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ROC City Players to Perform The Addams Family

Students in the ROC City Players are interviewed by Channel 13's Chris Lopez.

One hundred students in the ROC City Players Summer Program are just days away from their production of The Addams Family. Students were up bright and early this morning to showcase their talents for Channel 13’s Good Day Rochester morning show.

ROC City Players Co-Founder Taylor Johnson says the students have been practicing for six hours a day. “They are singing, dancing, acting, painting, and cutting wood,” said Ms. Johnson. “They are just very focused on it to get this show ready to go.”  

Sixteen student interns are paid through a City of Rochester summer program, and staff member Eric Williamson has been the co-director, along with Max Salinas-Miner, a recent graduate of School of the Arts.

“Being able to do this, especially as a young adult, it’s really amazing to have this amount of responsibility, and people respect me,” said Max.

Now celebrating 10 years, ROC City Players was founded in 2017 by Ms. Johnson, District musical director and music teacher at Dr. Iris J. Banister School No. 33, to provide students with the opportunity to rehearse and perform full-scale musical productions.

Since its inception, ROC City Players has staged audience favorites including The Wiz, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek, Newsies Jr., Mary Poppins, Jr., Matilda, Jr., Cats, and In the Heights.

Showtimes for this summer’s production of The Addams Family will be on Thursday, August 6, at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., and on Friday, August 7, at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. All shows are free and open to the public.