The Summer I Turned Pretty Star Lola Tung and Punk Folk Icon Ani DiFranco Join Hadestown Tonight

On February 9, The Summer I Turned Pretty star Lola Tung and Grammy Award-winning alternative folk icon Ani DiFranco join the cast of Broadway’s Hadestown at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Tung takes on the role of Eurydice, replacing Solea Pfeiffer for a limited run through March 17, while DiFranco plays Persephone—the part which she originated on the 2010 concept album—replacing Betty Who.

Tung graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in 2020. She studied acting at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, before landing the role of Isabel “Belly” Conklin on The Summer I Turned Pretty and endearing herself to a legion of online fans. “I’d had dreams of being on Broadway since I performed in my middle school musicals,” she said in a statement, “and after seeing Hadestown [in 2020] I instantly added it to the little list of dream shows in my mind.”

Blending frank alternative folk with a punk, anti-corporate sensibility, DiFranco was widely known in the '90s for her tattoos, piercings and such songs as “Both Hands” and “Not a Pretty Girl.” She was also a major influence for Hadestown composer Anaïs Mitchell, eventually playing a significant role in the show’s creation. She helped Mitchell develop the concept album, and released it on her Righteous Babe Records label. As DiFranco told Rolling Stone in 2019, “It wasn’t nearly as developed as it is now, but the core songs were there and I thought, ‘Good songs, man—this girl does it.' So I got behind it.”

Tung and DiFranco join a cast that includes Jordan Fisher as Orpheus, Lillias White as Hermes and Phillip Boykin as Hades, with Lindsey Hailes, Belén Moyano and Brit West as the Fates.

Inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Hadestown is the winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score for Mitchell and Best Direction for Rachel Chavkin.