With the opening night of The Addams Family only two days away, the cast and crew are hard at work to make sure the show is flawless. As the show gets closer, everyone is both nervous and excited about this hilarious production.

Many of the props in this show are an important part of the story and help contribute to the plot and comedy of the musical. The dedicated props team has been working hard to recreate everything from an apothecary cart, to a giant spider, to a moving, floating moon. Every single prop in the show needs extreme attention to detail; the props crew spends many hours making sure every letter, jewel, and candle is just right.

The process of planning and making props begins by determining what each prop should look like.“We do a lot of searching on the internet,”said Props Manager Co-Chair Holly Ventura. “For the apothecary cart, for example, I looked up the professional show and tried to model it around that.”

The props team begins building these props by looking at the props Nashoba Drama already has stored away. These older props are used as a starting point for new pieces. They also spend a lot of time shopping around at dollar stores, Walmart, and online to customize every prop. Even after hours and hours of work, the props don’t always look just right on stage. “Sometimes you’ll be at the store and see something and say: ‘This is much better,’” said Props Manager Co-Chair Linda Harmon.

The most challenging prop to construct for “The Addams Family” was Grandma’s apothecary cart. It is a rolling potions and medicines cart full of detailed bottles of various elixirs. Much of the props team’s time has been consumed attempting to get this cart just right and making sure all of the glass bottles are secure so nobody gets hurt.   

Once the props have been perfected, it is important the actors know where they are so they can use them on stage. “We basically give props to the actors and make sure they know where their props are. If it’s your prop, you need to be responsible for it,”said Holly Ventura. It is the job of the cast members to make sure they know where their props are and when they need to be used.

Out of all “The Addams Family” scenes Holly Ventura thinks ‘The Moon and Me’ is gonna be cute and “it’s gonna be a lot of fun.” The show will be running March 18th and 19th at 7:30 pm and March 20th at 2:00 pm. Come see what she’s talking about for yourself!