It’s no secret that I have loved this recent movement of Hadestown: Teen Edition. It has brought out so much creativity on the part of the teens and I never grow tired of seeing it. The latest version is at Hopebox as part of their Hopebox Academy and they have the clever twist of setting the musical in the Old West. Particularly with the small size of their stage it’s a clever way to make the musical work for their space.

In this version of the show they have the underworld transformed into a mine in the Old West. This especially makes sense with the lighting aesthetic of Hadestown and how they are able to work in the mining helmets into the numbers like “Why We Build the Wall” and “How Long.” I honestly think they could have leaned even more into the Old West with more western accents and more into the score but it’s probably hard with a prerecorded track.

This production of Hadestown is directed by Wyatt Welch and he does a good job keeping the cast moving which again helps hide the fact that the stage is very small for this story. I saw the Rattlesnake Cast and perhaps the most unique aspect outside of the western aesthetic is they have a woman playing Hermes. They even change her to Mrs Hermes when they talk about her. Her performance embraced a country western feel to it more than any of the others which I appreciate.

Another standout in the cast is Denali Dallin as Persephone. She and Hyrum Johnson work well together as Persephone and Hades. I also like how they integrated dance into the roles as much as possible particularly with Kaylee Echeerria’s Eurydice. Choreography is by Kaylee Turner and Danika Martin.

The only major impediment of the night was for some reason it was really warm in the theater which made it hard for everyone. This, however, is small price to pay to support emerging performers. Not everything is perfect in any teen production but that’s all part of the joy of seeing this kind of theater. And of course any show at Hopebox goes to support their Hopebox recipient and in this case it is a teen battling cancer Emmett Butterfield. Mosey your way down to the Hopebox and go way down with their Hadestown. It is playing through April 25th 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.