Riveting performances, haunting songs and a next-level spinning set came together like magic to transform the Center for the Arts into the underworld for Brooks School’s epic spring musical, “Hadestown: Teen Edition,” reimaging the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Nearly a dozen students in the stagecraft class and afternoon activity tech crew toiled together to build an impressive 36-wheel, fully automated platform stage on which the show literally spun during the two-hour performances May 15 through 17. 

“The set was incredible,” said one of the stars, Tristan Yepdo ’26. Technical Theater Director Sarah Spollett and the crew “spent countless hours bringing 'Hadestown' to life and it helped me to lock in and portray my character of Hades.” 

“At its core, Hadestown is a story about love, hope and resistance in the face of fear,” read the playbill shared via QR code. “It reminds us how easy it is to forget, to doubt and to be swayed by the systems that promise safety at the cost of freedom.”

Indeed, the behind-the-scenes work took months, but it paid off in ways still being realized.

“It’s all part of extending the students’ learning beyond Brooks,” said Director of Theatre Meghan Hill, who coordinated professional designers and technicians — along with vocal coaches, choreographers and musicians — to work with students to create "Hadestown" at Brooks.

THE CREW LEARNED NEW CRAFTS

Learning from professional scenic designer and master painter Eli Singer “allows us to provide high production value while ensuring that students are gaining skills along the way,” said Hill. Singer built the set plans that Brooks students and Spollett then constructed.

“They learned a lot about precision layout, motor controls, automation programming and power,” Spollett explained.

Not to mention tools, including saws and screw guns that Arden Sartori '27 said, “I would have never been exposed to outside of stage crew.” 

For Jill Hamilton '26, the project was a challenge of focus and patience. “If any wheel was off by just an inch, it could have messed up the whole table!” she said. 

“But it’s been worth it,” Maanya Tailam '25 insisted. “The turntable and the weathered pipes … we put so much work into bringing this to life and I know it made a big impact on stage.”

Professional lighting designer Emily Bearce mentored students in lighting design and board programming/operation, including spotlights. Bearce and her production team of Brooks apprentices executed lighting that alternately chilled audiences and created the illusion of a firey hell below earth. 

THE ACTORS ABSORBED NEW ATTITUDES

Bringing that underworld set to life, acting as king Hades, “was hard,” Yepdo admitted. “I’m not going to lie.” In a lead role for the first time required tackling new things, just as the technical crew did in building the set.

“I knew if I wanted to put myself in the best position to succeed on stage, not only for me but for the whole cast and crew, I had to work hard,” he said. “I had to ask questions when I was confused, and I had to put in extra time to perfect a song, so it was very hard. But the reward was very much worth it.”

Yes, audiences were dazzled but for Yepdo, that wasn’t the prize. “The cast and crew are what made this show worth it,” he said.

“It’s nice to get compliments from my teachers and peers on campus after the shows, but there is no better feeling than successfully pulling off an amazing show with the people you started it with,” Yepdo explained. “I’ve grown to love everyone who was a part of the Hadestown process, from the people like me getting all the praise on stage, to the unsung heroes backstage. I'm proud to say that I am now part of a family that I didn't know I wanted, but needed. … This community was truly wonderful.”

See an album of photos from the performance and set building of "Hadestown: Teen Edition" at Brooks.