By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
In Hadestown Teen Edition, a modern retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, Footlite Musicals takes audiences to hell and back.
The play stages July 18 to 27 at Hedback Theatre, 1847 N. Alabama St., Indianapolis, and The Reporter spoke with directors Dennis Jones and Edward Trout to give readers an idea of what to expect when young actors tackle Greek tragedy as a musical with steampunk flair.
“Young lovers fall in love and Eurydice ends up dying, which is very metaphorically presented in the show,” Trout said. “Orpheus goes down to Hades – into the underworld – to try to retrieve her, and ultimately Hades makes a deal with him. As long as he will escort her up but never turn around to make sure she is with him he will let them go.”
Co-Director Dennis Jones called Orpheus naïve.
“He falls in love easily,” Jones said. “He sort of wears his heart on his sleeve, and sometimes he doesn’t think, sometimes, the right way that he should think. He falls for a Eurydice – he really falls hard for her. Our person that’s playing him is full of passion, and he can sing really well, and he can act really well.”
Since 135 teen actors came out to audition for a show with 24 parts, Trout and Jones were able to get the very best cast possible, even if that process was a bit overwhelming.
“The vocal challenges of this show are extreme,” Trout said. “Orpheus has to sing in his head voice way up high. Hades requires a really deep voice, a bass voice, which in this age group you don’t always find. Then the Fates is a trio of women that all sing these tight jazz harmonies. With that size turnout we actually had multiple choices for every role.”
Jones called this play the Hamilton of the summer.
“Let me see – Scecina High School, they’ve done it,” Jones said. “Lawrence North has done it. Summer Stock just did it, and now we’re doing it. It seems like it’s the show of the season for teens since Concord released it.”
According to Trout, the set will help draw the audience in.
“Above-ground there’s a like a brick house facade and some other recognizable things,” Trout said. “The underworld is a little more what we would call a steampunk aesthetic. The show has a recurring theme of a railroad train and the road to hell, and it’s this train that takes you into Hades. We’ve created the lower level with the implied train trusses and old rusted iron and rivets. The more you get into the underworld the more we see some of those elements coming out. Visually, steampunk is what I would say it kind of leans into.”
Both directors told The Reporter this show is coming together better than even they had hoped and is sure to impress audiences during the two-week run.
“We want people to come see this young, talented group of artists put on this show for you,” Jones said.
Go to footlite.org/buy-tickets, call (317) 926-6630, or email boxoffice@Footlite.org for tickets.
Photos by Rick Galloway
Excited to see the “great” future Broadway actors!