Theatre Preview with Josh Carr

TODAY’S THREE SHOWS:
1) SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN
2) AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
3) THE ADDAMS FAMILY

SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN
Lamb’s Players Theatre
Through January 28
Smoke on the Mountain tells the story of a Saturday Night Gospel Sing at a country church in North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains in 1938. The show features two dozen rousing bluegrass songs played and sung by the Sanders Family, a traveling group making its return to performing after a five-year hiatus. Pastor Oglethorpe, the young and enthusiastic minister of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, has enlisted the Sanders Family in his efforts to bring his tiny congregation into “the modern world.” Between songs, each family member “witnesses” – telling a story about an important event in their life. Though they try to appear perfect in the eyes of a congregation who wants to be inspired by their songs, one thing after another goes awry and they reveal their true – and hilariously imperfect – natures. By the evening’s end, the Sanders Family have endeared themselves to us by revealing their weaknesses and allowing us to share in their triumphs.

• This was brought back for January because it was a big success at the end of last year
• Appropriate for the whole family

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
North Coast Repertory Theatre
Through February 11
Stampeding elephants! Runaway trains! Unbridled humor! Slapstick! Join fearless adventurer Phileas Fogg in the original “Great Race,” circling the globe alive with danger, romance, and comic surprises at every turn. In the hilariously theatrical style of The 39 Steps, 5 actors portray 42 characters in a thrilling race against time. Grab your family, your passport and book passage now for this outrageously funny adventure.

Join fearless adventurer Phileas Fogg and his faithful manservant as they race to beat the clock! Phileas Fogg has agreed to an outrageous wager that puts his fortune and his life at risk. With his resourceful servant Passepartout, Fogg sets out to circle the globe in an unheard-of 80 days. But his every step is dogged by a detective who thinks he’s a robber on the run. Danger, romance, and comic surprises abound in this whirlwind adaptation of one of the great adventures of all time.
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• The original story is one of author Jules Verne’s most acclaimed works

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

Coronado Playhouse
January 19 – February 25
To the Addams Family, to be sad is to be happy, to feel pain is to feel joy, and death and suffering are the stuff of their dreams. Nonetheless, this quirky family still has to deal with many of the same challenges faced by any other family, and the spookiest nightmare faced by every family creates the focus. The Addamses have lived by their unique values for hundreds of years and Gomez and Morticia, the patriarch and matriarch of the clan, would be only too happy to continue living that way. Their dark, macabre, beloved daughter Wednesday, however, is now an eighteen year-old young woman who is ready for a life of her own. She has fallen in love with Lucas Beineke, a sweet, smart boy from a normal, respectable Ohio family — the most un-Addams sounding person one could be! And to make matters worse, she has invited the Beinekes to their home for dinner. In one fateful, hilarious night, secrets are disclosed, relationships are tested, and the Addams family must face up to the one horrible thing they’ve managed to avoid for generations: change.
They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky. Yes, they’re the Addams Family coming to life in a new macabre musical comedy created by the authors of The Jersey Boys and the composer and lyricist of Big Fish. Join Gomez and Morticia Addams for a morbid family gathering when daughter Wednesday brings home her “normal” boyfriend and his uptight parents.
• The Addams Family first appeared in the late 1930’s thanks to American cartoonist Charles Addams
• 1960’s television series ran for two seasons
• Opened on Broadway in 2010 with Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia
• Nominated for two Tony Awards and six Drama Desk Awards