 101 New Yorker covers
people, places, and even
“Yes? [Pause.] I’ve never heard of you.” and 600 drawings. Arno is credited with helping
numbers or words in styles
to save the struggling magazine in its early days, and submitted them for consideration. Thurber’s
borrowed from other art, high and low, past and
In the introduction to “The Comic Worlds of and was heralded in 1944 by Life magazine as the cartoon style was minimalist and appeared shaky
present...he elevated the language of popular
Peter Arno, William Steig, Charles Addams, and “...old master of The New Yorker cartoon school.” and ghostly due to a childhood injury that left
graphics to the realm of fine art.” During his
Saul Steinberg”, Frank Modell humorously relates His drawings often featured New York society of Thurber with deteriorating eyesight. By 1942,
60-year tenure with The New Yorker, Steinberg
a story that is the reality for most cartoonists. He the day including the “self-important executive” his sight was so bad that he had to use a Zeiss
created almost 90 covers and over 1,200 drawings
goes on to say, “Instantly enjoyable and instantly and the “well-endowed woman”. He originated the

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 Check out www.cartoonbank. “the magazines only certifiable genius” by David time? How about your parent’s generation? How
com to see some of the work Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, and has are these dynamics different from your own? How
been presented an honorary doctorate from Pratt are they the same? Can you think of traditions that
mentioned in this article. Institute. Chast’s cartoons and illustrations have have been passed down through the generations
been featured in nearly 50 magazines and several to you? Ask your parents or your grandparents to
In 1990, he created the picture book Shrek! which children’s books. In 2007, she teamed up with share some of their stories.
became the inspiration for the blockbuster movie Steve Martin to create a children’s book titled, “The
franchise and Broadway musical. In addition to his Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z!” Chast Social Studies
prolific career as a children’s book author and New
Yorker cartoonist, Steig published 13 collections of
continues to create art for The New Yorker and other
publications while living in Connecticut with her
Writing
drawings and was hailed by Newsweek as the “King What is “normal”? In the
family and a number of exotic parrots.
of Cartoons.” Define 1960s when The Addams
Normal Family was first becoming a
Roz Chast (c. 1954- ) cultural phenomenon, the
Roz Chast began her career at The New Yorker in definition of a “normal”
1979 less than two years out of college. In the 30 family was significantly different than it is
years following, Chast’s estimated 1,000 cartoons today. Is what was considered “normal” in
“Well don’t come whining to me. Go tell have been consistently featured in the magazine’s 1960 still considered normal today?
him you’ll poison him right back.” pages, varying from black and white and color
cartoons to covers. Her cartoons often depict good- An interesting way to explore what a
Loupe (a magnifying glass that fits to the face) in natured, ill-fated everyman characters who deal society defines as “normal” is through
order to continue drawing. In 1961, he died from with life’s struggles including money, aging, family advertisements. Take a look at copies of
complications due to pneumonia. issues, friends, and many others. She has been called LIFE Magazine from the 1960s (Check
out books.google.com and search for
Thurber’s life’s work includes many notable “Life Magazine 1960s”). What do the
children’s stories, almost 40 books, short stories, advertisements from these old magazines
essays, and 2 Broadway plays, the second of which, tell you about what “normal” was in
A Thurber Carnival, won him the 1960 Tony the 1960s? Advertisements tell us what
award and featured him in the starring role for 88 normal is—what are they telling you?
performances.
Choose one advertisement from a 1960s
In addition to his many honorary doctorates, “Are you unhappy, darling?” LIFE Magazine and one from a current
James Thurber was commemorated on a US Postal “Oh, yes, yes! Completely.” issue of a society magazine and write a
Service stamp for the 100th anniversary of his birth. paragraph comparing what is depicted as
Social Studies “normal” in each. What are some of the
William Steig (c. 1907-2003) differences you can find?
William Steig sold his first cartoon to The New Discussion
Joan Marcus

Yorker in 1930. Over his career, he created over In the opening scene of The Addams Family, the Social Studies
1,600 cartoons for the New York staple including family celebrate life and death in a yearly ritual
117 of its characteristic covers. In 1968, he connecting past, present and future—a ritual Explore
published his first children’s book, and went on to passed down from generation to generation. Talk to your oldest relative or family friend and ask
write 30 others including Sylvester and the Magic them what a typical family outing was like when
Pebble for which he won the prestigious children’s Social and family dynamics have changed a lot over they were your age. Where did they go? What was
book prize, the Caldecott Medal. Nathan Lane in The Addams Family. the past century. What do you know about your a typical family dinner like? How is it different
grandparent’s generation that is unique to their from the way you interact with your family today?

