Earlier in the year, Shadow Ridge’s Theatre program performed the musical production “Hadestown” teen edition. The students who were cast as leads portrayed each character in the musical perfectly. Junior Sebastian Seidl, who was cast as Orpheus, is an Austrian foreign exchange student.
Seidl’s casting marks a significant achievement for him, as he brings a unique and bold perspective to the character. His journey from Austria to Las Vegas is a demonstration of his talent and adaptability. Theatre hasn’t always been part of Seidl’s life. Entering a new school, Seidl decided to try something new and wanted to join theatre, as it is inclusive and full of unique students coming from different walks of life.
Seidl shares, “I decided to participate in the program to get out of the world that I have in Austria, to experience new things.”
Seidl was welcomed with overwhelming happiness and joy from the theatre kids, feeling like he belonged and immediately creating a family-like bond with the students. Seidl has very little experience in the theatre world, but that didn’t stop him from starring as the main lead in the musical.
“The first thing that drew me to “Hadestown” was a one year theatre experience in 8th grade, and when I saw that there were musical auditions for “Hadestown,” I wanted to try something new.”
As a student who is a part of theatre, it is essential to know how to portray the characters.
“My character, Orpheus, is difficult to portray because of the amount of emotions he goes through,” Seidl assures. “But, it was especially these difficulties that drew me to Orpheus.’’
To make it easier to understand Orpheus, Seidl dug deeper into the love story of Orpheus and Euryidce, understanding the deeper meaning of love and why Orpheus reacts the way he does during the entire musical.
“Hadestown” is full of rich themes that each take a part in the story of Orpheus and Eurydice,” Seidl shares, “To find the connections to those themes, I always put myself into the character. Why does Orpheus react this way? This was a question that I asked myself hundreds of times which has helped me connect with the interwoven themes of the musical.”
Seidl not only gained confidence during the musical, but gained many friendships.
Elijah Llanos, a freshman who played the understudy for Orpheus, says, ”Sebastian is very passionate when it comes to theatre. He’s a good actor and can be very charming which is good when it comes to playing Orpheus. He also just has the personality for him; when I see Sebastian I also see Orpheus because they are alike. Sebastian and I became close friends during the musical. He always helped me out and he is a good friend. We always make sure that we are up to date with each other and help each other out in any way we can.”
