Local Teens Take the Stage as Depot Theatre Academy Launches Summer with Hadestown: Teen Edition
This June, young performers from across the North Country will step into myth, music, and storytelling as the Depot Theatre Academy opens the Depot Theatre summer Main Stage season with Hadestown: Teen Edition.
Presented in the Depot Theatre’s historic 1876 train station in Westport, the production brings together a cast of student performers from throughout the region, many of whom auditioned from communities across the Adirondacks and Champlain Valley to take part in the Academy’s summer program.
Part folk opera, part retelling of the ancient Orpheus and Eurydice myth, Hadestown: Teen Edition, written by Anaïs Mitchell, explores themes of hope, resilience, love, and community through a score that blends American folk music, jazz, blues, and New Orleans-inspired rhythms.
For the Depot Theatre Academy, the production also reflects a growing investment in youth arts opportunities in rural communities. Earlier this year, the Academy launched an expanded partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County’s 4-H program, focused on communication, creativity, mentorship, and hands-on learning experiences for local students.
“This project has become much bigger than simply putting on a musical,” said Gigi Mason, Director of the Depot Theatre Academy. “It’s about creating space for young people to take artistic risks, work together, and experience what it feels like to build something ambitious as a community.”
Rehearsals are already underway, filling the Depot Theatre with music, choreography, scenic construction, and the energy of a summer season coming to life.
The production has also received encouragement from members of the broader Hadestown artistic community, adding an extra layer of excitement for the young cast as they prepare to bring their own interpretation to the stage.
Performances of Hadestown: Teen Edition run June 4–14 at the Depot Theatre in Westport.
For tickets and information, visit depottheatre.org.
Read more about this in the Press Republican. Or see an article in the Lake Placid News below.
