Colorado Academy Senior Aidan Klingbeil remembers the day that the Upper School musical, The Addams Family, was officially canceled by the director, Mr. Scherer—over Zoom.
“People were pretty disappointed, and justifiably so,” Klingbeil says. “I felt especially bad for the people in the main cast, because they had been so excited to get the parts, and now they were let down.”
But Klingbeil was not about to let a pandemic stop him from performing. He did not have a main role in the show. He was a member of the chorus. Nonetheless, he hit on an extraordinary idea—he would recreate the entire opening number of the musical by himself. Uncle Fester, Wednesday, Gomez, Morticia, Grandma, Pugsley, and the ghosts of Addams past all came to life in Klingbeil’s mind, and then, thanks to his editing skills, on video. (He had help from Student Director Brian Labra’s recording of a rehearsal.)
The secrets of how he pulled it off will remain just that—secrets. But he did admit to “roping in his parents to move furniture and also raiding their closets.” The end product, layering 16 files, stretched his editing software to the limit. When he shared it with the cast, he was delighted with their reaction: “The main characters complimented me playing them!”
And Mr. Scherer sent him a simple emailed message:
“I
Am
Speechless.
Just amazing! You are so good—harmonies and everything!?!? Wow.”
Don’t miss “When you’re an Addams, but it’s just me.”
The Addams Family cast
Gomez: Colby Lish
Morticia: Willa Dorgan
Wednesday: Claire Kenney
Lucas: Henry Chesley-Vogels
Alice: Abigail Shapiro/Czarina Yuffa
Mal: Bailey Walker
Pugsley: JT TImmers
Grandma: Phoebe Cannon /Morgan Taylor
Fester: Cooper Kofron
Lurch: Andrew Koclanes
Ghosts, Dancers, Spirits, Generally Scary People: Christian Barnard, Anna Fucarino, Levi Gillis, Naomi Gillis, Avery Goldstein, Claire Henry, Sophie Henry, Walt Jones, Aidan Klingbeil, Avery Lin, Sara Musani, Casey Meyers, Will Sharp, Charlotte Smith, Nathan Troung, Connor Wolfe, Sarah Wolf Williams, Czarina Yuffa