They say being a teenager is hell...

What better way to celebrate the promise and warmth of a fast approaching Summer than by plunging into the dark recesses of the Underworld? This Spring, Seattle's landmark 5th Avenue Theatre is to host the Off-Broadway sensation Jasper in Deadland, a pop-rock musical that follows the titular teenage protagonist and his quest to find his recently deceased best friend in the afterlife. The production is the fruit of a partnership between musical theatre composer- lyricist Ryan Scott Oliver and theatre actor and playwright Hunter Foster.

The duo represents the new generation of theatre craftsmen and the future of Broadway. Ryan, often described as a major new voice in musical theatre, is a rapidly rising star poised for big production success. No stranger to big productions himself, musical theatre runs in Hunter Foster's veins. Brother to renowned Broadway starlet Sutton Foster, the Tony Award nominated actor-cum-librettist first wowed audiences in his breakout role as Bobby Strong in Urine Town. The meeting of these two minds in Jasper In Deadland makes for an exciting, pop-culture filled adventure without equal.

What is Jasper in Deadland about?

Based on the Greek Mythological tale of Oprheus and Eurydice, this twisted little tale revolves around the heroic quest Jasper undertakes when his best friend Agnes falls to her death. Certain that the tragedy is his fault (Agnes recklessly commits suicide in a fit of unrequited-love-fuelled-anger), the brave high school swimmer dives off the cliff after her and is thrust into the netherworld. Along the way he meets and is challenged by a host of famous hell-bound characters including Dante's Beatrix, Greek gatekeeper Cerberus and the Egyptian god of the dead, Osiris.