Ritenour’s production of “Hadestown” was easily the best show the theater has put on.

Not to discredit other shows, but “Hadestown” was a sight to see, and to this day, I still have Orpheus’ tune stuck in my head.

As someone who has been in one of the Ritenour plays myself, I could see the commitment and attitude from this cast demonstrated through the whole show, ensemble and all.

“Hadestown” had the kind of energy that makes you want to be in the theater and be a part of something so fun with so much talent.

The two leads, senior EJ Davis and junior Haiyah Keen, had a lot of parallel answers about their experiences with the play, showing how close they got to be able to play two people in love.

They both said that the first read-through was awkward since they hardly knew each other and could barely communicate. However, by the last show, not only were they brought to tears, but so was the rest of the cast. The cast formed a bond hard to find anywhere else, and they showed their chemistry on stage like no other performance at this school has before.

As the music and theater department continues to grow to higher and higher numbers every year, it is important to give credit to some of the people who have helped encourage that growth.

Choir teacher Stephanie Ruggles started the choir community her first year here with less than 30 people total; next year, there should be a solid 100 people, which is amazing growth in only 3 years. Drama teacher Clare Holliday has also shown to be adding new faces to the theater community every year, helping to build a strong group.

Together, their commitment to put on a good show with a good group of people was well shown. All their hard work and long nights at the school running rehearsals and making sure the students had everything they needed was obvious in the performance.

While high school is known to have its drama, whether that be in sports, clubs, or any group of kids that are thrown together, according to this cast, they had little to none.

All in all, it was an amazing experience to not only be able to listen to the cast rehearsing in choir, but then see it all put together in the fantastic way it was.

Hadestown will be a hard show to beat, but if the theater program can do that, I can only imagine what they’ll be capable of next year.

I rate Ritenour High School’s production of “Hadestown” 5 stars.