The Musical

Woodside High School’s spring musical “The Addams Family” has been postponed until further notice due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Under district guidelines, meetings of large groups are prohibited, so the cast members are not allowed to perform nor rehearse.

“It was really sad because we put so much work into it,” said Lourdes Arteaga, a Woodside senior playing Wednesday Addams in the musical. “It was so devastating when they told us it was canceled.”

Many were upset because they were stopped in the middle of a rehearsal.

“We were all at rehearsal, and we had to go home in the middle of rehearsal because we got the email and weren’t allowed to stay any longer,” recalled Hazel Griffin, a Woodside senior playing Morticia Addams. “It was really, really devastating.”

Dominic Constantz, a Woodside senior and a guitarist in the pit orchestra, was also disappointed by the postponement.

“I wasn’t angry; I was very disappointed that the county decided to react the way they did,” said Constantz. “I think this is a reaction out of fear and out of fear of what the media has been portraying more so than what the facts are. But, we do have a responsibility to keep ourselves noncontagious for those people around us who do have compromised immune systems and who are elderly, specifically over the age of 65.”

Many were hoping to record a performance, even if there was no audience. However, gathering together to do so would violate district guidelines.

“I think it’s great that they are trying to minimize the crowd,” said Benjamin Sacco, a Woodside senior and the musical’s assistant stage manager. “I would have liked it if they would have let us do a run through and recorded it… so we would have something.”

Constantz agreed with Sacco and argued that a recording wouldn’t have been that detrimental to public health.

“I understand the ‘no performance in a giant room full of people closely packed for a long amount of time,'” said Constantz. “That’s totally understandable, [but] I really think that they should have at least let us do a recording.”

As for the future of the show, the cast members are hoping for a chance to perform later in the school year.

“We’d really like to have a performance in May,” Griffin said. “We’re hoping to do a show at some point, or get it filmed, or both, ideally.”

However, the future plans are currently unknown, and those who already purchased tickets are being refunded.

“People are missing out on a great performance,” said Constantz.