It’s usually a good sign if the audience is clapping, but the recent production by When I Grow Up Theater and Cabaret Group aimed to keep crowds at the Arctic Playhouse snapping instead.

It wasn’t hard, either: just four notes of the iconic Addams Family theme song was all it took to get audiences feeling altogether ooky.

“I was expecting them to snap by the end of the show, but I was surprised how immediately they caught on,” said producer and director Mya Lemery.  “On opening night, I heard them snap immediately when the music started and I thought ‘How did they even know it was coming?’”

Mysterious?  Spooky?  Perhaps, but the real thrill was the nearly consistent sold-out shows which WIGU’s The Addams Family enjoyed over the course of its run in Arctic. Any community production would be proud of such a run, but it is especially remarkable for a company not only starring, but also managed and directed by local youth.

Lemery founded When I Grow Up long before she did so herself: she was a freshman at West Warwick High School when rehearsals for their first show began in 2019.

 “From the start, I wanted to make sure that we were giving local kids a chance to take charge,” said Lemery, now 19 years old.  Mya herself directs and performs other creative leadership duties, while marketing largely depends on the actors themselves.

“We give each of the kids a set of sponsor forms and send them out to find local restaurants and companies to sponsor us,” Lemery said.  “It’s $100, which includes a poster on the wall of the theater and a mention in the program.  The kids really did a great job this year - one girl even managed to find nine sponsors all on her own.”

This funding was used to create the Addams estate (complete with instruments of torture), together with props, costume pieces, and most of the other expenses involved in a community theatre production.

“I was able to draw from my own collection for a lot of the costume pieces,” Lemery said, noting that the success of the recent Netflix series Wednesday made it difficult to source costume options with the classic touch she was seeking.

 “Everything online was very modern and inspired by the series, so I had to make sketches and work with a seamstress, together with what I still had on hand from previous shows. When I get the things that I need for each production, I usually go a little overboard, so I always have a lot of choices left over.”

Plans for this production began long before the Netflix series caused renewed interest in the franchise. 

“We initially got the rights and started planning this before the pandemic,” Lemery said.  “Covid made it so we couldn’t actually hold auditions until October of 2022.”  The remarkable turnout of 43 local youths may have been at least partially attributable to the popularity of Wednesday on TikTok (although one may speculate whether the character has reached peak pop cultural saturation after appearing in a recent Cardi’s commercial).

The Arctic Playhouse’s Jim Belanger said that the theater often looks for opportunities to support local companies.  “As a theater, we’re proud to have these kids on our stage,” he said.  “They’re all incredibly talented, and the shows have been selling terrifically well.”

Local youth theater producer Gladys Cole attended a Friday evening performance of the show to support one of her own actresses from G. Cole Productions.

 “When she came to me and said she’d be working with Mya, I was so excited for her,” Cole said.  “It’s a great opportunity for young people to work with someone so close to their own age and learn what goes into producing a show.”

Mya’s mother, Cheri Lemery, has long believed in encouraging her daughter’s interests by knowing when to step back.  “Even when Mya was starting out, I tried to be very ‘hands-off’ with this,” she said.  “I wanted her to have something of her own and let her really take leadership of it - and it’s been incredible just watching her go.”

Mum’s the word on where Mya is going next, however.

 “We’re closing in on the rights to a really incredible show that I really wish I could name right now,” she said.  “All I can say is that it’s going to be a musical and we hope to hold auditions in March.”

Local actors between the ages of 13 - 18 should monitor the When I Grow Up Theater Group Facebook page for the announcement.