Scotts Valley High School’s (SVHS) theater troupe is at it again, bringing their spring musical, “Hadestown: Teen Edition,” to life. The cast of thespians and vocalists are excited to bring their talents to the stage beginning Friday, April 18, and are equally excited for local theater lovers to come enjoy the show.
According to the press release, “‘Hadestown’ intertwines two mythic tales—that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone—as it invites you on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and Chavkin’s poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers and singers, ‘Hadestown’ is a haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.”
Both versions of “Hadestown” (the original and the new “Teen Edition”) were written by Anaïs Mitchell, and Kendra Kannegaard, theatrical performance and production guru at SVHS, knows exactly why this teen-friendly version was the perfect choice for the spring musical.
“The ‘Teen Edition’ rights were just released in April of 2024,” Kannegaard said. “Within 20 minutes of learning about its availability, we applied and were approved. I’d been waiting for years to be able to do this show. I had heard it in college and then saw it on Broadway, and I just knew that if given the chance, my kids were going to do this show.”
Part of the poignancy of performing “Hadestown” this year is due to the student who advocated for its place in the 2024-25 seasonal lineup for the SVHS Theater Department. Milo Anima was a much beloved member of the department, and he alerted Kannegaard about the release of the musical for high school students to perform.
Anima died in June 2024, and as they still mourn their friend and colleague, the entire theater department knows that this show belongs to him.
“We’re the first in the area to perform this musical, and it’s all thanks to Milo,” Kannegaard said.
Atlas Hinkle, a senior at SVHS, is the stage manager and co-student director.
“It’s definitely hard, because this show holds such an important place in our hearts for a variety of reasons; the main reason we decided to do this show is because of Milo—it was his favorite show, and I remember that when we found out the rights came out, we were texting back and forth about it. I’m happy that we’re doing it for him,” said Hinkle, who also mused about this being their last show with the high school. “I’ve done stage management since sophomore year, and I’ve learned something new from each show. This one has a lot more technical aspects to it—we have a turntable and an elevator—so it’s very different from a genre point of view.”
Cooper Herendeen, a returning alumni who is the technical director for the production, explained that the musical is a Greek tragedy about Orpheus and Eurydice, and the entire score is inspired by jazz and folk music.
“It’s very contrasting to the origins of the story, which I find very cool,” Herendeen said.
Senior V Nivelle plays Orpheus and is also a co-student director, student producer and house manager.
“‘Hadestown’ has been rooted in our department for a while now. When I was a freshman, we went on a field trip to see it in San Francisco and I think everyone just fell in love with it right then and there,” Nivelle said. “Orpheus is such a great character; the sets and the scenes and the music were all so powerful, but the rights weren’t out yet. Now it’s happening, and I think everyone is so incredibly happy to be part of this show, even though it’s something different.”
Nivelle alluded to the fact that most spring musicals have a comedic element (think “Addams Family: The Musical” and “Guys and Dolls”).
“It’s dramatic, and that’s not what we typically do at this time of year, but the musical holds such an important place in our hearts that it wouldn’t make sense for us not to do it,” Nivelle said.
Junior Jaycee Barber plays Persephone and is also the show’s choreographer.
“I’m an actress first. Being on stage is my favorite thing to do, but choreography is really close to my heart. I’ve been doing dance since I was 3, and it’s really great to bring that experience to this stage,” said Barber, who has also been involved with CYT (Christian Youth Theater) Santa Cruz for many years.
“If you’re a theater person, you know what ‘Hadestown’ is, and I’m hoping that just the name of the show will bring people out,” Kannegaard said. “It’s unlike any other show you’ve ever seen, and the story and music are so unique. I don’t want people to be put off by the fact that the entire show is sung through—as much as I love ‘Les Mis,’ it’s not ‘Les Mis’-style operatic singing for three hours. What we’ve done here is such a feat—getting 36 high school students to sing in perfect harmony for 2.5 hours is huge. There’s dance and movement in every single number, and it’s all of these puzzle pieces coming together. Every year when we pick a show, it’s the right show for that time, and I can’t imagine running this show with another group of students. This is almost the perfect cast,” added Kannegaard, with a wistful smile and a nod in remembrance of Anima.
“Hadestown: Teen Edition” runs April 18 through May 3. All evening showtimes are at 7pm, with doors opening at 6:30pm, and matinees are at 2pm with doors opening at 1:30. The production consists of two equally talented casts, the Songbird Cast and the Rattlesnake Cast (with three different actors playing Hades) who will split the performances.
Tickets can be purchased at CUR8.com (search Scotts Valley High), or use the link tinyurl.com/mvf4wk28.
