On Saturday April 19, 2025 The Village High School production of Hadestown The Musical: Teen Edition came to a close. After auditioning in December and months of rehearsal leading up to the show, students gave their all on the stage and made every character their own. Students made magic, music and memories that they won’t forget.
The show contained a number of technical elements such as a rotating wheel and smoke machines. In addition, the set for Hadestown has been one of the largest, most intricate sets inside of the Black Box in years. Not only was the stage spectacular but the cast had energy on and off stage. Along with the energy came some backstage shenanigans which brought the cast and crew even closer together. The group even continued the long running tradition of going to IHOP after the closing night show.
At IHOP, cast members recounted their favorite moments from each rehearsal/show. The most notable of which being the wheel breaking, two fire alarms on separate occasions during dress rehearsals and memorable mistakes they each made. But out of all the chaos came a cast ready to go.
The cast was made up of sixteen students and the crew was made up of six students. The production ran for three days with four shows from April 17th 2025 to April 19th 2025. Three of the shows were with the main cast and one with the understudies. In Hadestown, there are two lead roles, Orpheus and Euridyce, three supporting roles, Hades, Persephone and Hermes and three featured roles; The Fates. In the main cast, Orpheus was played by Luka Panzhinskaya, Euridyce was played by Mia Zhou, Hades was played by Jacob Wildy, Persephone was played by Presleigh Duncan, Hermes was played by Jake Victor, and the Fates were played by Kolade Feyisitan, Ife Afolabi, and Annalie Zhao. In the understudy cast Euridyce was played by Journey Kim, Hades was played by Cole Willingham, Persephone was played by Val Gaynor, Hermes was played by Sara Edelman, and two of the Fates were played by Sophie Newman and Sophie Zheng. The rest of the roles were performed by their main cast member. The ensemble consisted of Lara Guedez Ponce, Samuel Geetan, Tiffany Ugwu and Adiya Sultanova. Of all the members of the cast, four seniors made their mark with this production being their last at The Village School. Sam Geetan, Luka Panzhinskaya, Jake Wildy and Ife Afolabi all created something special and left their mark on the Village Theatre department.
But as the curtain goes up on their senior year they recount memories of their time doing theatre at The Village School. “I have participated in VRT (Village Repertory Theatre) since the sixth grade excluding seventh and eighth when Covid hit. My favorite memory of VRT is either the all day rehearsals we have every year or having lunch with everybody from Six: The Musical.” Said senior Ife Afolabi. “I loved Hadestown because of how serious everyone took it. Everyone was dedicated to working hard and making sure that this musical was one of the best we put on. I think my favorite thing is how many people I got to know and become friends with because of the show.”
Overall, students put on a passionate performance and are ready for next year. The next shows the Village High school is putting on are Chicago: Teen Edition and Between the Lines. Students are excited for the Village High School 2025-2026 Theatre Season.
