The Addams Family Creative

Creative Crew

Adelai Albrecht

Adelai is a 12-year-old girl who is helping make props for The Addams Family production. She is in 6th grade, and she was in the Christmas Showcase production in 2023 as one of the grandchildren in ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. She likes cats, music, art, and is interested in learning to play guitar. She goes by Addie, and she does not have any extracurriculars.

Beauty Crew (Costumes)

Kylie Barlow

Kylie is in the sixth grade, and this is her first time helping with a play. She enjoys hanging out with her friends and coloring.

Tech Crew (Lights)

Joe Benson

Assistant Stage Manager

Riley Brothers

Riley is our Stage Manager Left for The Addams Family. She is in 10th grade. Her past productions consist of being on the crew for Descendants and acting as Francis Flute and Moth in A Midsummer Night's Dream and the judge in Miracle on 34th Street. She also plays the saxophone in the Marching Band. When she isn’t playing the saxophone or in the Playhouse, she is often painting or doing some sort of craft.

Tech Crew and Creative Crew

Harlan Cassidy

Harlan Cassidy is a 6th grader at Fairless Middle School. He has multiple roles in this program; sound runner and prop crew. Previously in the Winter production he was sound runner as well and is hoping to try out for the cast next year. When he is not attending drama, he is spending his extra time at NextGen youth group. Harlan is in advanced Math and is planning on being an Engineer or Astronaut. He enjoys video games and loves cats.

Stage Crew, Beauty Crew (Hair Manager), and Creative Crew

Nova Day

an 8th grader who enjoys books, dancing, baking, and anything to do with Aviation. She has participated in four other productions as stage crew and set and props crew. She has also been a Girl Scout for nine years, and one of the founders of the new Big Sister Program for 4th and 5th grade girls. She also enjoys band and social studies, and has recently started 4-H.

Tech Crew (Lights/Sound)

Blake Hess

Creative Crew (Props/Set)

Ryker Huff

Ryker is a 6th grade student at Fairless Middle School. He is a part of the Creative Crew and builds props for Falcon Playhouse productions. He was a part of the crew for Christmas Showcase! While Falcon Playhouse is Ryker’s only current extracurricular activity, he is also interested in video games, virtual reality, drawing, hacking into mainframes, and voice impressions.

Tech Crew (Spot 1)

Dylan Lamp

a 16-year-old Junior at RG Drage Technical Career Center, originally from Fairless High School, who is participating in a health technologies program. Dylan has some prior experience working with Playhouse including running the lights for Beauty and the Beast and a role as Mr. Parker in The Christmas Showcase. Dylan's interests mostly extend to the gym, fishing, and hanging with friends.

Stage Crew

Jordan Lamp

Beauty Crew (Costume)

Ana Martinez

Ana Martinez is 11 years old, and she is in 6th grade. She goes to Scouts on Thursdays and helps around the house. She is kind and helpful to her friends and teacher and family. She has a dog named Harley. She is good at different things in school and out of school.

Beauty Crew (Costume)

Catalina Martinez

Catalina Martinez is 14 years old, and she is in 8th grade. She used to play in the marching band, and another thing she did is she was the crow in Lion King JR. She cooks for her family and helps around the houes, and she does help with firewood. She is nice and kind to others but sometimes gets mad, but she can help with anything.

Beauty Crew

Kenlee McCracken

Kenlee is in the sixth grade. Outside of Playhouse, she is in 4-H and plays volleyball. Her 4-H projects include sewing her own costumes and competing with them and taking steers, pigs, lambs, and goats to the fair.

Tech Crew (Spot 2)

Johnathan Miller

Jonathan is in the 8th grade, and this is his first show. He is in choir and interested in welding. Jonathan is thinking about becoming an underwater welder some day.

Tech Crew

Hayden Neville

a 14-year old student who is currently in the ninth grade. Hayden is a soprano in Choir and has some experience Jazz Dancing with Chris T’s Dance Emporium in Massillon. Hayden likes to draw and spend her free time hanging out with her friends, riding her bike, and listening to music.

