Maia Reficco Says Role in Broadway's Hadestown Has Taught Her 'the Power Love Can Hold' (Exclusive)

Maia Reficco is still wrapping her head around the fact that she's on Broadway.

The Pretty Little Liars star is currently treading the boards as Eurydice in Anaïs Mitchell's Tony-winning best musical Hadestown, a role she plays alongside Jordan Fisher and Stephanie Mills. But despite being over a month into her run — and having just extended in the production through Jan. 12, 2025 — she says she's "still pinching [herself]" every day.

"I'm still in disbelief of this being my reality. It's crazy!" an earnest Reficco, 24, tells PEOPLE, in a candid phone conversation earlier this month.

Born in Boston and raised from the time she was 6 in Buenos Aires with her family of Argentine origin, Reficco admits she "always dreamt of getting to Broadway." But she never imagined that dream would be a reality.

"It always felt so unattainable," Reficco says. "I definitely wanted it with all of my heart, but it just felt so impossible and so far away that I barely allowed myself to imagine what it would be like. That's why I'm so happy all the time and why I can't shut up about it, because I truly never thought I'd be living my dream day in and day out."

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"Day in and day out" is an understatement. The eight-show-a-week schedule is "no joke," she says, admitting that she's had "some serious ups and downs" so far.

"When you're putting your body, your mind and your emotions through so much on a day-to-day basis, that definitely takes a toll on you," Reficco shares. "I try to do my best to stay as level as I can, but sometimes, it'd definitely hard."

"I don't think I had really accounted for how physically challenging it would be," admits the star. "I had accounted for vocally being tired and having my larynx adjust to singing so much a week. But physically, it surprised me how it's affected my body."

Ultimately, Reficco — who has done theater before, including the acclaimed production of Next to Normal at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. back in 2020 — says she sees this all as "a very fun challenge."

"Having to work on getting stronger, and prepping my body every day for each show, has been a beautiful North Star," she says. "It's working through the hardships that allows for me to enjoy the good that much more."

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Part of that good includes working with Fisher. "He's so wonderful," she gushes. "He is such a special human being and the most talented human alive. I love him."

The 30-year-old actor — a Broadway vet himself, with roles in Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen and Sweeney Todd — particularly came to the rescue when Reficco woke up with "severe laryngitis" three days before she was supposed to open in Hadestown.

"My voice was completely gone. I couldn't say a single word. It was the worst laryngitis I think I've ever had in my life," she says. "And so when I got to rehearsal, I was in a complete panic because I couldn't speak, let alone sing."

But Fisher came to the rescue. "Jordan was not only so sweet, but just incredibly proactive and helped me," she explains. "He gave me his ENT's info and she came in on a Saturday to see me. She gave me meds. She was like, 'Don't worry. You'll be fine by Tuesday.' And sure enough, I went on Tuesday and didn't miss an entire show that week."

"It just goes show how wonderful the partner in crime he is, because truly having him at my side made me feel so much more at peace," Reficco continues. "He quite literally saved me. He pulled me out of both the literal terror I was feeling of not being able to sing, but also just he made me feel so much more at ease. And he continues to do that every single day."

Fisher, too, will be extending his run as Orpheus in Hadestown through Jan. 12, as will Phillip Boykin, who plays Hades.

Reficco praises them, and the rest of the show's cast, for welcoming her with open arms and helping her find Eurydice's "voice" so clearly.

"I feel so honored that I get to play her and I get to step into her shoes every night," the actress says of the role. "She's so wonderfully complex, and I think there's a huge necessity for these types of characters for young women. I love her strength, her resilience, and at the end of the day, her hopefulness. That hope and that love is very palpable when you step into her shoes. And I learn a lot from the story that we tell."

Asked to expand more on those lessons, Reficco pauses before opening her heart up.

"There's something about this story that is so grand; this overarching theme of love and the lengths that one is willing to go for love," she says. "And for me, personally, getting to hear Anaïs Mitchell's brilliant words each night, they've came to life in a new way and allowed me to understand the infinite layers there are to love."

"It's just beautiful to be reminded of the power love can hold; how love can look, how love can feel and what love can make you do," she adds.

Tickets for Hadestown at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City are now on sale.