Colony High brings the drama with production of “Hadestown”

The drama is getting into gear at Colony High School as the Drama Club makes their final preparations for the spring production, “Hadestown.”

“I first heard about ‘Hadestown’ in 2020- my daughters loved the show and introduced me to the soundtrack. In 2022 I had the opportunity to see it on Broadway and the production was incredible! It became one of my favorite musicals!” raves Kelly Rentz, Choir Director for Colony High School (CHS).

“Hadestown” is a musical and book written by Anaïs Mitchell. It tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice, a young girl looking for something to eat, goes to work in a hellish industrial version of the Greek underworld to escape poverty and the cold, and her poor singer-songwriter lover Orpheus comes to rescue her.

The musical first ran off-Broadway in 2016 before making its debut on Broadway, where it has been running for six years and has won multiple Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

“Dr. Jamin Burton, who directs the orchestra, loved the musical as well, and when Concord Theatricals dropped the rights for the “Teen Edition”, we knew we had to bring “Hadestown” to the stage for the Valley. Once our phenomenal friend and choreographer, Pam Burlingame agreed we knew we'd have an amazing show,” says Rentz.

The students at CHS has been busy with the production, starting with auditions back in the beginning of November, and Rentz says the dedicated cast has been hard at work rehearsing nearly every day since.

Rentz says that there are 53 students involved including performers, musicians, and crew, and says it has been a team effort since the beginning. “It takes a team effort to pull off a show of this magnitude, and everyone involved has worked very hard to make this show incredible!”

Leading the production are:

Orpheus: Finn Gagnon; Eurydice: Hazel Price; Hades: Bridger McIntosh; Persephone: Frenchesca Steele; Hermes: Hailey Willis; Fates: Kourtney Allen, Lily Baker, Reese McDonald

“Each of these gives a truly amazing and elevated performance! The talent is unreal and they have worked tirelessly on character development to bring these characters to life.”

“We typically rehearse about 2 and 1/2 hours a day, working between vocals, choreography, and practicing with the orchestra. We've also had 2 all-day Saturday rehearsals and "work days" to finish building the set pieces we needed,” says Rentz.

Also hard at work has been the crew, led by Dr. Burton, who Rentz says spent most of the summer break last year building the beautiful set. His hard work meant that there was less that needed to be done during the school year.

The CHS Drama program produces three to four shows each year, including a traditional full-length play, a radio drama, a musical or classic, and occasionally senior-directed one-acts, with play selections typically come from Broadway, Tony Award winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, classics, and well-loved Americana plays.

The Drama Program at CHS can be seen as a "pre-professional" program, readying students for college, industry, and confidence in life in general. Alumni have earned $80,000 scholarships to Perdue, are training at Julliard, UAA, UAF, have performed on Broadway, and equivalent theatres. But not all students in the Drama Program stay in the arts-many have also gone on to become engineers, businessmen and women, and scientists with confidence and self-awareness of the human condition.

While Rentz and everyone involved in the production is excited for the debut, set for this Friday, February 20, she says that she hopes the audience is just as excited, and will leave immersed in the story of hope and timely.

“I hope the audience takes away the feeling of hope. This show was written in 2006, but carries with it a timeless message. Every time I see the show, I leave feeling a different way.”

She also hope audiences will see the hard work and dedication the staff and students at CHS put into “Hadestown.”

“I hope they leave in awe of these incredible high school musicians who have poured their heart and soul into this production!”

“Hadestown” will run at the Glenn Massay Theater at Mat-Su College from February 20-22, and February 27-March 1, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, please visit www.glennmassaytheater.com