Stage Crew

Dharma Rittmeier

Dharma, age 16, is a Sophomore at FHS. She is a member of the Fairless Falcon Marching Band as a Color Guard member. She worked as a crew member for the Christmas Showcase. In her free time, Dharma enjoys spending time with her friends.

Creative Crew and Beauty Crew

Gracey Smithberger

Gracey is a sophomore on the Props Crew. Her past Playhouse roles include Snug and Peaseblossom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Stage Crew for Descendents. She also painted Baby Simba for the Lion King Jr. She is on the Colorguard for the band. She enjoys music and art. She hopes to become a kindergarten teacher.

Beauty Crew and Creative Crew

Angelina Velazquez

is part of the Makeup Crew and assists in props. She played the role of the baker in last year’s Beauty and The Beast production. She is in eighth grade and is in the Falcon Marching Band, Pep Band, and on the Volleyball team. She has an interest in roller blading and being a surgeon.

Director / Music Director

Trisha Brunckhart

Trisha Brunckhart is excited to be the new musical director for Falcon Playhouse. Prior to her new assignment, she headed FMS Drama where she directed Peter Pan Jr., The Lion King Jr. and Beauty and the Beast Jr. Prior to coming to Fairless, she directed Cinderella Kids and Music Man Jr. at Green Intermediate. Trisha has years of professional performance experience as well. She has appeared as a soloist in Handel's Messiah, was a member of Pittsburgh Opera Chorus for 3 seasons and a soloist for various churches and ensembles in Northeast Ohio.

Stage Manager

Lauren Knight

Lauren Knight is our stage manager at night and one of our trusted bus drivers during the day. She is a Fairless graduate and has always had a love for the arts. Lauren has helped the cast in anyway she could by running lines, listening to them sing, or helping them move more naturally in their role . She is honored to have helped the cast find their footing and step into their roles in this production.

Assistant Director

Danielle Perich

Dani Perich is one of the Directors of Falcon Playhouse. She is the Assistant Director of the spring production of Addams Family, in charge of Creative Crew (props) and collaborating with Phil Smith for Tech Crew (lights & sound), Kristine Twigg for Beauty Crew (costumes, makeup, and hair), and Lauren Knight for Stage Crew. She was the Director of the very first production at the Lucinda Frailly Performing Arts Center: Christmas Showcase!, in collaboration with The Canton Ballet. Dani teaches Visual Arts at Fairless Middle School, and is a 1999 graduate of Fairless High School, a 2019 graduate of the University of Akron with a Bachelor’s in Art Education, and has recently earned her Master’s in Curriculum Design with Educational Technology from the University of the Arts, based in Philadelphia, PA. She and her husband, Steve, are the parents of four children and a dog: Brodie (16), Emeline (13), Holden (12), Simon (9), and Banksy McBankface (1). Dani considers herself a Mixed Media artist and has had her art on display at multiple locations, including the Andrew Jackson House in Akron, OH, and the Massillon Museum. She was a 2018 recipient of The John and Barbara Gillette Study of the Arts Abroad and Academic Scholarship Fund for The University of Akron's Mary Schiller Myers School of Art, which allowed her to study art history in Paris, France.

Orchestra Pit Director

Phillip Smith

Mr. Smith is the Assistant Band Director for the Fairless Local School District, where he teaches 6th grade band, 7th grade band and the High School Jazz Ensemble. He is the assistant director for the Marching Band and director of the Falcon Drumline. Mr. Smith holds both a Bachelor's degree and Master's Degree in Music Education with an instrumental emphasis from The University of Akron. He has taught instrumental music on a full-time basis since 2013, working in the Plymouth-Shiloh Local School District as well as Fairless. Mr. Smith lives in Massillon, Ohio with his wife Amanda, their two children, Allison and Elliot, and dog Lola. In his free time, Mr. Smith performs in local community ensembles including the Dominic Greco Band, Trombone Alliance, and the Jericho Big Band.

