DANBURY — Musicals at Richter has opened its 39th season strong with The Addams Family, written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and composed by Andrew Lippa.

Whether it be the original comics by Charles Addams, the TV show from the ʼ60s, or the 1991 movie and its sequels, most audiences are familiar with the “mysterious and spooky” Addams Family. What began as small illustrations in The New Yorker transformed into a beloved yet dark story with countless renditions that have reached many generations.

The musical comedy on stage in Danbury provides a new story for the familiar characters in which the impassive Wednesday Addams (played by Madison Bielmeier) has fallen in love with the seemingly ordinary Lucas (Nicholas Eklund). She confides in her father, Gomez (Jacob Rogotzke), making him promise not to tell his wife, Morticia (Ariana Straznicky), but Gomez is an honest man who cannot fathom keeping secrets.

When the Addams family decides to host a dinner for Lucas and his family, what could possibly go wrong?

The musical is an unconventional love story featuring lying partners, unhappy marriages, and teen romances. Combined with the sheer chaos that is the Addams family household, this is a recipe for disaster.

The story, though filled with dark humor and adult jokes, is appropriate and entertaining for all ages.

Director and Set Designer Skip Ploss did an amazing job of bringing this “ooky” story to life. It is nonsensical in all the right ways.

The Addams Family is anything but ordinary. In this rendition, they actively strive to be weird, which is their normal. So, of course, they own a plot of land in the middle of Central Park. Obviously, they have little to no furniture except for some ancient torture devices.

Ploss portrays this absurdity particularly well through the set design. Consisting of a series of rotating back walls, it is fairly simplistic, yet every location is distinguishable. The intentional emptiness is very obvious, especially when the characters point it out.

The overall environment of the theater also contributes to the tone of the production. Musicals at Richter is the longest-running outdoor theater in Connecticut. Its brand-new all-weather composite stage has a backdrop of massive, looming pine trees that contribute to the darker tones of the story. Additionally, the show starts at 8 pm, so the sun sets during the production, allowing the story to get darker and more intimate as it progresses.

There were a couple of technical difficulties during a recent performance, but overall, the cast and crew did an amazing job. Mic sensitivity was one of the biggest issues. Sometimes the actors were not audible, and other times the mic was picking up too much sound. For the most part, however, everything sounded amazing.

The actors are spectacular, especially the comedic relief from Uncle Fester (Ted Schwartz), who narrates the story. He makes inside jokes that only locals would understand, creating a more personal experience. Schwartz does an amazing job portraying this quirky, “gender-ambiguous” (as Fester says) character, who is also searching for love and finds it in the oddest place.

The music and some of the solos were also very impressive. Played by 11-year-old Nathan Reilly, Pugsley sounded phenomenal singing the macabre song “What If,” in which he mourns the loss of the torture he endures at the hands of his sister. The song is extremely gruesome yet hilarious.

The Addams Family is a spooky musical that focuses on the importance of love and family. It is lighthearted, but moving as the family members search for independence while also remaining very loyal to each other. As Gomez says, “Living or dead, family is still family.”

Performances continue to July 22, with Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday curtain at 8 pm. For tickets and more information, visit musicalsatrichter.org.