Students in Danville High School’s theatre program will be performing Hadestown this weekend — a teen edition of the Broadway musical retelling of the Greek myth of lovers Eurydice and Orpheus. Thanks to a donation, admission is free.
Performances will take place at the Dick Van Dyke Auditorium at DHS at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, April 24-25, and a matinee performance at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 26.
In the musical, Orpheus, played by senior Gavin Baugh, must venture through the Underworld to rescue his beloved, Eurydice, played by senior Andrea Downing.
Eurydice has been captured by Hades, the King of the Underworld — played by junior Ekundayo White — and his wife, Persephone, played by junior Sarah Tabels.
The Halloran Family Foundation made a donation to underwrite the costs of the performances, making admission free.
“We have so much talent at Danville High School. It supersedes what a lot of schools have, and we see it a lot right in our competitions,” Darlene Halloran said. “Every time we go to a performance [by DHS students] we absolutely love what we see. And we’re so proud of the kids.”
Halloran said the donation was made in hopes more people in the community could enjoy local theatre.
“We wondered why more people don’t come and take advantage of this. We thought long and hard about what to do. What’s the barrier?” Halloran said.
Thinking admission fees may prevent community members from attending productions, Halloran said she and her family decided to underwrite the play so that cost wouldn’t be a barrier.
“We tried to remove as many barriers as we could to get people there,” she said.
Like all Broadway plays and musicals, Hadestown must be licensed in order for local players to perform them, according to Thomas, and those licenses are costly and selectively awarded.
Concord Theatricals, which owns the rights to the musical — which was written by Anaïs Mitchell — only issues a limited number of licenses per year, making these performances a unique opportunity for local attendees.
The musical is directed by DHS musical program director Jeffrey Thomas and assistant director Bryan Schroeder. Set design and costuming are provided by DHS theatre director Jordan Richey and assistant theatre director Kady Richey.
“The coolest thing about this musical is that there is no stop in music from when you open the curtain to when you close the curtain through the entire two-hour show,” Thomas said.
“It’s a really big undertaking because of how much music there is to learn, but it’s super fun and it’s a super artistic way to tell a story,” Thomas said, adding that the DHS theatre program has never performed a show from this genre, known as “through-composed,” the way operas are, for example.
“Phantom of the Opera” and “Les Miserables” are examples of such musicals.
Thanks to the free admission price, Thomas is expecting large crowds, including buses of students coming from other schools to watch the show.
Though admission to the performances is free, freewill donations will be accepted at the event, and concessions will be available for purchase with all proceeds going to the theatre program.