On October 31, 2024, Lincoln East Theatre performed their opening production of “Hadestown: Teen Edition” at Lincoln East High School. Hadestown: Teen Edition is a student-friendly revamping of the popular Broadway musical “Hadestown.” Students and staff dedicated many hours to pulling off the show and it was a hit.
The musical retells the Greek myth of Orpheus, performed by Myles Hardt, a poor musician traveling to the underworld to rescue his love, Eurydice, performed by Linnea Welsh. It’s set in a depression era world consisting of classic American folk music and vintage New Orleans jazz.
The show is composed of pared-down musical arrangements and dialogue, making it a realistic choice for high school theater productions. The rights for the teen edition came out in the spring and this caught the attention of Lisabeth Wissink, the music director, and Melissa Walburn, the choreography director.
“We were in the process of choosing a musical for the fall,” Wissink said. “After a lot of thought and looking into the musical we decided that we could definitely go for it for this year.”
Teachers and Students knew the popular Broadway show was very demanding. Preparation consisted of auditions the 2nd week of school and long rehearsals after that making it a 10-week production.
“It took quite a bit of time out of my day,” worker Ethan Phan said. “Schoolwork was a challenge and I couldn’t be in Speech.”
Students persevered through the taxing preparation process and the musical was enjoyed by the mass of its audiences. Hardt explains his perspective.
“I did not think that we would have been able to produce a show that well, but we did,” Hardt said. “I think it comes from the amount of people who cared about this show, and that new level of caring and commitment just allowed us to break through the barriers of what we thought we were capable of.”
The musical definitely affected many lives in the East community. It was a multifaceted preparation process, but the result was a success.
“Beautiful music and lots of things people can relate to,” Wissink said. “That is what makes it such a beautiful and powerful story.”
