On the night of Halloween, October 31, 2024, Spartans will become the first Nebraskan scholars to perform the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice in their opening night performance of Hadestown: Teen Edition. However, the musical doesn’t just “happen;” cast, crew, and pit members spend just over two months preparing non-stop for their fall production every year.
According to performer Jack Welstead, who will play the musical’s villain, Hades, about two hours of his freetime are dedicated every day to work on the production. One of his fellow performers, Leah Blake, who is cast as one of the three fates, shares a similar experience.
“We usually have daily rehearsals, which are from two to three hours,” Blake said. “Outside of musical [rehearsal], I usually spend about thirty minutes a day looking over music and reviewing choreography.”
With the pressure of putting on a breathtaking premiere, music director Lisabeth Wissink and production director Melissa Walburn need as much time with the Spartan performers as they can get. To maximize rehearsal time, the directors meticulously design rehearsal schedules in respect to the little time these scholars have.
“We have students who are involved in athletics, speech, debate, One Act, other theater things,” music director Wissink said. “And so, we need to just make sure that on our end, planning, students can do all of those things.”
Time isn’t just set aside for the cast; every production needs a strong crew and a strong musical pit. Together, they provide the effects and live music that bring color to the show. In order to finish transporting the audience into the scene, the production team builds a set.
“The set is really cool,” Welstead said. “It’s big, it’s tall, and it’s a lot of work.”
To see the grand set come to life with the hours upon hours of preparation done by the cast, crew, and pit, come to the premiere on Halloween night! The show will run through November 2.
