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Spoiler alert: Hadestown is very, very good
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elperian but the rest of y'all can read it if you want.
Yes, I am just now getting into this show from 2019 because I was just now able to actually see it. And I loved it! I thought it was the best musical I've seen definitely since Hamilton and probably for a long time before that.
All I knew going in was that it was a retelling of Orpheus/Eurydice and Hades/Persephone in '30s America. And that a lot of people were obsessed with it. Turns out, there is a reason a lot of people were obsessed with it! I really felt like it was a show that showcased what can happen when everyone is creatively at the top of their game and collaborating in a really beautiful way. It was a joy to see a show that felt unique and fresh--it's a retelling yes, but not in the boring "IP" way that so many musicals are these days where rich people say, "What movie/TV show/artist's discography can we turn into a play?" It's just proof that creativity MATTERS.
I just love a play where the music is made by musicians onstage, so I was delighted to see that that was the case this time. They were great! I enjoyed the songs a lot too and they'll probably continue to grow on me as I listen to the Broadway cast recording. The story is actually pretty bare-bones, but it works intertwining the two different myths and giving them resonance. And since it's musical theater, I didn't even care about the insta!love! I'm like, "Yes, this is fine in this situation where people don't talk but only sing!"
The cast was great, and, as usual in my experience, the voices of the touring cast are much better than the big stars of the Broadway cast, and I really wish I could have a recording of this cast doing the whole show. The biggest star was Lana Gordon as Persephone--she was having a blast and it showed. I am amazed that they found a dude THAT tall and THAT deep-voiced to play Hades like wow. Will Mann was so good as Hermes, and though I have to admit that I wish I could see André De Shields do that role, I think Mann's voice is better. Amaya Braganza's and J. Antonio Rodriguez's voices as Eurydice and Orpheus were beautiful, and I did love the extra oomph that having a Latino man play that role added to some of the lines about being on the wrong side of the wall, etc. The supporting cast and chorus were also very strong (me developing a crush on two chorus members is #birep).
The staging and sets are great and the lighting, which is not something I have ever particularly paid attention to before in a play, was fantastic--I feel like I learned in this one show how lighting direction can be a creative endeavor. The swinging lights!!!!!!
Highlight numbers for me were "Wedding Song," "Why We Build the Wall," and all the versions of "Road to Hell." I was also super into the staging of the journeys into and out of hell.
I did not expect the political commentary, the fact that the show is basically a love letter to solidarity and unionization in the face of powerful corporations, or THE ENDING??? I truly did not know whether or not he was going to look back, and once he did, I was like, "How are they going to end this???" AND THEN AN ENDING THAT'S ABOUT THE POWER OF TRYING AGAIN??? I loved it. "We're going to sing it again and again"? Yes please.
I felt like the whole show was just so wonderfully and sincerely about hope and perseverance and solidarity and those are my favoritest of themes, so it felt like a show for me personally. It's definitely one I will take the opportunity to see again if I can.
In conclusion:
+ I loved it
+ I'm so glad I paid bigger bucks to have a seat in like the fourth row in the middle because it helped me with auditory processing to be able to see the singers' lips
+ My friend loved it too and was so glad she went and told me she'd go to any plays with me in the future :D
And the one minus: I'm listening to the Broadway cast recording and all the songs sound a little less beautiful and powerful than they did live! Alas, the fleeting nature of live theater!
elperian but the rest of y'all can read it if you want.Yes, I am just now getting into this show from 2019 because I was just now able to actually see it. And I loved it! I thought it was the best musical I've seen definitely since Hamilton and probably for a long time before that.
All I knew going in was that it was a retelling of Orpheus/Eurydice and Hades/Persephone in '30s America. And that a lot of people were obsessed with it. Turns out, there is a reason a lot of people were obsessed with it! I really felt like it was a show that showcased what can happen when everyone is creatively at the top of their game and collaborating in a really beautiful way. It was a joy to see a show that felt unique and fresh--it's a retelling yes, but not in the boring "IP" way that so many musicals are these days where rich people say, "What movie/TV show/artist's discography can we turn into a play?" It's just proof that creativity MATTERS.
