Puppy dogs with droopy faces…
Unicorns with dancing mice…
Sunrise in wide open spaces…
Disney World— I’ll go there twice!
Maybe don’t go there twice, but consider going to see Tidewater Players’ production of The Addams Family? They’re creepy and kooky…and all that jazz… and we’ve got two of them— Wednesday and Pugsley here to chit chat about the process and give you some doom and gloom— I mean, uh… reasons… why you should come check out this show.
Thank you both for this little impromptu sit-down! Tell us who you are we’ll get going!
Mo Tacka: I play Wednesday. I’m Mo. Tacka.
Ethan Buttman: I’m Ethan. Buttman. And I play Pugsley.
Why did you want to come out and be a part of this production of The Addams Family?
Mo: I grew up watching The Addams Family movies fro the 90s. Everyone who knows me relates me to Wednesday because I am a lover of all things spooky and creepy.
That sounds like a good fit for this. What about you, Ethan? Why did you want to be a part of this?
Ethan: My mom drove me up, I had a song, and poof here I am. But really I wanted to come out and show people my dark side… my creepy and spooky side. I wanted people to see that I can be creepy.
What is it like getting to live out your spooky best life as Wednesday, Mo?
Mo: Honestly? You said it perfectly just now. It’s my spooky best life. Wednesday is always a character that I have always wanted to— not only portray— but delve into. And with Al (Director Al Herlinger) as a director, I feel like he’s really helping me do that. I’ve worked with Al before and I just love his direction and the way he does things. He definitely makes it a lot easier to explore the character.
That’s awesome. What about for your, Ethan? What is it like getting to live your spooky best creepy life as Pugsley?
Ethan: Oh it is lovely. I love the fact that people are like “hey, what’s the next thing you’re going to blow up?” I just love that he’s like “aww. My sister is leaving me… she’ll never torture me again!” It’s really fun to be creepy.
Is there a moment in this show that speaks to you above all the others as Wednesday in this show?
Mo: I have two. I think “Pulled” is really big because that’s the part of the show where she’s realizing that she can express all of these feelings that she’s never really felt before. And then another part of the show is when I’m on stage with Gomez (Greg Guyton) and he’s singing “Happy/Sad.” I feel like that moment just comes full circle with showing all the emotions and showing not only Wednesday but The Addams, as a family, do have a soft, grounded side. They’re not all just dynamite and spiders.
Ethan: I think my moment is when I get to push a plunger down as an explosion. It’s just so lovely! The smell of TNT exploding in the wind. It makes me so happy.
What have been some of the challenges that you’re working through in playing this role up to this point?
Mo: The challenges would be shutting myself in the stoic box of Wednesday, first and foremost. And then having to find a way to break out of that box throughout the show. The other side of that is more technical. Wednesday’s songs are right at the top of my vocal range. So that is definitely a struggle to get up there and maintain a good, full sound without it hurting my voice and making it still sound good.
Ethan: I think the challenges are the emotions for me. Getting the right emotion for the right scene, I feel like it’s a lot of me trying to figure out do I have a creepy smile here or do I pout and cry here. It’s very difficult. That’s kind of it. There is emotion in it. Not giving too much too soon, trying to build it up, and finding a way to not give the same type of face over and over.
What have you learned about yourself by being a part of this production of The Addams Family?
Mo: I think I’ve learned that I am a very expressive actor. Even at auditions when I did the cold read, Al said, “Alright. Wednesday doesn’t have a ton of facial expressions so tone that back a bit.” I’ve done that but even with my vocal expressions, I’d like to think that I’m lively and colorful, so trying to find a way to hold all of those back, hold back all of those things that make me who I am and what I’ve been taught as an actor has been difficult but I think I’m learning how to balance it. Al and I have reached a good compromise between Wednesday and Mo and when to channel who during specific parts of the show.
Ethan: I’ve just learned how much I really am like Pugsley. We both like explosives. We both really like fire. And I’m a lot more emotional than I thought. I’m a much more emotional actor than I realized. I worry a lot about what my facial expressions are going to be instead of what I’m about to say, which is good but it can also be challenging. Sometimes I forgot I have a line because I’m concentrating so hard on what my face should be doing.
Full Disclosure: You have to tell our readers something you’ve never told anyone before… just like the game The Addams’ play at dinner. So what’s your full disclosure?
Mo: Oooh— how—
Okay, let me stop you there and preface that by saying— please do not disclose anything that might get you arrested or in some other type of legal trouble.
Mo: Okay wow! Huh. Something I’ve never told anyone. I feel like I’m a very open person so this is sort of difficult. But I know! Okay, so when I was 12 years-old, I had always grown up around cats. I was curious as to what cat-food tasted like. I ate a handful of cat-food and it wasn’t bad. Full disclosure!
Ethan: So…this is a hard one. There are so many things! I thought I could breathe underwater for a very long time.
Mo: Oh my— did you try!?
Ethan: Yes! I had this dream once and I could breathe underwater so when I woke up I was like “Oh my God, I can breathe underwater.” And I thought that was so cool. But then when I would try to do it, I was like “Huh. It’s really hard to breathe underwater.” Full disclosure.
The Addams Family at Tidewater Players ???? Cathy Herlinger
Why do you want people to come out and see this show?
Mo: I feel like there are a lot of things that everyone can relate to. There are going to be parents in the audience that are going to be able to relate to having a rebellious daughter or child. There are going to be adults in general, married couples, who relate to living with a parent-in-law…maybe or maybe not in the attic… and also couples in the audience who can relate to having a secret in their relationship or finding out they have a secret they didn’t know was being kept from them. I feel like everyone can relate to something in this show. Whether it be a parent-child relationship, a romantic-partner relationship, two families meeting for the very first time and the night delving into chaos, there’s a lot of different elements in this show that a lot of different people will be able to relate to and will resonate in a lot of different ways for them.
Ethan: It’s got a lot of emotion in it. It’s dark sometimes but it’s also really loving and beautiful at others. It really is just an amazing show. It’s so fun to just watch and realize you feel the exact same way.
If you had to sum up your Addams Family experience in just one word, what is the word that you would choose?
Mo: Exhilarating.
Ethan: Life.
The Addams Family plays May 12th 2023 through May 21st 2023 in residence at the Cultural Center at The Havre de Grace Opera House— 121 N. Union Street in historic downtown Havre de Grace, MD. For tickets call the box office at 667-225-8433 or purchase them online.