Choreographer

Heather Snyder

Costumes

Kristine Twigg

Publicity Manager

Christa Jones

Original Creative Team

Marshall Brickman (Book) Marshall Brickman, born in Brazil of American parents, attended New York public schools and the University of Wisconsin, where he received a double baccalaureate in both science and music.

He entered show business first as a member of the folk group The Tarriers and then, along with John and Michelle Phillips, as one of The New Journeymen, a precursor of The Mamas and the Papas, whose flamboyant life-style and eccentric harmonies defined the post-folk era of tuning up, turning on and cashing in.

Trading in his Gibson Mastertone 5-string banjo for an IBM Selectric, he secured a position as writer/director on Candid Camera, America’s original reality show, a wildly successful early experiment in monetizing public humiliation, for which he hereby apologizes.

Fleeing Candid Camera, Brickman found solace as head writer for Johnny Carson, whose late-night show on NBC emanated from ironically named Radio City in midtown Manhattan, a stroke of luck that allowed him to stay as far from Los Angles as possible while still retaining U.S. citizenship. In 1970 he left NBC to become producer/head writer of Dick Cavett’s late-night show on ABC. Among the many ground-breaking events that Cavett introduced into the late-night formula was the night presidential hopeful George McGovern was interviewed by last-minute guest host Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics. The result was fascinating, not unlike watching a python ingesting a small cow.

In the meantime he had started a collaboration with Woody Allen, a young comic who opened for the Tarriers at Fred Weintraub’s Bitter End, the legendary Bleeker Street coffee house that provided exposure to upcoming talent in music and comedy. They worked at odd hours on screenplays and material for Allen’s early TV appearances, an experience like no other. Brickman watched Mr. Allen negotiate both the creative and practical issues confronting an artist working in a commercial environment; he learned things that can’t be taught and never laughed as hard as the time spent roaming the city with a certified genius discussing art, politics, women, the state of the business, and why Durwood Kirby was considered funny, even by people with college degrees.

Mr. Brickman’s film work as author (or co-author with Woody Allen) includes Sleeper, Annie Hall (Academy Award), Manhattan, (AA nomination) and Manhattan Murder Mystery. As film writer/director): Simon, Lovesick, The Manhattan Project, Sister Mary Explains it All. In television: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (head writer, 1967-’70); The Dick Cavett Show (head writer/co-producer, 1970-’72).

Brickman’s recording (with ex-Tarrier Eric Weissberg) of the soundtrack of Deliverance, released in 1970, contained the surprise hit “Dueling Banjos,” achieved platinum status, and remains a healthy seller over 40 years later.

His first foray into musical theater resulted in Jersey Boys, which won the Tony, Olivier, Helpmann, Grammy and many other awards worldwide, is in its twelfth year on Broadway, has been seen by twenty

million people worldwide and is currently the 10th-longest running show in the history of Broadway. The film version of the show was directed by Clint Eastwood.

Mr. Brickman’s other theatrical efforts include “Turn of the Century,” which played to capacity houses in Chicago, and “The Addams Family,” starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, which ran for two years on Broadway and to date has had over four thousand first and second tier productions internationally.

In addition to his work in film and theater, Mr. Brickman has published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Playboy and other periodicals. He is the 2006 recipient of the Writers’ Guild of America Ian McClellan Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement.

His current project is a stage musical celebrating the life of western star Roy Rogers, scheduled to premiere late in 2017.

After over 40 years in the business, trying to balance talent with opportunity and watching the careers of colleagues, both successful and less so, he can reduce what he’s learned into one succinct bit of wisdom: above all, it’s important to be lucky.

