Hadestown is a powerhouse musical that highlights the strength of the medium. From moving performances to audacious staging and lighting to live music played right on stage, the Tony Award-winning show is a treat from beginning to end.
While audience members might know the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, Hadestown contextualizes it within a working class setting. Its soulful jazz compositions mix with heart-wrenching ballads to capture the interplay between the impoverished and the powerful. At its heart, though, Hadestown is a love story, and that fundamental kernel is what sets its baseline. All the while, creative choreography and an evocative set make the production feel enormous.
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Although Hadestown was conceived in 2006, it feels just as political (or even prophetic) as it did when it hit Broadway in 2019. There were moments in the show where there was a collective consciousness within the audience – an understanding that the messaging of Hadestown rings true in a way that it might never have before. Even with some timely themes and one particularly coincidental song, the show works plenty well all on its own thanks to carefully constructed lyrics and an incredible cast.
Musicals often deviate from the sing-songy nature of their key beats to deliver a little exposition, but every word in Hadestown is melodic. Echoing the Greek tragedy on which it is based, the script feels like an epic poem in its own right, a series of playful tête-à-têtes that rewards a keen ear and gives Hadestown a momentum that makes its viewing experience entrancing.
Of course, the songs are just as crucial to the show’s success, and they are incredible. Thanks to the on-stage band, Hadestown feels like you’re in a jazz club. The upbeat numbers are what will be the most noteworthy, but ballads where specific cast members belt their hearts out are just as memorable. It’s not your traditional music and lyrics in any way shape or form and that’s what makes it special. Hadestown wants to challenge you as a listener and asks a lot of its performers, who more than meet their challenge.
There are stars across the board in Hadestown’s North American touring cast, from Jaylon C. Crump as Hermes to Nickolaus Colón as Hades to Megan Colton as Eurydice to Namisa Mdlalose Bizana as Persephone and Bryan Munar as Orpheus. Crump, it could be argued, steals the show as our pseudo-narrator but there is not a weak performance in the bunch. Munar might have it the hardest having to belt out some challenging tunes while playing the guitar, but he never misses a beat. The supporting cast including the three Fates and the Workers Chorus typically pull double duty, performing their own songs and either playing a few instruments or spearheading Hadestown’s dance numbers, and they give the show energy and life.
Lighting is an underrated aspect of musical productions, but Hadestown does some really clever things to create a sense of place or a mood. The way the bright, flat lights typify the mortal realm, and the harsh, shadowy, foggy lighting in the underworld are key to giving the show a unique visual personality. Technically, there are a lot of moving parts already going on with the live music, the actors remaining on the stage almost through the entire runtime, and the various sets of stairs, but the lighting and the choreography that supports that lighting give Hadestown another layer to keep you transfixed on.
Typically, a Broadway season features plenty of Tony Award-winning musicals, but Hadestown is a one-of-a-kind production. It takes an otherwise simple story – one that for many people has already been spoiled – and turns it into a meditation on climate change, a party, a somber tale about the working class, and a hopeful story of love. More than anything, though, it’s the type of show that reminds you why musicals are such a unique art form.
Hadestown is now playing through November 10th at the San Diego Civic Theatre. View the full Hadestown touring schedule.