Rehearsals are well under way and everyone in the Nashoba Drama community is striving to make this production the best one yet! The beloved “Drama Mamas” have been working hard to make sure the cast looks great and has everything they need to accurately play their characters. “The Addams Family” doesn’t have any crazy costume changes like many shows Nashoba has performed in the past, but each and every cast member has a complex and unique costume that both stands out and blends in. Most of the detail and planning has gone into dressing the ancestors who make up the show’s ensemble. Every ancestor has been given a recognizable character to play, most of which have been significant to American history and culture. Costume Mama and co-chair Ronnie Nagle said, “A major task was having a character, who does not speak, still be recognizable to the audience”, making the role of the costume volunteers that much more important.

Drama is given a limited budget every year, with only a portion designated toward costumes. The budget is particularly tight this year due to a cast size of 53 and a total of 61 costumes in the show.  Because of this, the first costume shopping stop is always Nashoba’s costume closet where volunteers create the base of each costume and hunt down unique pieces. After that, they rent costumes, go thrift shopping, sew and adapt garments, and lastly bargain shop online, “It’s not easy, but it is fun” said one volunteer.

The costume search takes up a significant amount of time. Only six weeks into rehearsals, the Costume Mama team of fourteen parent volunteers has already put in over 260 hours finding and sewing costumes. Their main goal is to make every member of the cast feel confident and look like their character on stage. They believe that every student is important to the show and their costumes should reflect that.

When asked which costumes have been the biggest challenge, Ronnie Nagle replied, “Festers swimsuit only exists in my mind right now. Second to that, Gomez has been hard to fit because he has too many muscles. Dying all of the garments of the dead ancestors has [also] been a big challenge. They have to look dead, not angelical.” The costumes also have to look nice together under the lights, so coordinating them has been a major undertaking.

With the help of the Costume Mamas, “The Addams Family” is bound to be a great show.“I’m most looking forward to Brooke Winsmann knocking everyone’s socks off.” said Ronnie Nagle. As opening night approaches, the show is starting to come together, and the cast and volunteers are preparing for an amazing show.