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 and his friends feel about each other,
Overture to but more effectively, how the audience
feels about them. This attention
Language Arts to character allows the audience to
make the leap from page to stage, and
makes You’re A Good Man, Charlie
Brown a delightful musical adaptation.

The Comics on Broadway: After its initial off-Broadway

Adapting Cartoons to the Stage success in 1967 and subsequent
Broadway run in 1971, the show
was again revised for a remounting

T
on Broadway in 1999. For this
he Addams Family isn’t the first cartoon choices that were made in bringing these beloved
production, enormous changes
illustration to find its way to Broadway. comic characters to singing and dancing life.
were made including replacing the

Joan Marcus
Musical theatre writers have been turning
character Patty (not to be confused
to cartoons for inspiration for over fifty years. You’re A Good Man
with Peppermint Patty) with
What makes The Addams Family unique and Charlie Brown
Charlie’s precocious sister Sally,
challenging to adapt to the stage, is the fact that
The journey of adapting the beloved Peanuts omitting 17 scenes while adding 21
many of Charles Addams’ original single-panel Bebe Neuwirth and Carolee Carmello in The Addams Family.
characters by Charles M. Schulz to the stage more, and bringing in composer/
cartoons have no written story attached. Each
began when, in the mid-1960s, songwriter Clark lyricist Andrew Lippa (the
cartoon is its own, self-contained story. Above and
Gesner wrote an album of songs featuring the composer/lyricist for The Addams
beyond the challenges of creating a new, fresh story known lines in the comic strip – “Happiness is a
perennially unlucky and awkward Charlie Brown Family) to add new songs.
from a cartoon, what other challenges are there warm puppy” – to create the lyrics for the show’s
and his group of misfit friends. Gesner was then
in adapting comics to the stage? How do writers finale, “Happiness.”
approach bringing two-dimensional characters to
approached to develop the songs into a full-length Li’l Abner
stage musical. A big obstacle in creating a musical from a comic
three-dimensional life on stage? Everyone sings,
strip often lies in constructing a plot that will
In the case of adapting the Peanuts characters, synthesize years of episodic stories (in the comics)
Musical theatre writers have Gesner‘s first responsibility was to capture the ALL
into a concise, two-hour live-action show. Composer
HAPPINESS IS SINGING TOGETHER WHEN
been turning to cartoons for unique voice of Charles Schulz’s characters in his
DAY IS THROUGH.
Gene De Paul, lyricist Johnny Mercer, and
lyrics. Gesner expanded on one of the most well-
inspiration for over fifty years. AND HAPPINESS IS THOSE WHO SING
bookwriters Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
attempted just that when they adapted Li’l Abner for
WITH YOU.
the stage in 1956. The comic, created by Al Capp,
In order to adapt The Addams Family cartoon into HAPPINESS IS MORNING AND EVENING,
a Broadway musical, the writers had to study and DAYTIME AND NIGHTTIME, TOO,
capture the dark, macabre style of cartoon creator
Charles Addams. They had to draw from that style CHARLIE BROWN
and discover a living, breathing, talking, walking FOR HAPPINESS IS ANYONE AND
world. This process extends to all stage writers who ANYTHING AT ALL
adapt work from two-dimensional source material— THAT’S LOVED BY YOU.
they transport the audience to a world where
characters they’ve only read about, or seen as a frozen LUCY
image on a page, come to life right before their eyes. YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN.

