EF to stage Tony award-winning ‘Hadestown: Teen Edition’

A whirlwind of myth and melody, Elizabeth Forward High School students will bring Greek mythology to life with their spring musical.

Greek mythology and two intertwining love stories will take the spotlight during Elizabeth Forward High School’s musical this week as students perform a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back.

“Hadestown: Teen Edition” will be staged at Elizabeth Forward Middle School at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, followed by a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at https://efmusical. ludus.com/index.php.

The musical, with music, lyrics and book by Anaïs Mitchell, tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus goes to the underworld to rescue his fiancée Eurydice.

It also tells the story of King Hades and his wife Persephone.

EF junior Oliver Moore (Orpheus) said his character is a teenager who sees the good in everyone, and that the character of Hermes narrates the story.

“This beautiful story of these Greek gods and these normal people at this dive bar and every night at this bar, they tell the story of Orpheus and Eurydice,” Moore said. “Every night, they tell that story over and over again in hope that it will turn out and hope there is good. There is no difference.”

With Orpheus and Eurydice, according to EF senior Sydney Thomas (Eurydice), it is love at first sight. Orpheus is more naive and Eurydice is more guarded as well as taking up a deal with Hades in the underworld because she is starving.

By the end of the show, both Orpheus and Eurydice can walk out of Hadestown, but Orpheus has to leave and she has to stay behind as a test of trust, and he cannot turn around. If she does, she will be sent back to Hadestown.

“I think this show is a lot about taking your time wisely and making the right decisions and a lot of the decisions of becoming a senior and big life-changing decisions and the feeling of having the whole world on your shoulders, so I think connecting that to this year is a very surreal experience even though it’s a little scary,” said senior Abigail Ross, who plays Persephone.

Thomas explained the plot of the show, saying Persephone longs to be in the over world because she is also married to the king of the underworld.

Persephone’s unable to do both at the same time, so Thomas said they come up with a deal that she stays for half of the year up above the underworld and half of the year down in the underworld. Hades feels like he has to have some sort of control over her because he’s scared of losing her and their love comes back into fruition.

“Hades sees Eurydice and sees what she wants, and he knows he can give that to her, so he persuades her to come down to the underworld,” said junior Dominic Sager (Hades). “He wants her, not for her love like Persephone, he wants to give her his love because Persephone doesn’t want his industrialized underworld.”

There are also characters named the Fates, which according to senior Gianna Giovannucci who plays Fate 2, are showcasing the emotions of the characters as well as their stories.

With an original version of the musical premiering in 2006, director Rachel Chavkin collaborated with Mitchell to rework the production, developing a new version that premiered off-Broadway in 2016.

At the 73rd Tony Awards, Hadestown received 14 nominations and won in eight categories, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. The show is still on Broadway, and the rights to the production came out last year.

The teen version has optional vocals for high school students, and the Elizabeth Forward students are keeping all the vocals for their twoand- a-half-hour production.

While the auditorium is being built at the high school due to a fire in 2023, the musicals had been performed at Thomas Jefferson High School.

But this year, musical Director James Benedek and the school district decided they could perform in the recently renovated middle school auditorium, following the middle school’s production of “Annie Jr.”

“It’s so nice to be back home because this story is beautiful, emotional, and powerful all in the same,” Benedek said. “It reminds us all that if you hold onto someone too tight, you run the risk of losing them. The same could be said for one who does not hold on tight enough. The show challenges us all to grapple with the concepts of love, trust, faith, and doubt.”

Moore added that while being in the middle school “isn’t perfect,” the school district is really trying to make it a home for the show this year with renovations to the middle school. Even the Broadway production doesn’t perform in the biggest theatre, he said.

While “Hadestown” has its technical challenges, Benedek is confident in his cast. He added that the smaller stage at the middle school makes the show more intimate and the audience can see the student’s acting closer.

Benedek hopes people will resonate with the story and that people will see themselves in certain characters.

Sager added that since the story is so touching, the audience will be able to feel a more emotional connection to the musical.

“Hadestown was much different because I knew it was a harder show, but I didn’t really know the premise of the show, or in depth, what the show was,” Thomas said. “The premise of the show is telling the story and singing the story, hoping that a new outcome will come from it, even though inevitably, it is what it is. I think the message behind it is that it’s a very cool show and a very cool story to show to the community, so I think they will like it a lot.”

Moore said the he hopes the community will attend their shows because of the student actors, and all the time they have put into the production since the beginning of the school year.

“I’m not a big school guy, but I get all excited because I get to come here with my friends to enjoy something I love doing, which is performing and singing, and it’s a special thing for me,” Moore said. “I want to perform to almost improve how I see the world, try to really embody my character and there’s a big message of hope of having things turn out the way they hope they could.”

More information about the musical can be found at https://www.efmusical.com/.

Cast List

Oliver Moore (Orpheus), Sydney Thomas (Eurydice), Abigail Ross (Persephone), Dominic Sager (Hades), Edward Denney (Hermes), Mollie Gregory (Fate 1), Gianna Giovannucci (Fate 2), Marlee Young (Fate 3); Chloe Axon, Alessa Cavalancia, Ronald Chambers, Toni DeFonso, Isabella Giffin, Nora Gregory, Alizabeth Leezer and Caleb Meade (featured dancers); Maggie Douglass, Joshua Gregory, Joey Guinta, Cashlin Harbour, Emerson Henry, Taelor Kennedy, Brookelyn McPherson, Macey Rankin, Lillian Rudge, Emilia Sager, Zoey Steligo, Zoë Ulmer and Buggie Zinn (ensemble).

Crew List

Spencer Callaghan (student director), Abigail Hughes (artistic coordinator/lighting director), Emma Thomas (lighting technician), Abigail Toth (sound technician); Harry Faulk and Donovan Skaggs (stage managers); Olivia Gaudalupe and Kailyn Hutchins (costume co-directors); Marz Assenti, Elijah Balint, Shelby Caligiuri, Dylan Dyer, JJ Foster, Des Holden, Alice Infante, Macie Johnston, Morgan Kaufman, Milena Kostich, Danika Lazar, Christina Lin, Olivia Lyons, Brenna McPherson and Raelyn Salazar (stage and tech crew).

Production crew and pit list

James Benedek (director), Tony Pinneri (assistant director/ set designer), Alana Wieclaw (choreographer), Myah Novak (producer), Sarah Dawson (vocal/music director), Caleb Hixon (vocal/ piano conductor), Jennifer Herrington (vocal director), Erica Guadalupe (costume and prop designer), David Herrington (lighting and technical director) and Chad Licht (director’s assistant), Caleb Hixon (conductor/keyboardist), Kevin Dick (trombone), Larissa Marple (violin), Janelle Sands (cello), Chris Thomas (guitar), Bob Patterson (bass) and Travis Rigby (percussion).