Rick Elice (Book) co-wrote Jersey Boys (winner 2006 Tony Award, 2007 Grammy Award and 2009 Olivier Award for Best Musical) with the great Marshall Brickman; The Addams Family; Peter and the Starcatcher (winner of five 2012 Tony Awards); and The Cher Show (currently on tour in the UK). In the pipeline: The Princess Bride for Disney; Smash for Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron and Steven Spielberg, music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, directed by Susan Stroman. Rick is also adapting Sara Gruen’s novel Water for Elephants; the popular film, Silver Linings Playbook; and writing an original musical, Treasure, with 2021 Ed Kleban Award-winner Benjamin Scheuer. Rick’s book, Finding Roger, An Improbably Theatrical Love Story, is published by Kingswell. Heartfelt thanks to those whose theatre work makes him grateful for the day he was born: Sondheim, Stoppard, Bennett, Prince, Fosse, Robbins, Nichols, Nunn, Laurents, Stone, Taymor, Papp, Schumacher, Schneider, David, Strong, Gaudio, Valli, McAnuff, Trujillo, Timbers, Coyne, Brickman, and, eternally, Roger Rees. Rick thinks about them a lot. He never thought about Jersey much. He does now.

Andrew Lippa (Music and Lyrics) Andrew Lippa’s new epic choral work “Unbreakable” had its world premiere with The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus on June 22nd and 23rd, 2018 in San Francisco with 300 artists onstage including Mr. Lippa. Ten more choruses across the country will present this new work in the next year and the original cast recording, produced by legendary producer Leslie Ann Jones, will be released by Ghostlight Records in November, 2018. He conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a new production of his “A Little Princess” in concert in London at the Royal Festival Hall in May, 2018 to a sold-out crowd of nearly 3,000 people.

His hit song “Evil Like Me” appears in Disney’s “Descendants”. Written for Kristin Chenoweth that soundtrack hit #1 on the “Billboard 200” album chart, #1 on the iTunes and Billboard soundtrack charts, has been viewed over 70 million times on YouTube and “Evil Like Me” was certified gold in 2017. On Feb. 1st, 2017, Lippa opened the new season of The American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center with his sold out concert of “Andrew Lippa and Friends.” In 2016, he composed and conducted a world premiere piece for the international piano virtuoso Lang Lang and the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra in Guangzhou, China. This new work, a 32-minute, 5-movement piece called “Rising Tide”, was reprised later in 2016 and recorded in China. Lippa’s epic Concept Opera “I am Anne Hutchinson/I Am Harvey Milk” had its world premiere at The Music Center at Strathmore in April of 2016 starring Kristin Chenoweth as Anne Hutchinson and Mr. Lippa as Harvey Milk. Summer 2016 saw the US premiere of “Life of the Party” – a musical compendium of Mr. Lippa’s career – produced by Theatreworks in Mountain View, CA and starring Mr. Lippa. Summer of 2017, Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY, presented the world premiere of The Man in the Ceiling. Based on Jules Feiffer’s award-winning novel, this musical features a book by Mr. Feiffer and music and lyrics by Mr. Lippa. Directed by Jeffrey Seller (Tony-winning producer of “Hamilton”) Mr. Lippa played the role of Uncle Lester in this production.

Broadway credits include: Music and lyrics for Big Fish directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman; the Tony-nominated music and lyrics for the Broadway musical The Addams Family (directed by Jerry Zaks) as well as the music for Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway play The Farnsworth Invention (directed by Des McAnuff). Other musicals include the Drama Desk award winning musical The Wild Party (book/music/lyrics); A Little Princess (music); john & jen (music/book); Asphalt Beach (music and lyrics); and You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (additional music/lyrics and arrangements). His epic oratorio for men’s chorus, orchestra and soloists, I Am Harvey Milk has seen over 30 productions including Disney Hall and Lincoln Center. Awards: Tony and Grammy nominations; shared Emmy for Nickelodeon’s “The Wonder Pets”; SFGMC Vanguard Award; The Gilman/Gonzalez-Falla Theater Foundation Award; ASCAP’s Richard Rodgers/New Horizons Award; The Drama Desk Award; The Outer Critics Circle Award. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Mr. Lippa serves as president of the board of The Dramatists Guild Foundation (dgf.org). He was born in Leeds, England, grew up in suburban Detroit and is an ordained Interfaith minister. andrewlippa.com