In January, Fort Wayne’s Addison Agen did something that few national touring acts ever do: She sold out the Embassy Theatre.

She sold out two shows, in fact.

“It’s one of the greatest feelings,” Agen said. “I am super excited for this. This is the first big show that I am headlining. It’s a huge show for me.”

Last fall, this Fort Wayne high schooler went off to Hollywood to compete on the NBC singing competition, The Voice. She placed second in a contest that draws thousands of auditioners nationwide each season.

When Addison, 16, returned to Fort Wayne in December, she was a star.

She will perform at the Embassy at 4:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Jan. 21.

Becoming an overnight celebrity in one’s hometown must be a strange experience.
Last summer, Addison was a typical Hoosier teenager (albeit one with an atypically great singing voice and stage presence).

Now, Addison can’t walk down the street without people wanting a picture with her.

While insisting that she is “the same me” she’s always been, Addison said she is enjoying the interaction with fans.

“It’s really fun,” she said. “People say, ‘I’m so sorry to bother you,’ and I’m like, ‘It’s not a big deal.’ This is the fun part of it all.”

With celebrity of this televised sort comes a swiftly accumulating international fan base.

“People from all over, like Brazil, Argentina, everywhere,” she said. “I’ll go on Instagram and they’ll just comment, ‘Support from – ‘ and put their country.”

The exact nature and makeup of the Embassy shows had not yet been decided when I chatted with Addison.

For the time being, NBC will have some input into what songs Addison can perform and where she can perform them.

“Our attorney is figuring out what we can do and what we can’t do for the Embassy shows,” she said.

What Addison could say is that she’d be performing with “at least a four-piece band: a cello player, a drummer, a bass player, a piano player, and me and a guitar.”

“It’ll sound very full,” she said. “I might have dancers and I might not.”

Given the mercurial and rapidly cycling nature of the entertainment business these days, Addison knows she has to strike while the iron is hot.

“The next season starts in a month and a half, so you kind of take this moment and go,” she said. “That’s why we planned a big show so soon.”

These two shows are the start of something big. But what, exactly, is not yet clear.

Right now, Addison is assembling her team, with help from Adam Levine, her coach on the show.

“We’re trying to figure out what the next step is,” she said. “He’s a super smart dude. Luckily, he is not wanting to disappear.”

Addison plans to record a follow-up to her debut CD, “New Places,” and she plans to record it locally.

“We’re lucky enough to have such a great recording place in Fort Wayne,” she said. “Sweetwater is huge and to have it in my backyard – I am extremely lucky to be from here. I think it would be a waste not to work with them.”

But other things that ensue should have a more national scope.

Addison said second place in the contest was the ideal spot for her to land.

“It would have been good in the moment to win,” she said. “But I am really happy that I didn’t, because if you win, there are a whole lot more contracts that you have to carry along with you.

“Coming in second has the most freedom,” Addison said. “It’s such a bigger picture than having a confetti cannon thrown at you.”

Because Season 13’s winner, Chloe Kohanski, is over 21, she will better be able to fulfill her obligations to the show, Addison said.

Despite the competitive and high skates nature of the show, Addison said the contestants were all close and supportive behind the scenes.

“I grew some of my closest friendships of all time on this show,” she said. “Brooke Simpson is one of the greatest friends of my life and will be for all time.”

Addison was raised in a musical family and she says she wouldn’t be where she is today were it not for her parents’ interests, passions and encouragement.

“There’s no way I would have made in on the show in first place without them,” she said. “They’re the ones who taught me about music and taught me to love it. They are the starting points. If I had grown up with any other family, I wouldn’t have made such a great impression.

“Having them cheer me on at home and having them be able to come out sometimes and cheer me on there – it was just one of the greatest things knowing that family is there and that home is somewhere close,” Addison said.

Addison recalled the night before the “blind auditions” broadcast when her family watched with an understandable mix of emotions: pride, but also protectiveness.

“Everyone is the room was praying and crying and my mom said, ‘It’s hard to let go of this gift and this secret that you have held onto for so long.’ It was a huge thing to get over. It was terrifying because you don’t know what people are going to think and say and do.”