Waynesburg University’s drama club, The WU Players, performed “The Addams Family” from March 22 to March 25 to sold-out audiences in the Goodwin Performing Arts Center (GPAC).

Emily Mielcarek, a senior international studies major, played Wednesday Addams in the musical. Mielcarek is no stranger to the stage, with “The Addams Family” being her 12th production at Waynesburg University. She has been a stage manager and assistant director for many of the plays and has held the roles of Princess Winifred in “Once Upon A Mattress” and DeLacey in “Frankenstein.”

“A struggle that the cast faced collectively was the pressure to create a performance in such a short time while being involved in other commitments,” said Mielcarek. “An enormous amount of work goes into making a musical what it is. We would rehearse for three-plus hours a night, every night for eight weeks.”

The amount of time that goes into each performance and the preparation behind the scenes is extensive in order to have a successful musical from building the set, memorization of lines and assembling the costumes.

Elizabeth Nicodemus, a sophomore sports management major, was an ancestor flapper during this year’s spring semester production.

“One of the struggles the cast faced was having everybody there every night during rehearsals,” said Nicodemus. “A bunch of people had night class and we did a pretty good job of working around everyone’s conflicts, but as we got closer to the show, it was harder to run scenes without some of the main characters.”

Michelle Frye, a junior advertising and public relations major, had an additional role to play in the musical besides being Uncle Fester’s love interest, The Moon. She was the makeup designer and coordinator.

“It was a challenge on how to assemble 15 plus people into special effects death makeup,” said Frye. “Showtime was at 7:30 p.m. and I had to be at the GPAC every day at 4:30 p.m. in order to get everyone, including myself, into makeup. Even with help it was still was quite a job to take on.”

Some other challenges that the cast faced was balancing school work and the musical.

“Often times I felt myself ignoring school work to practice and refine my role,” said Mielcarek. “It is a delicate balance between show commitment and also school commitment.”

But after four years of being a part of the drama department, she believes that she has mastered the balancing act of class work and the performances.

Edward Powers, professor of theater and director of “The Addams Family,” praised the students for their hard work and dedication.

“The students worked very hard and the energy that they got from the audience took it away from being another rehearsal,” said Powers. “The characters seemed more alive when it was seen by an audience. Every performance is different, every moment is different and every day is different. The musical lives here on the stage for a very short time and then goes away, but it will stay in the hearts and minds of those involved even after it vanishes.”

The musical was a success overall with Thursday to Saturday’s performances being sold out. There were approximately 800 people who saw the show during its time on Waynesburg University’s campus.

The next performances for the Waynesburg Players are the student directed One Act plays which will be held April 10 and 12 at 8 p.m. in the GPAC with this year’s theme of Dating and Death.