Since last September, theatre has been preparing for the debut of this year’s winter musical, “Hadestown: Teen Edition” originally based on the book by American singer, songwriter, and playwright Anaï Mitchell. Hadestown takes place in the world of Greek mythology and centers itself around themes that emphasize the power of love and dedication.
Hadestown shares the story of the Greek myth about two young lovers, Eurydice and Orpheus. While Eurydice is in hope of finding something, she gets caught up in the underworld, when Orpheus then tries to rescue her to regain Eurydice’s love for him.
A cast of 30, including 10-15 crew members, began preparing five months ago.Theatre teacher and director Kimberly Segura says that she chose the themes for musicals and discussed among other directors.
“Usually it’s picked by me, but it’s a collective conversation with the other directors to make sure they all agree,” said Segura.
Tickets start at $16 with ASB and $20 without and are open to all students and the community.
Senior Andromeda Franco, who plays Eurydice, a major character in Hadestown, practiced for months to prepare for her role in the musical.
“It’s like a very long process… when I heard about it over the summer, I was like ‘I have to learn this musical, I have to get it in my head.’ After school as homework, I would sit down, look at the sheet music, and I would run each song I knew we would have to run the next day, and that was basically it,” says Franco.
Assistant stage manager, senior Amanda Placencia, says that although tickets are set at a high price, seeing the show is worth it as it showcases the efforts of the cast and contains meaningful messages which can be enjoyed by all.
“It’s definitely worth the buy. Just come, attend, see what it’s all about, because you don’t even need to know anything about Greek mythology to appreciate the show, because you can just tell that we’ve all put in our hard work and we all want this show to be what we want it to be. We want it to reach its full potential,” said Placencia.
Segura expressed pride in her students and is excited to see their efforts be displayed during the performances.
“I mean it always sneaks up on you, I mean it seems like we’re rehearsing forever and then all of a sudden you blink your eye and ‘ahh, it’s today!’, right? But, I’m excited, I think we’re in a good place, they’re ready and It’s gonna be a good show, ” said Segura.
All music and sound effects for Hadestown are directed by Choir teacher and Director of Choral and Vocal Activities Tyler Wigglesworth. Not only is there live music, but all dances performed by the cast were choreographed by dance teacher Andrea Williams.
Theatre is overall proud to show their dedication and hard work put into Hadestown, with their debut being tonight and performances continuing until Sunday.
With combined efforts from the theater department making this production possible, the cast and all involved are set to begin their opening night performance tonight at 7 p.m.
During the opening of the play, junior Marleen Cortez as Hermes and the ensemble begin with enthusiasm by singing and narrating the story’s background to provide the audience with a lively start to the performance. (Nicole Hernandez)
