Abigail Adriano On Hadestown: ‘Eurydice Is Going To Be A Dream For Me’

Hadestown will be premiering in Sydney’s Theatre Royal in February of 2025, while the show will premiere in Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Theatre in May of 2025. Leading lady Eurydice will be played by the incomparable, Sydney-based Abigail Adriano, who has just finished her Australasian tour as Kim in the cult-classic drama Miss Saigon.

The 20-year old actress, singer, and dancer spoke about her experience getting cast as Eurydice. She said her audition process was a bit unconventional due to her touring at the time. 

“I was in Taiwan, and every weekend I was on a bus touring to a different city for Kim, and so I was in the midst of such a busy time. I was the only person, I think, that didn’t actually step into a physical room and meet with any of the producers or any of the Associate Directors,” Adriano recounted.  

“All my auditions were on Zoom, which is kind of a testament to modern times and how auditions work these days. But I was really extremely grateful that they took a chance on me. And I would say the audition process was quite vigorous. I sent over 10 tapes. It was a lot. Usually I send one tape and then I go into the audition; twice, maybe three rounds. But this one, because everything was online, I had zoom meetings over and over again. It was quite long. I’d say it took two months before I actually knew when I got the role.”

Adriano surprised family and friends with Hadestown news

Adriano went viral with a TikTok video she posted in October of her surprising her friends and family with the exciting news and capturing their overwhelmed reactions. 

@abigailadrianoo telling my fam & friends that i got the role #eurydice 🥹🥹🥹 @Hadestown #hadestownaustralia ♬ scott street – .

“It was so emotional for me, because when you don’t hear back for a while, you just kinda go, ‘Oh, I didn’t get it.” 

“When I was doing Saigon; that was my first ever lead role. I would say I was extremely inspired by Lea Salonga, but that’s because I was enchanted by her voice and it was my first chance to sing music that I’ve loved since I was a kid. But as I started to decide on it I realized the power of acting and the other side of things. And so when I started consuming pieces of storytelling that Cynthia Erivo was doing, and I’d see her performances, I was just like, wow, that’s how it’s done. And in a way, her performance as Elphaba, or even in The Color Purple, just being different, is very much like Eurydice. So I like that.”

The musical, composed by American playwright and composer Anais Mitchell, directed by Rachel Chavkin, has been on Broadway since 2019, but was off-Broadway since 2016. The show has toured internationally in Canada and London, and is finally coming to audiences down under. 

Comparing touring in Asia to touring in Australia, Adriano said that the theatre scenes are “very different.”

“Within Australia, Sydney and Melbourne are very different. In Melbourne, everyone in the theatre scene is so immersed; the audience is extremely connected to the performance. And there’s a nice mutual exchange in Sydney.

“In some parts of Southeast Asia, they’re very reserved, and they’re very polite, but then at the end: roaring. I would say, for Hadestown, though, it will be impossible not to be immersed in the story anyway, because we break that fourth wall a lot.”

Blessed to play a dream role

Adriano said she’d been immersed in musical theatre since she was a very young girl, ever since she watched Lea Salonga’s audition tape for Miss Saigon.

“When I was younger, I would always tell my mum that my dream role was to play Kim, and I did it already. So now, whenever I get this question, it’s like, ‘oh, I’m so blessed to be able to say that I’ve done it.’ Now, the dream is just to continue falling in love with new characters. And I think Eurydice is going to be a dream for me.”

Wise beyond her years and unbelievably talented, Adriano will be bringing dear Eurydice to the stage soon, so be sure not to miss it!