I remember hearing about the musical Hadestown in 2019, just after its short run at the Olivier Theatre in London. At the time, I was in the midst of finishing my degree in Classical Civilisation, and as an avid theatre-goer, the concept of Greek myth being transformed into a Broadway musical blew my mind. I wasn’t sure how long I would have to wait for it to transfer to the West End after its Broadway debut, but I knew in my gut I would eventually get to see it on stage.
Fast forward to 2024 and less than a year into its run on the West End, Hadestown announces the Original Broadway Cast will be performing in London again for a strict, limited time between February and March 2025, causing these dates to sell out in a matter of hours. My friends and I somehow managed to get tickets for the closing show, and it was one of the most electric theatre performances I have ever witnessed.
If you aren’t familiar with Hadestown, the musical tells the tragic love story between Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus attempts to rescue his dead lover from the underworld but fails to complete his mission through divine intervention and fate. These divine forces are encapsulated by the Greek gods Hades, Persephone, and the Fates throughout the musical. Hermes, the messenger god, is there to keep the song/story alive throughout. The music inspiration for Hadestown is a perfect blend of Blues, Folk, Rock, and American Jazz music, with each character taking on a different genre and making it their own. The musical is set during the post-depression era, which adds to the strife the characters are constantly being forced to deal with, where there’s no spring or fall to ease the characters into the bitter, cold winter that seems to come earlier and earlier each time around.
The Original Broadway Cast consists of Reeve Carney as Orpheus, Eva Noblezada as Eurydice, André De Shields as Hermes, Amber Gray as Persephone, and Patrick Page as Hades. Unfortunately, Patrick Page missed out on performing in the West End due to sustaining an injury during rehearsals, so Phillip Boykin, another Broadway Hades alumni, filled his position.
The performance started later than anticipated, but the crowd soon went wild when the cast took their position on the stage, unaffected by the delay. André De Shields, a Broadway musical legend still performing at 79 years old, gracefully crossed the stage as Hermes to his position and let the crowd's cheers wash over him. It set the tone for the rest of the performance, with the cast knowing the crowd would be enamoured with their next move. Hermes pulls the story through his engagement with the audience and being connected to all the characters within the story and you can never take your eyes off of Hermes thanks to his silver, embroidered suit.
Hadestown starts with Hermes introducing us to “an old tale from way back when” with the song ‘The Road To Hell’, setting the atmosphere for the story, along with subtle foreshadowing of how this story will be played out again and again. Orpheus and Eurydice’s polar opposite personalities are encapsulated in the next two songs, ‘Any Way The Wind Blows’ and ‘Come Home With Me’, the former telling the audience the struggles Eurydice has been through just to survive and her lack of trust in others with the lyrics “people turn on you just like the wind”. Orpheus’ proclamations in ‘Come Home With Me’ demonstrate how naive he can be by wearing his heart on his sleeve by asking Eurydice to ask for her hand in marriage after they first meet, along with believing he will be the one to bring back Spring. Their differences are also shown in the song ‘The Wedding Band’ with Eurydice’s realistic views of the worlds clashing with Orpheus’ idealistic approach. Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada’s lovestruck performances are easy to believe, especially since the two actors fell in love during the original Broadway run back in 2019. The crowd shrieked with glee each time as Orpheus and Eurydice shared an on-stage kiss during the performance, adding another layer to their tragic love story.
While I enjoy Orpheus and Eurydice’s tale, I have always been enamoured by the love story behind Hades and Persephone. Most interpretations believe Persephone was forced into a relationship with Hades and never wanted to be Queen of the Underworld. In Hadestown, the two fell in love like Orpheus and Eurydice, yet time has passed and made Hades a bitter god, which makes Persephone dread going back to the underworld every winter. Amber Gray and Phillip Boykin did exceptionally well telling the complicated love story between their two characters, with their voices blending beautifully during the song ‘Chant’ and later again in Act 2 with ‘How Long?’. Their dance during ‘Epic III’, the song written by Orpheus about the love these characters share for one another, demonstrates how they can fall in love with each other all over again, just like Orpheus and Eurydice will do as the story repeats itself during the end scene.
Other performances who stole the show for me were the Fates, known for “always singing in the back of your mind”. The three women were portrayed by Bella Brown, Madeline Charlemagne and Allie Daniel, and perfectly harmonised with each other in every verse. I was enamoured by their performance during the songs ‘When The Chips Are Down’, ‘Gone, I’m Gone’, and ‘Word For The Wise’ and felt their pull on the story through how they conducted themselves on stage with the use of musical instruments extending their performances. The band performing the music on stage also gets a special shoutout during the show in the song ‘Our Lady Of The Underground’ which felt inclusive to do so as most musicals don’t name their members, let alone have them on stage during the performance.
The show ends as it started, with the story of Orpheus and Eurydice’s tragic love starting afresh, and the crowd erupting as the lights dim. A curtain call song is then sung by the cast called ‘Raise Our Cups’, led by Persephone and Eurydice, which is dedicated to Orpheus and those who have shown how different the world can be.
It wasn’t only the last show for the Original Broadway Cast but the last in the first year of the show being shown on the West End, with a new cast taking up the roles the following day. Just like the story, the cycle repeats itself with fresh faces for the audience to fall in love with.
Hadestown is performing at the Lyric Theatre until September 2025 so if you haven’t taken yourself to see this masterpiece already, you can find tickets available here.
WORDS EMMA REGAN
PHOTO MARC BRENNER
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