A single pale hand slipped between the red curtains — the audience’s first glimpse as to what lies beyond the velvet shroud.

Da da da dum, snap, snap.

Da da da dum, snap, snap.

“The Addams Family” arrived on the Shippensburg University Memorial Auditorium stage, last night, as Act V’s latest performance.

The evening consisted of ghosts, potions, thunderstorms and the ever-charming quirks of the Addamses. Act V had to pull together an especially talented cast for the show to live up to the Broadway hype. The cast members had to be skilled in theater, song and dance for the SU production.

In the musical, Wednesday Addams, played by Mackenzie Brouse, falls in love with a “normal” boy, named Lucas Beineke. Wednesday’s usual dark and gloomy disposition is replaced by thoughts of sunshine and rainbows, once she admits she wants to marry Lucas, played by Tyler Law.

Even when the two freshmen co-stars are not the center of attention, they maintain their characters’ personas with every tiny interaction — like when Wednesday rolls her eyes or Lucas smiles lovingly at her.

The plot evolves when the father of the family, Gomez Addams, finds himself trapped between the two women he loves the most, his daughter and his wife, Morticia, played by Gillian Bradshaw.

“Whaaaaat?” Gomez screams, with a Spanish accent, when Wednesday tells him that her and Lucas are engaged. Wednesday makes him promise not to tell Morticia until after the Beineke family comes over for dinner.

As the song goes, Gomez is “Trapped” between keeping a promise for Wednesday and keeping a secret from his wife, whom he tells everything.

Tyler Marshall plays the role of loving father and devoted husband, rarely letting Gomez’s Spanish accent slip while he is in character.

“He’s so charismatic and fun to play,” Marshall said of Gomez.

At one point in the musical, when everything seems to be going wrong, Gomez and Wednesday have a father-daughter dance outside the family graveyard.

“It’s the point when Gomez breaks out of his quirkiness he’s had throughout the show and has a moment with Wednesday,” Marshall said of the scene, one of his favorites.

The majority of the time, Gomez is rattling off family history, caressing his wife or brandishing a sword.

Morticia drew the eyes of the crowd wherever she moved, her sultry black dress highlighting the paleness of her skin. Bradshaw captured all that is the essence of Morticia, from her pointed walk to how she runs her family — although her parenting tactics are quite different from that of Alice Beineke, Lucas’ mother.

Upon meeting Alice, Morticia nearly vomits at the sight of her bright yellow dress and the sound of Alice’s singsong, rhyming sentences.

Although more of a secondary role, Ariadne Retzer brings the character of Alice to the spotlight when she belts out “Waiting” and collapses on the Addams’ dining room table, halfway through the show.

During intermission, student director and producer Samantha New had a giant smile across her face. The dress rehearsal, the night before, was a little rough, and New was ecstatic to see how the show was turning out.

“It’s always different when you put on a show and there’s an audience,” New said, her red lipstick-coated smile stretching even further.

“The audience gives them new life,” New said.

When the curtains parted again, the show shifted focus to a fight between Lucas and Wednesday.

“I can be impulsive. I just need to think about it first!” Lucas yelled as he ran after Wednesday, who was toting a crossbow.

In the second half of the musical, the differences between Lucas and Wednesday are perpetuated even further as the Addams and Beineke families deal with their own love problems.

However, the more serious scenes were always punctuated with little moments of humor.

“If you’re going to act like a tool, why don’t you sleep in the shed,” Alice said to her husband Mal, played by Matthew Peck.

Auditions for “The Addams Family” were held in November, and rehearsals began during the spring semester. The long hours New spent between student teaching and musical practice were finally worth it when the curtain came to a final close, Thursday night.

“Together, we’ve made Act V history,” New said before running off to hug and celebrate with choreographer, Kimberly Browna.

“We did it!” the two yelled as they embraced.

The cast and crew have three more shows to put on this weekend before they bid the Addamses farewell. There will be an 8 p.m. show Friday and Saturday night, as well as a 2 p.m. show on Sunday. Tickets are $5 for SU students and $10 for the general public.

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