I just love a play where the music is made by musicians onstage, so I was delighted to see that that was the case this time. They were great! I enjoyed the songs a lot too and they'll probably continue to grow on me as I listen to the Broadway cast recording. The story is actually pretty bare-bones, but it works intertwining the two different myths and giving them resonance. And since it's musical theater, I didn't even care about the insta!love! I'm like, "Yes, this is fine in this situation where people don't talk but only sing!"
The cast was great, and, as usual in my experience, the voices of the touring cast are much better than the big stars of the Broadway cast, and I really wish I could have a recording of this cast doing the whole show. The biggest star was Lana Gordon as Persephone--she was having a blast and it showed. I am amazed that they found a dude THAT tall and THAT deep-voiced to play Hades like wow. Will Mann was so good as Hermes, and though I have to admit that I wish I could see André De Shields do that role, I think Mann's voice is better. Amaya Braganza's and J. Antonio Rodriguez's voices as Eurydice and Orpheus were beautiful, and I did love the extra oomph that having a Latino man play that role added to some of the lines about being on the wrong side of the wall, etc. The supporting cast and chorus were also very strong (me developing a crush on two chorus members is #birep).
The staging and sets are great and the lighting, which is not something I have ever particularly paid attention to before in a play, was fantastic--I feel like I learned in this one show how lighting direction can be a creative endeavor. The swinging lights!!!!!!
Highlight numbers for me were "Wedding Song," "Why We Build the Wall," and all the versions of "Road to Hell." I was also super into the staging of the journeys into and out of hell.
I did not expect the political commentary, the fact that the show is basically a love letter to solidarity and unionization in the face of powerful corporations, or THE ENDING??? I truly did not know whether or not he was going to look back, and once he did, I was like, "How are they going to end this???" AND THEN AN ENDING THAT'S ABOUT THE POWER OF TRYING AGAIN??? I loved it. "We're going to sing it again and again"? Yes please.
I felt like the whole show was just so wonderfully and sincerely about hope and perseverance and solidarity and those are my favoritest of themes, so it felt like a show for me personally. It's definitely one I will take the opportunity to see again if I can.
In conclusion:
+ I loved it
+ I'm so glad I paid bigger bucks to have a seat in like the fourth row in the middle because it helped me with auditory processing to be able to see the singers' lips
+ My friend loved it too and was so glad she went and told me she'd go to any plays with me in the future :D
And the one minus: I'm listening to the Broadway cast recording and all the songs sound a little less beautiful and powerful than they did live! Alas, the fleeting nature of live theater!
no subject
And since it's musical theater, I didn't even care about the insta!love! I'm like, "Yes, this is fine in this situation where people don't talk but only sing!"
Yes, this is the only setting in which I'll accept it.
The swinging lights my beloved!!! I feel like experiencing them swinging over my head flipped a switch in my brain and I became a Hadestown dyed-in-the-wool stan. I love the whole music, but I felt something in that moment.
"We're going to sing it again and again"? Yes please.
I love it so much!!!
I also loved our live performance, but the Broadway recording has grown on me with the dozens of listens I'm made to it at this point.
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Have you listened to the original live recording album? I got into the musical through that (the OBCR wasn't out yet) and I still have a hard time with some of the changes the Broadway version made, especially losing some lyrics in Epic III like Where is the man with his hat in his hands? / Who stands in the garden with nothing to lose, a line I miss a lot!
The ending kills me. That desperate hope that if we keep trying, someday things will be different. Urgh. So good.
It's currently on in the West End but only until august, if it goes for longer I may be able to catch it there. I don't get to see a lot of musicals but I've seen Hamilton twice so I really want to someday see this one. Glad you enjoyed it so much!
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Yup!
The swinging lights my beloved!!! I feel like experiencing them swinging over my head flipped a switch in my brain and I became a Hadestown dyed-in-the-wool stan. I love the whole music, but I felt something in that moment.
I relate! That was such a genius decision and I'm thrilled I saw it first in real life so that I could experience it completely unspoiled!
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Where is the man with his hat in his hands? / Who stands in the garden with nothing to lose, a line I miss a lot!
That is such a good line!
No, I haven't listened to the original one yet, but I should!
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