Imagine sitting throughout the famed Hollywood Pantages Theatre, watching the tragic love story of “Hadestown” and listening to the echoing lyrics to Greek mythology flow throughout your ears. The stage lights up with colors of red and gold as we embark on a journey to the underworld and every lyric feels like the Fates’ thread, weaving us deeper into the story.
On Oct. 25 and 30, I had the privilege of watching the U.S. national tour of “Hadestown,” not once but twice. Prior to attending the show, I was not familiar with the story or plot, but after watching the show, I found that the story line was easy and entertaining to follow.
“Hadestown” is a musical created by singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and directed by Rachel Chavkin. It is also a winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. This musical is like no other, as it blends the elements of New Orleans/Dixieland jazz styles and folk music, creating powerful lyrics for the ear.
The story of “Hadestown” intertwines the two Greek mythology tales of Orpheus and Eurydice, and Hades and Persephone. It follows a young man named Orpheus, who is a musician and travels to the underworld to rescue his love, Eurydice, from Hades without looking back. The musical utilizes the themes of love and trust in a world of hope and despair to shape an intriguing narrative.
The cast was absolutely breathtaking and the four main characters consisted of Megan Colton, who played Eurydice, and Jose Contreras, who played Orpheus joined by Nickolaus Colón, who played Hades and Namisa Mdlalose Bizana, who played Persephone.
The rest of the cast consisted of Rudy Foster (Hermes), Miriam Navarrete (Fate), Alli Sutton (Fate), Jayna Wescoatt (Fate), Jonice Bernard (Worker), Ryaan Farhadi (Worker), Erin McMillen (Worker), Miracle Myles (Worker) and Joe Rumi (Worker).
While the entire cast did a remarkable job, we can’t forget the incredible musicians who brought this story to life. All the musicians were placed on stage instead of the orchestra pit, a unique part of the show that gave us a feeling of being in the underworld. A huge recognition to the trombonist, Haik Deirchian, who is an incredibly talented musician and impressed the crowd with multiple solos that resulted in vast amounts of cheers by the end of the night.
One of the main unique features that shapes the show of “Hadestown” is the turntable. As a non-equity tour, this show did not have a turntable, as it usually does on Broadway, due to touring in smaller theaters. Although a turntable was not present, the adapted choreography and staging still made the production similar to the Broadway version in New York.
On another note, my favorite part of the musical, that came to me as a surprise, was the additional song that was performed at the very end of the show after bows. The song was “We Raise Our Cups” and was a tribute to both the cast and audience as a farewell. Personally, I found this addition to the show very touching as the song directly addresses the audience, breaking the fourth wall.
Seeing “Hadestown” for the first time at the Pantages Theatre was a one “hell” of an experience, making its way up to one of my favorite musicals. Stepping out of the Pantages Theatre was like transporting back to Earth from the underworld, and while my time in “Hadestown” was short, at least this time, I made it out without looking back.
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