The cast of “The Addams Family,” from left, Grace Miller, Blake Riggs, Bastet Zyla, Billy Richards, Elijah Conger and Lily Floyd. The show opens Thursday at Parkersburg High School. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — A musical delayed because of the pandemic will open Thursday for a four-show run at Parkersburg High School.

“The Addams Family” will be presented at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 16-18, and 2:30 p.m. March 19 in the auditorium at Parkersburg High.

“I’ve always been a big ‘Addams Family’ fan,” Lori Zyla, Parkersburg High theater teacher and director of the show.

The players have been rehearsing and preparing for the spring musical, she said.

“This week we’re exhausted,” Zyla said. “But we’ll be excited next week.”

From left, Lily Floyd as Wednesday Addams and Nathan Thornton as Lucas Beineke, Wednesday’s boyfriend, in the Parkersburg High School production of “The Addams Family.” The show opens 7 p.m. Thursday with tickets available at the door. (Photo Provided)

“The Addams Family” first aired on TV in 1964 and included Robert Astin as Gomez and Carolyn Jones as Morticia.

Bastet Zyla, who was a freshman in the ensemble of “The Addams Family” before it was canceled because of the pandemic, plays the iconic Morticia. Bastet, Lori’s daughter, is a senior this year and the role will cap her high school career.

“I really wanted to end with a bang,” Bastet said.

Playing Morticia was difficult at first, but became easier as her confidence grew.

“I knew I could do it,” she said. “It was convincing myself I was completely able to do it.”

Josiah Clark as Mal Beineke and his wife, Katie Riggs as Alice, in the Parkersburg High School production of “The Addams Family” that opens Thursday. (Photo Provided)

Gomez is played by the junior Elijah Conger.

“I think the show has a lot of comedic moments,” he said. “I’m glad I will be able to bring this humor out in it.”

Conger didn’t specifically audition for the part of Gomez.

“But that was the role I was hoping for,” Conger said.

“The Addams Family” is based on characters created by Charles Adams. The show starts when Wednesday Addams is a few years older and in love with a normal boy, Lucas Beineke.

Bastet Zyla as Morticia Addams and Elijah Conger as Gomez Addams in the Parkersburg High School production of “The Addams Family,” a musical comedy that opens on Thursday at the school. Tickets are available at the door. (Photo Provided)

Wednesday arranges for their families to meet at the Addams estate, but their engagement is kept secret until she knows the two families will get along.

Lucas and his parents, Alice and Mal, arrive and things go wrong when Pugsley, Wednesday’s brother, causes trouble. Then centuries of Addams family ancestors appear as ghosts who cannot return to their graves until “love triumphs,” Uncle Fester says.

Members of the cast are:

* Gomez, Elijah Conger

* Morticia, Bastet Zyla

Members of the “The Addams Family” cast are Katie Riggs (seated), Bastet Zyla as Morticia in the black dress, and ancestors, from left, Lauren Young, Aislyn Geibel, Danica Sheppard, Daphne Cockerham, Emersen Miller, Brittany Ward, Amelia Davis and Meredith Poole. (Photo Provided)

* Wednesday, Lily Floyd

* Pugsley, Blake Riggs

* Grandma, Grace Miller

* Uncle Fester, Keaton Lowther

* Lurch, Billy Richards

(Image Provided)

* Lucas Beineke, Nathan Thornton

* Mal Beineke, Josiah Clark

* Alice Beineke, Katie Riggs

The Ancestors: Lauren Young, Daphne Cockerham, Emersen Miller, Meredith Poole, Amelia Davis, Danica Sheppard, Brittany Ward, Aislyn Geibel, Ian Lemely, Derek Roberts, Hayden Hemmings.

Members of the production crew are Jo Barclay, Thea Bordeaux, Zoie Cottle, Emma Dabbs, River Deem, Lily Farinash, Jenna Harding, Payton Johnson, Seth Kellison, Jacob Province, Lauren Smith and Kymber Wotring.

The Musical director is Mike Lockney. Senior Abby Hines is the choreographer. Freshman Anna Floyd is stage manager. Junior Sean Ayers heads the tech crew.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com

***

More Online!

Bastet Zyla, who is portraying Morticia in this production of “The Addams Family,” was the Parkersburg News and Sentinel Teen of the Week on July 16, 2022. — https://tinyurl.com/2p9m999z