Pali’s Musical Director, Nancy Fracchiolla, took her final bow this fall with “The Addams Family.” Her retirement marks the end of a decade as a core member of the Pali theater community.
After being hired at Pali, Fracchiolla began teaching the freshman drama pod, followed soon after by the improv and theater ensembles. Fracchiolla also wrote and developed the curriculum for Pali’s advanced drama class.
As the current Musical Director, Fracchiolla directs multiple productions each year. She described “Something Rotten” (2019) and “Mean Girls” (2023) as some of the most memorable shows she has put together at Pali, alongside this year’s “The Addams Family.”
However, “The Addams Family” wasn’t Fracchiolla’s initial choice for her final production. “I had chosen ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ but I couldn’t get the rights to it… so we didn’t have it.”
A conversation with her brother in Florida, who had recently done a performance of “The Addams Family,” inspired her to take on the musical instead.
“I always loved ‘The Addams Family’ when I was little,” Fracchiolla said. “[I gave] the score a listen and fell in love with the show.” After consulting the students within the musical program and receiving their approval, the decision was finalized.
Senior Annika Johansson, who played Morticia Addams, has been working with Fracchiolla since her freshman year. She described the last four years with Fracchiolla as a transformative experience.
“She’s very hard-working,” Johansson said. “She’s very supportive and through her, I feel like I’ve really gotten a good view of the industry.”
“Every time [I] do a show with her, I feel like we all become one family,” she added.
In light of Fracchiolla’s departure, Johansson worked hard to give her performance in “The Addams Family” her all.
“I wanted it to be really good,” she said. “I wanted to make her proud and I think all of us are trying to do our best to make both ourselves proud and her proud.”
Leading up to the show, Fracchiolla remarked that she was particularly impressed with the cast’s hard work, given an unexpected reduction of rehearsal time by one week.
“This cast is blowing me away,” she said. “They’re here on weekends like they have no lives other than the show.”
Following their final performance on Oct. 6, Pali’s theater department is left to reflect on Fracchiolla’s 14-year tenure at the school, which has seen the musical theater program nominated for a Jerry Herman award and a performance on the Pantages stage.
“I have a couple of former students who have asked me to direct a show they’re working on, so I’ll still be creative, just not in the same way,” Frachiolla said regarding her retirement plans.
Fracchiolla described her departure as very bittersweet.
“I know that I’m ready to move on,” she reflected. “But every rehearsal just hits my heart because I’m gonna really miss this.”
