It’s a Sad Song

Nicholas Bowler as Orpheus (center) and the cast of Hadestown: Teen Edition at Waukesha Civic Theatre. Photo credit: Andy Holley.

A review of Hadestown: Teen Edition

by Benjamin Earnest, age 13

Hadestown: Teen Edition, a heartfelt retelling of the Greek tragedy between Orpheus and Eurydice, was extremely well-executed by the Academy students at Waukesha Civic Theatre. While I do have a bias toward this musical with it being one of my favorites, this truly was an incredible performance. It really dives deep into how poverty can affect a human's well-being, and it is interesting to listen to the lyrics with how much importance they deliver in less than a minute. The Academy students showed their skills in this production in their strong relationships, acting skills, musically-talented voices, and ensemble direction, in addition to great scenic design.

Hadestown definitely does a better job showing the growing connection with the lead characters (Orpheus and Eurydice in this case), compared to most shows which only show the key points of character growth. Over the course of the whole production, seeing both of the young lead characters growing a stronger relationship with each other is just a sneak peek at what may happen later on and how they will end up. Both main characters (played by Nicholas Bowler and Livea Pinkert) fully deliver as they truly exhibit amazing acting skills throughout the whole show. The entire cast’s storytelling skills throughout the performance invite the audience to almost be a part of the show, which was interesting because, while they are telling the story, they are also finding this information out for the first time along with the audience. And while all characters have their main part in the story, when they’re onstage but not the focus, they always find something to do, "talking" to whomever they are blocked next to.

With New Orleans jazz swing influence and iconic songs, it might be difficult finding young actors to really take up these positions in singing. But again, I have to say that Waukesha Civic Theatre delivered, with full-fledged focus on spending lots of time on the music and harmonies. As the Fates, the three talented young girls taking on these roles (Annie Sturtz, Meera Antigua, and Annaliese Witz) all blended beautifully with their harmonies in their more well-known songs like "When the Chips are Down," "Any Way the Wind Blows," and both renditions of "Wait for Me," where they all joined together to build that one large blow of sound. I also want to mention the talent of Orpheus (Nicholas Bowler) in all of the times he sings his song to bring back spring. Bowler has a completely different approach than most people would to take such a beloved part in this show, managing not to push too much to project and doing well to make an altogether amazing sound. As Eurydice, Livea Pinkert brought so much emotion and power to her singing, which 100% fits with her character. Makayla Lloyd as Lady Hermes was such a journey, especially during "Road To Hell (Reprise)," where all other voices die down to honor the tragic event that had just happened. She sings every word with passion and meaning that will leave you with quite a mark. But the voice that stood out to me the most was Mason Scheel as Hades, who is one of the lowest roles in musical theatre, where he nailed this character’s intentions amazingly.

And we can’t leave out the set and its amazing designer, Caroline Dischell, who foreshadowed the forthcoming events with messages left in graffiti, most likely by the workers of Hadestown, which say things like "the enemy is poverty" or "spring," which I find resembles the future uprising and how everyone would love to see Hadestown become. And while they only had the small stage in the Black Box to use and limited space for entrances, the cast used the whole area, from far away from the stage to maybe three feet away from the audience, which fits this show so very well.

While the theatre’s phrase “there are no small parts, just small actors” goes for all shows, the ensemble in this Hadestown makes the entire show have a strong purpose for being put together, and all contribute to the excellent phenomenon it turns out to be. All of the workers get a chance to showcase their voices in “Chant (Reprise),” after Orpheus lets everyone know what they’re hoping for. I am pretty sure everyone in the ensemble got a small solo, which sounded amazing as a group. And with the direction of Madison Penzkover, they were all given a piece of the story in each part.

Something that the cast could have spent a bit more time on was the timing on when to enter during the track and when to breathe. But otherwise, it sounded beautiful altogether.

Overall this was an excellent performance of one of the newer musicals to be turned into a teen edition. You can see more like it at the Waukesha Civic Theatre’s Academy shows.