The Addams Family Creative

Director

Ms. Christina Baurle

Ms. Baurle is excited to continue to work with such talented students on this year's production of The Addams Family. She is the theatre teacher at PCHS and is currently teaching a variety of theatre content classes in addition to advising the Drama Club and International Thespian Society. Her Port Chester producing and directing credits include Radium Girls, Legally Blonde the Musical, Twelve Angry Jurors, High School Musical, Clue, Head Over Heels the Musical, and Around the World in 8 Plays. She has also directed multiple original productions at SUNY Geneseo and off-off Broadway festivals. She was published as a contributing author to American Musicals in Context: from the American Revolution to the 21st Century. She would like to thank the entire Port Chester community for their support and encouragement of the performing arts talents of our students.

Music Director

Mr. Jonathan Pereira

Jonathan Pereira is thrilled to be directing the music for The Addams Family! He serves as the Choir Director and Music Department Chair at Port Chester High School, where he also teaches Music Production and IB Music. At Port Chester High School, he was previously the Music Director for Head Over Heels, High School Musical, and Legally Blonde. Jonathan is passionate about bringing musical theater to life and is incredibly proud of the cast, pit and crew for their dedication and hard work. He hopes you enjoy this delightfully spooky and hilarious production!

Producer

Mr. Justin Thomas

Choreographer

Ms. Kimberly Fusco

Ms. Fusco is thrilled to be returning to choreograph for the PCHS Drama Club for the third time! She previously had the pleasure of choreographing High School Musical in 2023 and Legally Blonde The Musical in 2024, and she is excited to continue working with such a talented group of students. She is incredibly proud of all of their progress over the years and can't wait to see them shine on stage. She is also an 8th grade English teacher at Port Chester Middle School. A huge thank you to the amazing creative team for this wonderful experience. Best of luck to the talented cast and crew of The Addams Family The Musical!

Assistant Director/Stage Manager/Ancestor

Toni Ash

Toni Ash is a senior this year and is very excited for the last musical of her high school career, Addams Family. Toni has been a part of the drama club since her freshman year and has learned so much from stage managing and assistant directing. Toni is very involved outside of academics, including clubs and activities like the Port Chester Sound (the acapella group here), the International Thespian Society, National Honors Society, National English Honor Society, and is now part of a three-year filmmaking cohort, Ghetto Film School (GFS) based in the Bronx. She has so much love and appreciation for the arts and can’t wait to return next year to see the shows. She would like to thank her family, the entire drama club, and Ms. Baurle for being a great teacher these past four years!

Assistant Director/Asst. Stage Manager/Ancestor

Diego Vega

Diego Vega is a junior and is very excited to not only be a part of the spring musical, but also be the assistant director for the first time. He was an actor for 12 Angry Jurors, Legally Blonde the Musical, Radium Girls and was part of the business team for High School Musical. He is also a member of the Thespian Honor Society and is currently the treasure for the society. Not only is he co-president of the film club, he is also a member of Mu Alpha Theta and a part of Soundwaves where he plays and teaches piano for the non-profit. He would like to thank his family and friends for supporting him along this journey.

Stage Manager

Amelia Jimenez

Amelia is a sophomore and she's passionate to be part of this musical production as a stage manager. With her past PCHS drama experiences in 12 Angry Jurors, Legally Blonde and Radium Girls she's grateful to be part of the production again. Amelia would like to thank her parents and all her drama club friends.

Stage Manager

Sophia Tellez

Sophia is a senior and is excited to be able to be a part of the Addams Family and her last show! She has been dedicated to her role as stage manager since her freshman year, participating in Head Over Heels, Clue, High School Musical, 12 Angry Jurors, and Legally Blonde. She is currently President of the International Thespian Society and is looking forward to a great final production to end her time in high school on a high note! Sophia wants to thank Ms. Baurle and all the cast and crew for making her theater experience great over the past four years.

Pit Orchestra Director & Conductor

Ms. Melissa Neyer

Ms. Neyer is the Orchestra teacher at PCHS as well as the advisor for Orchestra Club, Pit Orchestra, Tri-M Music Honor Society and co-director of the Jazz Band. Ms. Neyer usually plays the bass for the musicals (Head Over Heels, High School Musical, Legally Blonde) but is excited to be conducting the Pit this year!

Original Creative Team

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 the 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.

Mr. Brickman’s film work as author (or co-author with Woody Allen) includes Sleeper, Annie Hall (Academy Award), Manhattan, (Academy Award 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, has been seen by twenty million people worldwide and is one of the longest running shows 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 was published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Playboy and other periodicals. He was the 2006 recipient of the Writers’ Guild of America Ian McClellan Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement.

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

On Broadway: Jersey Boys (Best Musical, 2006 Tony Award, 2007 Grammy Award and 2009 Olivier Award); The Addams Family; Peter and the Starcatcher (winner of five 2012 Tony Awards);and The Cher Show (winner of two 2019 Tony Awards). In the pipeline: The Princess Bride and Smash, co-written with Bob Martin; Silver Linings Playbook, a musical adaptation of the popular film; The Marvels, a musical adaptation of the popular novel; and Treasure, an original musical written with 2021 Ed Kleban Award-winner Benjamin Scheuer. From 1982-1999, as creative director at Serino Coyne Inc, Rick created and produced ad campaigns for more than 300 Broadway shows, from A Chorus Line to The Lion King. From 1999-2009, he served as creative consultant for The Walt Disney Studio. Charter member, American Repertory Theatre. Trustee, The Actors’ Fund. BA, Cornell University; MFA, Yale Drama School; Teaching Fellow, Harvard University. Heartfelt thanks to those he’s been lucky enough to know, whose work makes him grateful for the day he was born: Sondheim, Stoppard, Bennett, Prince, Fosse, Robbins, Nichols, Tune, Nunn, Timbers, McAnuff, Laurents, Lippa, Stone, Taymor, Papp, Schumacher, Schneider, Costello, Coyne, Brickman, and eternally, Roger Rees.

ANDREW LIPPA

Andrew Lippa is currently at work on numerous projects for stage and screen. New titles include Fairy Tale, written with Adam Gopnik, which tells the story of a father, a son, and the birth of Disco; La Casa de las Flores, written with Bob Martin and based on the hit Netflix Mexican television show; The Turning Point, based on the classic film and novel, for which Lippa is writing the book, music, and lyrics; and an original Christmas film musical titled A Totally Awesome Christmas Story with 10 new songs. His epic choral work Unbreakable had its world premiere with The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus in San Francisco with 300 artists onstage including Mr. Lippa. Many more choruses across the country have presented this new work and the original cast recording, produced by legendary producer Leslie Ann Jones, was released by GhostlightRecords.com. 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 concert work 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 who also played the role of Uncle Lester in this production. Recording also available on GhostlightRecords.com

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), and the upcoming Love Somebody Now. His epic oratorio for men’s chorus, orchestra and soloists, I Am Harvey Milk has seen over 40 productions including Disney Hall, Lincoln Center, and London’s Cadogan Hall.

Awards: Tony, Emmy, 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), recipient of the Tony Award for Excellence in the American Theater. He was born in Leeds, England, grew up in suburban Detroit, and is an ordained Interfaith minister.

Explore all things Andrew Lippa at andrewlippa.com!