Let’s take a look at some of the other cartoons that In his lyrics, Gesner is able to capture how Charlie
have been adapted for the stage and explore the
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 which had run daily for 43 years, centers around the comic strip Little Orphan Annie by Harold Gray. ‘Til tomorrow that defy the norm because we all feel different at
impoverished town of Dogpatch, Kentucky and its The musical, (created by composer Charles Strouse, Come what may one point or another in our lives. We want to see
inhabitants including innocent, simple Li’l Abner lyricist Martin Charnin, and bookwriter Thomas characters that reflect those differences and, most
and his band of hillbilly friends. The comic contains Meehan) opened on Broadway in 1977. It was Tomorrow! Tomorrow! importantly, overcome them.
biting political satire, which appealed to the writers nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won seven, I love ya Tomorrow!
of the musical. For the musical adaptation, they including Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book. You’re only Think of some of the adaptations you know. Why
A day do you think you are drawn to a particular story?
The comic strip first appeared Away! Is it a story about a super hero or a group of people
in 1924 and by the 1930’s took who defy the rules put forth by society? We are
on a decidedly adult feel—often The musical, which centered around Annie’s drawn to characters that stand out from the crowd
pitting the lovable orphan against optimism and courage in the midst of the Great and dare to be different. Who are your favorites?
murderers and gangsters. For the Depression, was enormously appealing to 1970s
musical, the writers lightened the audiences who were struggling with economic
tone of the story while maintaining difficulties themselves; it ran for 2,377 performances Annie’s optimism and courage
the desperate environment of on Broadway, and continues to be one of the most- in the midst of the Great
depression era New York City. The performed musicals around the world.
title character, Annie, lives in an
Depression, was enormously
orphanage run by a mean-spirited appealing to 1970s audiences
matron named Miss Hannigan. who were struggling with
She escapes the orphanage when economic difficulties themselves.
Joan Marcus

she is adopted by billionaire Oliver

(Daddy) Warbucks. Annie’s plucky
spirit inspires everyone around Language Arts
her, including President Franklin
Nathan Lane and Terrence Mann in The Addams Family. Delano Roosevelt, to persevere Writing
until better days arrive. Many of Charles Addams The Addams Family
built the plot around the US Government declaring cartoons do not have captions included with the
Dogpatch to be the “most unnecessary town in In adapting Annie to the Broadway stage, the images, but that didn’t stop The Addams Family
America” and calling for it to be turned into a nuclear writers took major liberties with the loose story creators from giving the characters personalities
test site. The residents of Dogpatch must fight of the comics, but preserved Annie as a beacon of and putting words in their mouths. Adaptation is
back in what becomes a madcap musical comedy hope in an otherwise weary world. Her optimistic about imagination after all.
channeling the satire of the original comics and the anthem, “Tomorrow”, perfectly captures her
charm of a Golden Age musical. positive outlook: Find a picture on the Internet—something funny,
“At the bottom of the steps, turn right. sad or exciting. Write a short story bringing the
One exceptional addition to the musical adaptation When I’m stuck with a day The meter is on the wall.” image to life!
of the comic was the choreography by Michael Kidd. That’s gray,
Brooks Atkinson, theatre critic for the New York And lonely, Language Arts Language Arts
Times said in his review of the show, “Mr. Kidd has
caught the spirit of Dogpatch civilization brilliantly
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
Discussion Explore
The Addams Family is only one of Some cartoonists never include a caption with
enough to suggest that ballet is a …medium…for And Say,
animating Al Capp’s cartoon drawings.” Oh Define many musicals adapted from another their cartoons. They rely on caption writers
Normal medium, and like The Addams to make their characters speak. Go to: www.
Family, many of these adapted works newyorker.com/humor/caption/ and enter the
Annie The sun’ll come out
share the story of a unique character caption contest for this upcoming week. See if
The most successful comic-strip-to-musical Tomorrow
or group of characters. We are drawn to stories you’ve got the wit to be a caption writer too!
adaptation is the musical Annie, adapted from the So ya gotta hang on

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 Overture to
Behavioral Studies

Charles Addams: Facing Fear Through Art

“Addams was a cathartic force, diffusing one’s deepest fears by illustrating them.”

