The Addams Family production hits the stage Friday

Posted

The Addams Family production, being held at the Sparta Senior High School, has finally reached its opening week. After eight months of preparation, director, Skyler Erickson, has the cast chomping at the bit to perform on opening night, November 11th, at 7 p.m.. The momentum for this theater group has increased incredibly over the past few years, having been nominated for the state of Wisconsin’s highest award, the Jerry Awards, several times, in a plethora of categories. High bars have always been set by Erickson, causing soaring expectations to be surpassed with previous plays, such as Shrek, Mama Mia, Guys and Dolls and Cinderella. Over 2,000 tickets have already been sold for the seven-day-run of the show. With an auditorium seating capacity of 600, it is expected that every performance will have standing room only.   

The two main characters in the musical are Gomez and Morticia. Breathing life-force energy into these roles are Josh Smith (Gomez) and Jenna Martin (Morticia), both in their final year of high school academia. For Smith, this is his second musical and for Martin, it is her seventh; all in Sparta. “I was very fortunate to start at a young age,” says Martin. “This would have been my eighth production, but Covid knocked a year out.” Josh had also stated that this would have been his third, citing the great disrupter, Covid, as the culprit behind the missed opportunity.

Enthusiastic energy exudes from every atom of Josh and Jenna. “To be able to go up and portray somebody totally different allows me to explore more of my emotions and body movement,” says Jenna. “Whereas in my day-to-day life, I deal with anxiety and self-image, like many students, and would never attempt such things. I love the feeling of freedom, of being on stage and not being judged as Jenna, but as Morticia. Theater is a merchant, where the cost is dedication and effort, and the reward is blissful freedom.”

Josh Smith went on to state that he feels such a connection to his characters, sometimes feeling that a positive trait within a character could be useful in real life. “I feel that I pick up pieces of my characters throughout each performance, and some of them just stick with me,” Smith states. “When I am acting, my mind may suggest, ‘This could be me, this trait… I could add it to who I am.’” Smith went on to talk about different ways to get into and understand the character. “In between our auditions and our first practice, we do a lot of research on our characters, to try and get into them before we even start rehearsing,” Smith explained. “Somewhere along the way, through all of the practice and investigation, the character just appears.”

The acting bond between Jenna and Josh actually started during the production of Shrek, where Jenna played Fiona and Josh played Donkey. “So, we are very fortunate to have acted together already,” Martin said. “We went from being wife (Jenna as Fiona) and Husband’s best friend (Josh as Donkey) one year, to being husband and wife this year,” quipped Martin. “So this is not our first rodeo together as actors,”

Smith nodded in agreement and agreed that their chemistry is strong. “We feed off of each others energy,” he stated. “Our characters [Morticia and Gomez] are of one energy. If one of us is not ‘on’ for a rehearsal, it comes through in both of us. But the reality is we have so much fun, and there are very few ‘off’ days.”

Director, Skyler Erickson, a graduate from Sparta in 2009, is the reason that floodlights are fixated on his alma mater. Since Erickson has come to the program, he has been part of five productions: Guys and Dolls, Cinderella, Mama Mia, Shrek and now The Addams Family. As stated in the intro, Erickson’s previous productions have been nominated, several times over, for the Jerry Awards, the State’s highest awards, which recognize and honor excellence in High School musical theater. Erickson has seen the productions he has worked on bring home top honors for: outstanding costumes, best actor/actress, outstanding music and outstanding ensemble. The list of nominations is too lengthy to print here. There are 85 schools in 30 counties that are represented in the competition.

Skyler Erickson has quite a storied journey. Two weeks after Erickson graduated from Sparta High, he was attending acting school, in New York City. He would eventually transfer to Viterbo, where he would finish his degree. Erickson then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Here, Erickson would find plenty of work, doing voiceover work, Christmas shows, working on the Evil Dead at Planet Hollywood, and he was even part of a movie that starred Will Arnett, Ludacris and Natasha Lyonne in it, called Show Dog. Five years later, Erickson wanted a change of pace and he found his way to Cashton High School, where he taught vocals. Then came the decision to head back to Sparta and work on helping the theater reach the incredible potential that he knew dwelled within its core.

Skyler went on to explain his approach to a production. “We [cast] all come together and just read from the script,” Erickson says. “I call this ‘Play Time.’ Then I explain the vision of the play, and the actors take direction on their characters from that. I throw the script in the middle of everyone, explaining that ‘On paper, they are just words; the seed. It is up to us to water it, nurture it and watch it grow.’”

There are many volunteers that work on the set, giving Erickson peace of mind. “I love doing set design,” he stated. “But there is just no way I can handle it all. I need to ask for help, and thank goodness, people are there to help.” The volunteers, Erickson would explain, enable him to not exhaust his energies in many directions, but rather, focus those energies on the cast. The truth is that Erickson still works tirelessly on all aspects of the production, sometimes not even having time to sleep, and that is not hyperbole.

Pat and Monica Olbert helped to paint the backdrops for the musical, on a tapestry that would cover a semi. Wil Calkins was seen backstage, working on set design and putting the finishing touches on props. “I doubt that anyone could fathom the number of hours everyone puts in here,” says Calkins. “Lunches for the kids, set design… I left last night, or I guess this morning, at 1:45 a.m. and there were many who were still here, past 3 a.m.. Right now it is all about fine tuning the set for us and making everything peak at 100 percent for the show.”

On volunteers and all the help, Erickson added, “ Chris Anderson is our set construction guy. He masterminded the design safely and efficiently for our actors. He really brought the overall vision to reality. I am just so grateful for all who have contributed tirelessly to this production, exhausting themselves in the massive effort.”

Immediately noticeable when attending the production are the very detailed and professional-looking costumes. Irina Christel has won awards, including the Jerry Award, for her high level skills in costume design. Christel, originally from Kyrgizstan, near Mongolia, crossed paths with Erickson at the La Crosse Community Theater, on the production of Mama Mia. When Erickson undertook the same production in Sparta, he made a call to Irina, and she agreed to work on the musical. “I go to the Twin Cities to get fabric for the costumes, about 2 to 3 months in advance of the show,” says Christel. Although they did not meet at Viterbo, Christel also graduated from there.

Perhaps Jenna Martin summed it up best when she said, “We are all family now. We eat together, practice together, and we converse constantly, even between classes. We have formed a special bond, and will be connected for a long time, throughout our lives.”

The show starts this Friday, at 7 p.m. The dates for the show are as follows: November 11th – 13th  and November 17th – 20th. Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows start at 7 p.m. and Sunday start times are at 2 p.m. To buy tickets online, go to https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/sparta-high-school. You may also buy tickets at the door. This year the seating is reserved. Ticket cost for adults is $15 and $10 for students and seniors.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here