These days, UNBC is creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky, altogether ooky, with The Addams Family.
The gothic comedy about a preternatural family trying to blend into mainstream society has been a television hit, a movie hit, a Broadway hit and now it makes its Prince George Playhouse debut thanks to the hard volunteer efforts of the UNBC Musical Productions club.
Since Arielle Bernier founded the group, the plays have gotten progressively more ambitious. She has been the driving force behind the club, launching it six productions ago on a $400 budget. The second year's show had a $1,000 budget. This year's show has a $20,000 budget and it has moved from the lecture theatre at UNBC to the purpose-built PG Playhouse.
The scope of the production is also a step up. The cast has 22 people, plus a six-piece orchestra.
"I'd like to think our quality has gone up, too, over the years. Our talent right now is phenomenal," she said.
The club started as an in-house cast and crew but the production is so ambitious by now that the general community is now fully involved in what the students are doing. Longtime community theatre performer Sandra Clermont, for example, is in the key role of Morticia.
Dwight Wolfe, frequent singer and actor on local stages, and host of CFIS Radio's show Home Grown is also in the cast.
Bradley Charles is another seen frequently on community stage and screen, and has the role of Gmez, while young Puglsey Addams is played by Jared Quarenghi who is far from university age.
"He's working so hard, and he's really nailing the part," said Bernier of the 13-year-old Quarenghi's work.
"We were lucky to get (local singing teacher and singer-songwriter) Erika Callewaert, too, she plays Dwight's wife, but she is also working on the vocals with the cast, so she is someone from the community who was valuable to have come in and raise the bar fo the show," said Bernier.
Not only do these people not get paid, but they often contribute all kinds of in-kind ways in addition to the time and effort required for their parts.
"People really throw themselves into these productions, and you see it with Judy Russell's shows, too, and all the community theatre people do around here, because it is a passion, so people give 150 per cent," Bernier said.
She might be the prime example. Bernier put a significant amount down on her own personal credit card to cover the cost of the set-building. She has taken on the direction and production duties for the club she co-founded in her first year of university, despite the fact she is in school becoming a professional biologist, not a theatrical professional.
She was also in productions like Evil Dead: The Musical and The Sound Of Music in her spare time.
She's exercising artistic muscles instilled in her by her parents. Her mom "has a wonderful singing voice" and her dad was in rock bands all throughout her childhood. She grew up stealing the microphone whenever people weren't looking.
"My parents like to say I was singing before I was talking. I remember once they let me stay with my uncle while they were on a trip, and when they got home he'd taught me the words to Baby Got Back. 'I like big butts and I cannot lie...' Yeah. I was two."
She even made it through some of the off-screen rounds of the last Canadian Idol season, but was eventually halted when the producers double-checked her age and determined her to be too young.
Undaunted, she has pursued both sides of the stage -- out in the white lights and back in the black. It put her in touch with new ways of doing theatre, and introduced her to people in all sorts of the theatrical trades on whom she could later call for UNBC Musical Productions purposes.
Although she would love to carry on with local productions, this is not only her last play as a UNBC student, it's also her last days as a Prince George resident. Bernier came here for university after growing up in the Terrace and Dawson Creek areas, and she has secured a biologist position with engineering and natural resources company Ecora. It is based in Kelowna.
Another longtime member of the club, Veronica Church, has been using the past year to study the protocols of obtaining script licenses, arranging production necessities, and directing the cast and crew. Church will be leading the post-Bernier phase of the club's existence.
"I want to see all the hard work we've put into it, and all the success we've had, lead to a long, healthy future for the club," Bernier said. "This is an ambitious production, so if we can sell the tickets it will leave them with enough money in the bank to go forward without financial worries. This has been one of UNBC's most dedicated and elaborate groups, so I hope this is just the start. We have had very little dropout, once people join us, we have a lot of new people right now for the Addams Family show, and we have the community people stepping in like never before. It's a good place to be."
Tickets to see The Addams Family at the PG Playhouse are on sale now ($15 regular or $10 if you show CNC or UNBC identification) at the UNBC Wintergarden and at Books & Company.
Shows run at 7 p.m. from March 31 to April 9 with a 1 p.m. matinee on the final day.
FULL CAST AND CREW
Bradley Charles: Gmez Addams
Sandra Claremont: Morticia Addams
Arielle Bernier: Wednesday Addams
Jared Quarenghi: Pugsley Addams
Neil Brooks: Grandma Addams
Colton Fitzsimmons: Fester Addams
Dwight Wolfe: Mal Beineke
Erika Callewaert: Alice Beineke
Franco Celli: Lucas Beineke
Alex Pinette: Lurch
Ancestors:
Carmen Campbell
Jasmine Eadie
Tierney Watkinson
Lluvia Lopez
Danaya Rankin
Michelle Karey-McKenna
Katelyn Vandersteen
Miranda Hanson
Jenny Lind
Melissa McCracken
Cassy Thummerer
Veronica Church
Band:
Priya Shergill - Conductor
Patrick Kilcullen - Keyboard
Justin Gendreau - Drums/Percussion
James Mangan - Electric Bass
David Poon - Electric guitar
Michelyn Rutledge - Alto Saxophone
Caitlyn Tracey - Flute