T
he above quote, from the article Charles LD: Oh yes, he was very fearful. He was fearful
Addams: American Gothic by Fiona Murray, as a child. He was very claustrophobic, and he Honesty is the Best Policy had come to watch for the cartoons that made
speaks to the foundation of Addams’ struggled with that fear all his life. He had a fear In the musical, Gomez Addams explains one of scary things funny and celebrated breaking the
position as one of the most memorable cartoonists of snakes, and so he drew them constantly in his the Addams family’s traditions, a game called Full rules...the children who loved Addams’ cartoons
of all time. For over 70 years, Addams has helped cartoons—these enormous snakes that were about Disclosure: understood that there was nothing really scary
us face our fears by laughing at them. His cartoons 20 feet long, and it was the most psychologically going on in them.”
tap into our deepest smart thing to do because FULL DISCLOSURE! —Charles Addams Biographer Linda Davis.
anxieties, and allow us to by drawing out his fears IT’S A GAME THAT WE PLAY
explore our dark side with and making fun of them, LET YOUR DARKEST SECRETS GIVE It is only by being honest
YOU AWAY
lightness and humor. he diffused them.
FACE YOUR DEMONS AND THEN
that the Addams family and
The following excerpt Therese J. Borchard HAPPILY SAY the Beineke family can move
from a 2006 NPR radio writes in a 2009 World I’M PLAYING FULL DISCLOSURE beyond their differences and
interview with Addams Of Psychology article, WITH ALL THESE CRAZY HAPPY PEOPLE become friends.
biographer Linda Davis “Fears are like annoying FULL DISCLOSURE!
sheds light on Charles relatives. You can’t avoid
Addams’ appeal: them forever, and ignoring In the spirit of Charles Addams, the Full Disclosure We all deal with our fears in different ways. Some
them won’t make them go game is a lesson in honesty; a way of telling secrets of us laugh, like Charles Addams, while others face
NPR: What makes him away...Laugh at them... and facing fears. The Addams’ believe that being them head on. What are some ways in which you
relevant? Scare them away.” In honest is the only way to grow as a family. At the face your fears? Can you think of a fear that may
illustrating macabre, often end of the first act, when they invite the visiting be funny or silly to others? What fear scares you
LINDA DAVIS: His taboo, subjects in his Beinekes to play Full Disclosure, chaos ensues the most? Which one of your fears could be faced
cartoons, unlike others, cartoons, Addams found a forcing each character to examine the truth behind with laughter? What are some other ways to face
were for the most part way to cope with his own their fears and prejudices. It is only by being your fears?
timeless and dealt with fears and connect with honest that the Addams family and the Beineke
universal themes...he our desire to face difficult family can move beyond their differences and Behavior al Studies
laughed at things that truths. He gave us the become friends. Writing
were scary and diffused tools to be honest about Think of something you’re afraid of. Now write
his own fear, and diffused ours in the process. what scares us, and to break free from fears’, often Behavioral Studies a short story in which you or a character you’ve
overwhelming, grasp.
NPR: His own fear? Discussion created faces that fear using humor (like Charles
Addams!).
“Even the children of New Yorker readers, who
would not otherwise have picked up the magazine,

22 | | 23
 Behavioral Studies
Explore Overture to Life Skills
Celebrating our differences
Define sometimes begins by first
Normal acknowledging what makes us
the same. Sharing things about The Addams Family: Define Normal
ourselves can help bring us
closer together and help us realize we’re not
WEDNESDAY
that different after all. One thing we all have in
Now here’s the thing. We’re gonna act real
common is that we’re all afraid of something, and
normal.
sometimes facing that fear requires a little more
than a cartoon to laugh at.
ADDAMS FAMILY
Gasp!
Some fears are too big to face alone—we need to
ask for help. Have each class member write down
GRANDMA
something they’re afraid of and break into small
Define “normal.”
groups. Have each group pick one fear and write a
short skit about overcoming that fear using comedy.

Joan Marcus
In The Addams Family, Wednesday Addams
For example, write a skit about the time a spider
is worried that her family’s
scared you and you threw a shoe at it, or when
strange traditions and rituals will disturb
you had to make a speech and you tried to picture
her boyfriend’s visiting parents. She sings:
everyone in his or her underwear to hilarious effect.
Did you notice that telling people what you’re afraid Jackie Hoffman as Grandma and Adam Riegler as Pugsley
ONE NORMAL NIGHT
of helped you overcome that fear?
THAT’S ALL I WANT YOU MUST ADMIT WE’RE NOT
THAT’S ALL I NEED FROM YOU WHAT PEOPLE CALL “LAID BACK”
ONE NORMAL HOUSE SO CAN’T WE MUSE A BIT
WITHOUT A MOUSE AND LOSE THE BASIC BLACK?
TO FEED A PLANT OR TWO WHOA, ONE NORMAL NIGHT

