There are some times when watching theatre that I want to know as little as possible about the production in order to keep the magic of certain moments alive. There are other times, however, where knowing a little behind the scenes information makes what I felt and experienced even more profound. Such was my experience with Hadestown: Teen Edition put on by the teens of Acting Up at the SCERA. This teen edition of this show never fails to wow me (I think this is the 5th time I’ve seen it) but there was something special that happened at this performance that is certainly one of my theatrical highlights of 2026 so far.

This production of Hadestown is directed by Kathryn Little, and she always does an incredible job with whatever she is directing. Her and her husband Howard (who I interviewed here) seem to have a knack for getting the most out of whatever actors they are working with. The most impressive part of this production is how many teens they are able to work with. There are at least 40 members of the ensemble alone let alone all the leads being strong and confident with extremely difficult material. The interesting thing is the lighting and staging was not as spectacular as I have seen before (Liahona I will never forget with their elevator set.) but because the cast is so large that in a way is the spectacle. Seeing 40 teens all costumed and doing the choreography is awe inspiring to watch.

The other standout of the night is Gage Gillette as Orpheus. At first I was concerned because he seemed to really be struggling with the high notes (which there are a lot of them for his character.) Especially as a young person it can be demoralizing to the not be performing at the top of his game but he soldiered on and there was something magical that happened. As he pushed forward it worked with the journey of Orpheus and helped us feel his vulnerability and sadness even more than we might otherwise have done. That’s what is so great about live performance- the rawness and honesty is part of the appeal and something cinema, as much as I love it, can not replicate. By the end when Orpheus turns around in his trek with Eurydice the entire audience, myself included, gasped in shock. In all the times I’ve seen this show including on Broadway I’ve never seen that reaction to that moment. It was wonderful.

The interesting thing is when I made my out of theater reaction on my instastory (follow me on instagram here) Gillette’s Mom messaged me and said that he has been sick and that’s why he was struggling with the notes. Evidently he had been feeling very badly about his performance, and she wanted to thank me for the positive feedback. Isn’t that so often the case in life? When we are feeling badly about what we’ve done others see it as a crashing success? Our seeming flaws are our greatest strengths? Anyway, he did a tremendous job, and I am happy I was there to see it.

My only real critique of the production is I wish they could have worked the lights a little more in. They went with small handheld lanterns and 2 of the utility lights but it’s such a fun part of Hadestown to do creative things with lighting. I would have loved to see the students get more creative in that department particularly with the Fates. There are also no live musicians on stage which even in the the teen productions they usually have at least some (they only had Orpheus and his guitar.) But I thoroughly enjoyed this effort by Acting Up, and I’m very curious to see how it compares to the national tour I see next week at Eccles. It is playing through March 28th and tickets can be purchased here.

Hadestown has music, lyrics and a book by Anaïs Mitchell based on the greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice. It first premiered on Broadway in 2019 and it is still currently playing. I saw it in 2021.

If you enjoy my writing and would like me to review your production I’d love to. I also have a patreon which is a great way to support my shorter logs for shows I don’t get to review. I have some really fun perks like bonus episodes, patron polls and monthly Q&As with actors, directors and writers. Please take a look here.