Wagon Wheel Junior’s show “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Werewolf” runs Friday, Oct. 27, through Sunday, Oct. 29, at the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts in Warsaw. Practicing a scene for it on Monday, Oct. 16, are Olliver Pettit, left, and Wyatt Phillips.

Text and Photos
By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — People may experience a spooky look at the 1950s through the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts’ next show.

The Wagon Wheel Junior production of “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Werewolf” is set for Friday, Oct. 27, through Sunday, Oct. 29.

It tells the story of Rupert Lydecker, a nerdy teenager whose life changes after he’s transformed into a werewolf.

“It’s a … fantasy, all of the tropes of Halloween,” said the Wagon Wheel’s Education Director Kira Lace Hawkins, who’s directing the play.

Wagon Wheel Associate Artistic Director Jennifer Dow said adults attending the kid-friendly show may see some similarities to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

“I always tell people it’s ‘Teen Wolf’ meets 1950s meets B-grade horror movies,” she said.

Lace Hawkins said the musical contains messages relevant to kids.

“It’s been interesting with our young cast because it deals with themes of bullying,” she said. “It deals with themes of that kind of teenage angst of wanting to be more than you are or something else and escape your reality, so it’s fun to watch Rupert Lydecker become this suave teen wolf.”

“It’s something that the kids can relate too, but also is extremely nostalgic and entertaining to the parents,” added Lace Hawkins.

“The werewolf kind of has an Elvis-type to him,” said Dow.

There are 31 kids ages 11-18 in the show. Lace Hawkins said the age range is older than usual for a typical Wagon Wheel Junior show.

“This show in particular skewed a little older because a lot of the characters are meant to be teenagers,” she said.

Lace Hawkins noted though the kids have acted before, this is the first time for a number of them in a Wagon Wheel show.

She wants the actors to have the chance “to express themselves.”

“I think theater offers kids the opportunity to express themselves in a way that isn’t accessible to them in the hallways of their schools,” said Lace Hawkins. “We want to give them the … theatrical tools of increasing their skills when it comes to projection, when it comes to analyzing a play and developing a character.”

“We really treat Wagon Wheel Junior as a professional show so that’s why we have it in the same amount of rehearsal time as we do our professional summer companies,” she continued. “We want to give the kids a chance to put up a show that quickly and with a rehearsal process that happens that quickly we are really infusing them with the skills it takes to be a professional actor and so we’re really hoping that they leave here knowing what’s potentially expected of them if they were to enter the professional world of theater.”

Among the cast is Warsaw Community High School junior Isaac Greene, who plays Rupert Lydecker.

It’s his first starring role though he’s been in eight Wagon Wheel productions previously.

“It’s fun,” he said of playing the lead character.

“I just like the thought of being somebody else,” said Greene of why he keeps returning to act at the Wagon Wheel. “I mean I like who I am but it’s just the thought of … how I can portray somebody else, and it gives good energy. I like that.”

Greene isn’t the only one from his family in “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Werewolf”: his younger sisters Ellie Greene and Audrey Greene also are in it.

Ellie, an eighth grader, plays one of the popular girls, Betty, in her fifth Wagon Wheel performance.

“It feels like I’m in a professional environment just because they teach us … to act like professionals,” she said of what she’s gained from the show.

Sixth grader DeLaney McCammon also in “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Werewolf,” plays the half-human, half-robot Cornelia. This will be her eighth Wagon Wheel show.

“It’s really fun and I learn a lot and the whole Wagon Wheel family is just a lot of fun,” she said of why she keeps acting.

Showtimes for “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Werewolf” are 7 p.m. Oct. 27 and 2 p.m. Oct. 28 and 29, with kids able to visit the Wagon Wheel’s “Not-So-Haunted Open House” one hour prior to each showtime.

The cost of the open house is included in the regular ticket price, with kids able to play games, make slime with the help of a mad scientist and more.

People may buy the $20 tickets by going to wagonwheelcenter.org/event/you-aint-nothin-but-a-werewolf/. Tickets are also available the days of the shows, but people are encouraged to order them ahead of time.

At practice on Monday are Wynona Olson, left, and Phillips.

Rehearsing are from left: Jet Watson, Kaid Scacco, Alayna Dean, Audrey Greene, Noelle Nethaway and Caidence Malloy.

Attendees to each performance of “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Werewolf” may come an hour early to each show to go through the Wagon Wheel’s “Not-So-Haunted Open House.” Shown is one of the kids’ game sections in it.

People may also buy items from a bake sale at each performance.