On April 20th, 2006, the Rochester Institute of Technology hosted an exhibit by its WITH NORMAL PEOPLE ON THEIR WAY
JUST ONE NORMAL NIGHT
design students called, “Safe: Design Over Fear”. The project was modeled after a 2006 WHADDAYA SAY?
exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York titled “SAFE: Design Takes On
Risk”. According to an RIT press release, the design project consisted of more than 150 Wednesday considers her boyfriend Lucas, and his
students who “designed and constructed a wearable or portable costume addressing a parents, to be a “normal family” and doesn’t want her
personal fear—ranging from a fear of germs, to a fear of getting bitten by a dog, to a fear quirky relatives to embarrass her. She wants to make a
of not wearing the appropriate outfit.” good impression on her boyfriend’s parents, and doesn’t
want her “different” family to scare them away.
The concept of facing our fears through art is not a new one. New Yorker cartoonist
Charles Addams dedicated his career to bringing us face to face with our darkest fears. In preparation for the Beineke’s visit, Wednesday
not only asks her family for “One Normal Night”,
she also changes her appearance and demeanor to
become the kind of girl she thinks the Beinekes
would approve of.

24 | | 25
 brought together? If you like, write another scene
in which they find common ground and learn to
accept each other’s differences.

Life Skills
Explore
Write two versions of a scene set
Define around the family dinner table: one
Normal version that you consider “normal”
behavior for your family and one
that is “unusual.” Read both scenes
out loud to the class and have them guess which
is which.

What’s “normal” for your family? If your family

were on a reality TV show, what would it be
called? What would it be about? What makes your
family different and unique that would make them
a good subject for a reality show? Discuss your
idea for a reality show based on your family with a
Life Skills parent, relative, or close friend.
Adam Riegler, Jackie Hoffman, Krysta Rodriugez , Nathan Lane, Bebe Neuwirth, Writing
Zachary James, and Kevin Chamberlin in The Addams Family. Find two families or groups
Define depicted in movies or on television
Life Skills Normal and two families that you know
MORTICIA
What are you wearing? Discussion personally—compare and contrast—
What makes them “normal” or “abnormal” according
What does the word “normal”
WEDNESDAY Define mean? What are your assumptions to the status quo? Now compare the status quo to
A dress? Normal about what “normal” is? Where what you consider to be “normal”—what are some of
the differences you notice?
do we learn what “normal” is? We
MORTICIA see “normal” in movies and on television, but is
A yellow dress. Consider families on reality television. They are
that an accurate gauge of what is normal? Does
usually famous for being unusual. In what ways
the cultural information we learn in the media
GOMEZ does reality television break stereotypes about what frame tk
challenge or uphold stereotypes of what “normal”
Paloma – what happened? You look like a crime a “normal” family is supposed to be, and in what
should be?
scene. ways does it uphold stereotypes?
The Addams Family challenges standard
Wednesday radically alters her appearance and Choose two of the families that you have
definitions of “normal.” Can you think of other
mood in order to conform to what she thinks is compared and contrasted, and write a scene in

Joan Marcus
representations of “normal” and “abnormal”? In
the normal way to behave. The rest of the Addams which they meet for the first time. Some things to
your discussion, explore other points of view of
family believes they are just as “normal“ as any think about while you’re writing the scene: what
what “normal” means. How can just one “normal”
other family, and don’t understand Wednesday’s are some of the things that they notice right away
exist with so many different kinds of people and
request that they change who they are. about each other? Do the families get along? What
cultures in the world? Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia Addams in
conflicts arise when these two different families are The Addams Family.

26 | | 27
 A Field Guide for Teachers
A Camp Broadway LLC Publication

Editor: Rob Hartmann and Amy Burgess For The Addams Family:
Art Director: Kathleen Giaranno Costume Design: MaryAnn D. Smith
Writer: Amy Burgess Scenic Design: Phelim McDermott and
Julian Crouch
Special Thanks: Rick Elice, Nick Pramik, Associate Scenic Design: Frank McCullough
Elyce Henkin of Type A Marketing & Tee and Puppet Design: Basil Twist
Charles Addams Foundation. Makeup Design: Angelina Avallone
Hair Design: Tom Watson
Lighting Design: Natasha Katz
Logo Design: Serino Coyne
Production Photos: Joan Marcus
Press: The Publicity Office
Matt Hoyle

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