READ TODAY'S STORIES AND E-EDITION SUBSCRIBE |  CONTACT US |  SIGN IN

Print story only Print story with comments Email Twitter Facebook Pinterest
An uplifting, supportive "Addams Family" tale
Published: 1/27/2012 3:49 PM
Last Modified: 1/27/2012 3:49 PM


Bah-dah-dah-dump. Indeed

At Tuesday night’s performance of “The Addams Family,” one thing was on the mind of just about every woman in the theater – or at least, the women who sit within earshot of me in the PAC’s Chapman Music Hall:

It was… The Dress.

If you’ve seen “The Addams Family” – if you’ve just seen photographs advertising “The Addams Family” – you know about The Dress.

The Dress is the form-fitting purple-and-black ensemble that Sara Gettelfinger wears to portray Morticia, the matriarch of the Addams clan.

In the show’s opening number, when Gomez (Douglas Sills) is introducing the family to the audience, he somewhat colorfully but accurately describes Morticia’s frock as having a neckline that reaches “down to Venezuela.”

(And we realize that description is merely an exaggeration for the sake of humor. In fact, the gown’s décolletage comes to a point somewhere well to the north of Aruba.)

However it may be geographically described, a fair portion of Ms. Gettelfinger’s anatomy is on display. Which prompted a plethora of discussions at intermission from the women in the nearby seats as to how one avoids what has come to known as a “wardrobe malfunction” while singing and dancing, acting and emoting in such a get-up.

Tape – double-sided and a lot of it – was the general concensus among my fellow female theatergoers. Some sort of invisible mesh that created the illusion of … um … openness was briefly considered, then resoundingly rejected.

One vote was cast that this all part of the puppetry created for the show by the award-winning puppeteer Basil Twist, but my wife assured me I had no idea what I was talking about.

In the end (in the front?) the answer as to what keeps Morticia together is – in the words of Celebrity Attractions marketing director Kristin Dotson – “some kind of industrial-strength plunging-neckline bra from Victoria’s Secret.”

“It’s a question we’ve been hearing all week, so I asked,” Dotson said. “It’s to the point where I think Victoria’s Secret missed out on a great sponsorship opportunity – ‘The Addams Family,’ sponsored by Victoria’s Secret.”










Reader Comments 1 Total
Jayhawk Ken (last year)
The perfect blog story. Visiting somewhere north of Aruba on Sunday.
1 comments displayed


To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

Subscribe to this blog


Archive

 
James D. Watts Jr's Blog Archive:

2/2013  1/2013  12/2012  11/2012  10/2012  9/2012  
8/2012  7/2012  6/2012  5/2012  4/2012  3/2012  
2/2012  1/2012  12/2011  11/2011  10/2011  9/2011  
8/2011  7/2011  6/2011  5/2011  4/2011  3/2011  
2/2011  1/2011  12/2010  11/2010  10/2010  9/2010  
8/2010  7/2010  6/2010  5/2010  4/2010  3/2010  
2/2010  1/2010  12/2009  11/2009  10/2009  9/2009  
8/2009  7/2009  6/2009  5/2009  4/2009  3/2009  
2/2009  1/2009  12/2008  11/2008  10/2008  9/2008  
8/2008  7/2008  6/2008  5/2008  4/2008  








Home | Contact Us | Search | Subscribe | Customer Service | About | Advertise | Privacy
Copyright © 2013, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.