Adirondack Explorer Features Success of 2026 Depot Theatre Academy
Our thanks to Annette Stephens of the Adirondack Explorer for writing a great feature on the expansion of the Depot Theatre Academy this year!
Instead of the equity actors who typically grace the main stage at Westport’s Depot Theatre, this season the lights came up on a group of local teens. A veteran cast from communities around the Adirondacks and Champlain Valley took on “Hadestown: Teen Edition.” This was a full-adaptation of the musical written by Anaïs Mitchell, a Vermont-native. […]
Following the success of “Hadestown: Teen Edition” as part of the Depot’s Dark Night Series, Academy seniors performed “Ride the Cyclone,” concert-style, on July 17 and 18. A concert-style performance of a show entails reading and singing through a script on stage, typically without scene-blocking or choreography. […]
“Being on the same stage as equity actors physically and using the same space brings a level of maturity to my own performance,” Lobdell said. “It makes me realize how real a future career in theater could be. It makes me want to do the best that I can and encourage my castmates to also be doing what they can to have the best show possible.”
Next up for Lobdell? Co-directing the Academy junior program’s run of “Seussical Jr.” with Cooper Halloran, a castmate in “Ride the Cyclone.” Lobdell and Halloran, a writing major at Ithaca College, grew up together in school and on the stage.
Read more in the full article here.
