Opening is not until March 17, but designing sets for "The Addams Family" has been "haunting" me for several months. Auditions wrap up tomorrow evening, and sketches have been done for awhile. Work needs to start on the building and painting of sets early in the coming year.

I am not a professional set designer. In fact, I wouldn't say I know what I'm doing, exactly. I have helped design two shows and designed sets for Stage One's "Alice in Wonderland" last fall—all for Richmond Civic Theatre here in my hometown. I love working on sets almost as much as I fear working on sets. Of course, I want everything to be perfect, which it rarely is due to time constraints and constraints of the annoying properties of reality and nature. To say that designing sets for "Addam's Family" is EXACTLY my kind of project would be an understatement. I have told Ruth Brown, the director, that you could simply lift most of the decor in my house and it would be halfway done. That's where the "wanting everything to be perfect" issue comes in.

Next week, I want to have the first meeting our build team. I'm trying to keep everything effective, but also simple — requiring the least amount of tedious scene changes possible. This will likely be accomplished by "flying" several scenes. I have proposed that the "grand hall" of the Addams' Family home be upstage and permanent — all other scenes appearing in front.

Some of the most fun items for me to create (which also happen to be ones I can work on at home) are portraits of ancestors. I plan to create one similar to a portrait featured in the TV series — a steam-punk-attired giraffe. These portraits have become a sort of trademark to the shows I've been asked to design, or help to design. In "Edwin Drood" three portraits were created (two of which are currently in my living room). I painted a portrait of "The Walrus and the Carpenter" for the Stage One production of "Alice in Wonderland" —which was also spirited away to be in my home.

Stay tuned for updates over the next couple months. It's sure to be spooky!

Also, stay updated on information on upcoming RCT productions and ticket availability at http://www.gorct.org