HIS on-stage girlfriend has a tendency to run amok with a crossbow and enjoys torturing her little brother in the basement but Oliver Ormson couldn’t be happier about his role in the musical comedy The Addams Family which makes its debut in Manchester this summer.

Inspired by the cult Sixties’ TV show, The Addams Family features Samantha Womack as Morticia, Les Dennis as Uncle Fester and West End star Carrie Hope Fletcher as Wednesday Addams.

Oliver plays Lucas Beineke, the all-American boy who falls in love with Wednesday and faces the prospect of introducing his family to the weird and wonderful Addams clan.

“This is just so exciting,” said Oliver. “Because this is a brand new show we have had the rare opportunity to be involved in something great from the beginning.

“If you go in a long-running show you often have to slot into the part and you get told what your limits are. But for this, there is a bit of Oliver Ormson in Lucas.”

The question is, which bit?

“Ah,” he laughed, “well, I made him quite dorky in places. For him to fall in love with Wednesday he needs a bit of weirdness.

“I can be a bit dorky and tell stupid jokes and I have a silly sense of humour, so that’s probably the bit of Oliver Ormson in Lucas, his dorkiness.”

Originally from Warrington, the Addams Family coming to the Lowry is a chance for Oliver’s family and friends to see the show.

“My parents came to the opening night in Edinburgh but I’m hoping that all the family can come to watch it,” he said.

Although initially he wanted to be a footballer, the theatre has always been in Oliver’s blood.

“My mum opened and ran an amateur dramatics company so that was always part of my childhood,” he said.

“I remember coming downstairs when I was five or six and there would be a set being built in the living room so that’s probably how it all started.”

Oliver, 27, has starred in a tour of Hairspray and was in the Book of Mormon in London’s West End.

“I was cover for the lead in that show and I knew I had to take the next step,” he said. “So I actually left the Book of Mormon before I got this role. I just knew I had to make that move so I was delighted when I got through the audition process.”

As Lucas, Oliver shares the stage with Carrie Hope Fletcher who has starred in both Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Les Miserables in the West End.

“Carrie and I have an amazing relationship,” he said. “We’re so lucky. You hear the horror stories when there isn’t that relationship. But Lucas and Wednesday have to have that connection for the show to work.”

The pair hadn’t met before starting rehearsals but soon got to know each other.

“There is a lot of kissing in the show between us,” said Oliver. “After a couple of days in rehearsal we came to a scene where we had to kiss. We just paused for a moment and went for it.

“One fan left a comment saying how lucky I was being able to kiss her nine times in the show.

“That’s a lot of kisses in a week - it’s so hard being me!”

As Lucas, Oliver is one of the few cast members who doesn’t spend an age in make-up.

“I am so lucky. I can get out of costume in a minute and get to the bar - it takes the rest so much longer.

“The secret is to finish your drink just as the others arrive so they buy you another– it’s tactical!”

The Addams Family, the Lowry, Salford Quays, Tuesday, August 29 to Saturday, September 9. Details from 0843 208 6000 or www.thelowry.com