Columbia College Theatre Department alumni and faculty members have won rave reviews for their work on The Addams Family–The Musical, now running through April 5 at the Mercury Theater in Chicago. The show costars Musical Theatre Performance BFA alumnus Harter Clingman as Uncle Fester, and Musical Theatre alumna Leah Morrow is also in the ensemble. Faculty members Glenese Hand (who’s also an alumna) and Frances Maggio designed the visually striking production’s makeup and costumes respectively. Pictured here is Harter as Uncle Fester, center; that’s Leah kneeling next to him on the right.

Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones wrote that the production’s success is “mostly a matter of a few genuinely inspired comic performances on view here. Top of my list is Harter Clingman as Uncle Fester. Clingman doesn’t get to fly to the moon in this production, but he does imbue Fester with uncommon warmth and enigma. This actor, a formidable comic talent, has been off touring with Peter and the Starcatcher. . . . This killer performance is a reminder how much he was missed.”

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Hedy Weiss gave the show a “Highly Recommended” rating and singled out Frances Maggio’s “crazily ghostly, laugh-inducing costumes” and Glenese Hand’s “more than artful” makeup for special praise.

Another Columbia alumna involved in the production is the Mercury Theater’s marketing coordinator, Allison Weber (a graduate of the Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management’s Performing Arts Management program), and she just loves it when her shows get reviews like this! 🙂