Credit: Johnathan Riera

With the final curtain call of “Hadestown,” the senior class of 2025 reminisces on their years at the theatre. From late night rehearsals to emotional performances, their time at WHSTE was impactful for all of the seniors.

Lights dim, curtains open, spotlight brightens the stage: it’s showtime. This year’s Wayland High School fall musical was “Hadestown,” a popular show on Broadway that takes its audience through the ancient Greek Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. For the Class of 2025 seniors, this was their final fall musical, closing off their highschool musical experiences.

The Wayland High School Theatre Ensemble (WHSTE) is a cherished community amongst many. WHSTE has brought stories to the WHS stage from “Legally Blonde” in 2021 to “Horse Girls” in 2023 to “Hadestown“ this past November.

“It’s [WHSTE] a very welcoming and very intense and rigorous community that pushes actors to their fullest potential while also fostering a community of welcome,” senior Alex Irwin said. “I joined for that sense of community that is friendly, but also pushes me to my fullest potential.”

“Hadestown” is a musical based on a Greek myth that holds themes of the fairness of death, powerful talent and fragile love. Narrated by Greek god Hermes, the story follows Orpheus, a poor singer, and Eurydice, a hungry young girl, as well as the king and queen of the Underworld, Hades and Persephone. Persephone is the goddess of spring, but when Hades keeps her in his kingdom for too long, the growth and warmth of springtime is stolen. Despite the current turmoil of the earth and the two mortals’ struggles, Orpheus and Eurydice fall in love. Still, Orpheus is distracted with his magical songs, leaving Eurydice to be so lonely that she decides to go to Hadestown. Orpheus realizes his mistake and attempts to save his love from being a lost soul forever.

Due to its deep questions and meaning, “Hadestown” required an attention to actions and line delivery for the student actors. Members of WHSTE spent time together to understand the context of the story and the goals of their characters.

“To prepare for this show, we started by sitting in a seminar style circle to concentrate on the dialogue of every character,” Irwin, who played Orpheus, said. “What is the subtext of these lines? What is the relationship of these given characters? What theme does this scene represent? This helps us flesh out the acting modes and background, so we can then start blocking and singing.”

During the production timeline of fall musicals at WHSTE, there is always one 12-hour rehearsal called “Tech.” Actors get to the high school theatre at 10:00 a.m. and leave at 10:00 p.m.. Since Hadestown is told mostly through song, there are several songs with intricate dancing.

“Dancing isn’t something I’ve had a lot of experience with. I haven’t been cast in a lot of dancing roles for a good reason,” senior George Stafford, who is a part of the featured ensemble, said. “This year, I got cast in a dancing heavy role, and I made the most of it. I learned a lot about dance, but it was very, very difficult.”

On top of memorizing lines, heavy dancing numbers and singing the notes on beat and in tune, getting into character can be difficult, as well. Once they feel the emotions from the characters on stage, audience members can immerse themselves in the storyline.

“It was difficult to connect with Eurydice before or even during a show sometimes,” senior Isabella Fuentes, who played Eurydice, said. “I had to remember that I was really stepping into the shoes of someone else’s life.”

Although this was the end of some of the seniors’ theatre experiences, some are looking forward to expanding their talents to college, where they hope to further develop their skills and knowledge in theatre.

“I’m really sad that it’s my last show, but I also think it’s also preparing me to move on and focus on college,” Fuentes said. “I’m really sad to leave WHSTE, but I will keep in touch with everyone because of how much the connections mean to me.”

As the seniors reflect on their final show, they acknowledge that while leaving WHSTE is difficult, it marks the start of a new chapter. Their time with the theatre program has not only shaped them as performers, but has created friendships and deep bonds.

“All of us love singing, dancing and performing, but ultimately, it’s the people and the connections we make of this community that brings us back year after year,” Irwin said.