by, Jilleen Barrett, Asst. A&E Editor
The Manhattan College spring musical The Addams Family has been officially cancelled. The same day that the student body received an email that classes would be held online for the remainder of the semester, the Instagram account @playersmc announced that the show would not go on.
Andy Bauer, music director and coordinator of performing arts, expressed his disappointment that the hard work put into the show would not be recognized in the way they had hoped.
“We definitely want to do something this semester so that the students can show the work that they’ve been doing on this, because we’ve all been doing so much work,” Bauer said. “We want to do something so that the students can in some way publicly perform something from the show and we’ve got a couple irons in the fire … as far as how we might do it.”
James Caldwell, the director of the musical and a professor in the department of music and theatre, communicated that it is important to him that they exhibit the talent and dedication of the students. However, they have not figured out how exactly they will execute that.
“We’re just getting back from break, and I really wanted to make sure that the students had a break,” Caldwell said. “But we’re exploring, we will explore every option in that capacity.”
Caldwell made sure to mention that he wants to do something that will represent all of the students involved in the musical, regardless of their position.
“I’m heartbroken for the designers, I mean, the people who designed and built the set,” Caldwell said. “I am heartbroken for all… every single actor in the show that worked hard, learning their lines and learning very challenging choreography.”
His job as director includes the responsibilities of finding the costumer, choreographer, casting the show, and “making sure everything, when it comes together, is speaking the same language.”
Gabby Kasper and Megan Lawlor are seniors and have been involved in Players since freshman year. Lawlor, who played Morticia, explained how disheartening it is not to see their last musical take the stage.
“I mean, I think I can speak on behalf of everyone in saying that we’re all devastated,” Lawlor said. “I mean we understand, of course, what happened but it’s, it’s still completely gut wrenching to put so much of yourself into a project and have it kind of fizzle out in front of your very eyes.”
Lawlor and Kasper, the assistant director, each put about 12 hours a week aside to rehearse and prepare since auditions in November. There were about 10 other seniors involved among the cast and tech crew as well. It is unlikely that they will attempt to reproduce the show next spring, considering the number of students from this year’s graduating class that would not be able to partake.
“They’re just gonna move on and find a new show just because this kind of hurts now,” Kasper said. “[It’s] a little weird to try to like recast a show that already was very much on its way to fruition.”
Despite how unfortunate this is for those involved, Caldwell feels that it was important to call the show off because of the concerns about the coronavirus on campus.
“There are people I know that have compromised immune systems at our school,” Caldwell said. “I would much rather protect someone’s life than do a musical.”