r/hadestown

Buuuuuut I get to see understudy Brandon Cameron when I go! Should be a cool experience!

EDIT: Actually his last show will be May 31st.

one of my favourite things about hadestown is the incredibly well-thought out wordplay in the musical.

one of my favourite examples is in chant (reprise):

eurydice: could I change my fate?

the fates: could I change?

what are your favourite/s?

I never thought I would be obsessed with a certain characters ‘Wait For Me’ but Jose Contreras “Im coming wait for me…….It sounds like drumming” genuinely was so good.
Can someone please echo my enthusiasm for his voice. I think that Jack Wolfe was really good but seriously jose is insane and I don’t get why there isn’t more ardent fanboys for Jose like Jack has. It was like he was rising to heaven whilst on stage.

Does anyone else have any simmilar experiences with Jose, or am I missing something?

So i know everyone has a favorite Eurydice, but what’s your favorite choice or moment that a Eurydice made? like I love megan Colton’s growl in wait for me reprise and Sydney parras all I’ve ever known dance. What’s yours?

Details are appreciated.

Last Saturday I saw Hadestown on the West End and was blown away by the entire cast. I've seen the show before (4 times in Amsterdam, and several recordings of different casts) but never quite like this. Everyone played their character so well, I've never seen such clear definitions of who everyone is intil this performance. Bethany Antonia played a very scared/traumatised Eurydice; pulling back or shocking every time someone came close to her, which slowly went away throughout the show, making it so tragic to see the ending. Rachel Adedeji was also great, she put a big emphasis on Persephone's drinking problems, especially during her number in Act 2, she'd look around the stage absolutely devastated before taking a sip of alcohol and transforming back into her 'Livin' it up' self.

Alastair Parker's Hades was also a major standout, incredibly angry at everything and everyone, especially Persephone, a super bitter Hades, in a way I think that this version of their story has been going on for quite a while, as if their relationship is now at the worst possible stage. But then, during Epic III, He completely breaks. As Orpheus sings his final verse, Alastair cries and shakes, sweat and tears running down his face, and when he finally sings his melody to Persephone, his voice is almost uncontrolable. Absolutely devaststating to see. I was a bit sceptical at first, because I quite like Patrick Page's take on the character, especially with his emphasis on 'doing everything for Persephone', but it seems like Alastair's Hades was far past that point. He had tried everything in his power to win Persephone, and thus had grown bitter, and the contrast to that anger in Epic III was a beautiful payoff to that entire show of anger.

The performance that stuck out to me most though, was Marley Fenton's Orpheus. I've never seen an Orpheus quite like his.

Orpheus is often played as a naive, innocent young man, who is entirely oblivious to the world. (Reeve Carney and Jack Wolfe come to mind) but Marley does something different. He jokes around, during Wedding song and Epic I he plays to the workers and Eurydice as is he is trying to get a laugh out of them, making funny faces or putting emphasis on certain words. For example: when he says "who walked.. up above" in Epic I, he points to the sky and raises his body a little, as if he doesn't realise the weight of what he is singing about. He keeps doing this, even alone during Epic II, he laughs to himself (not audibly) as he makes up his lyrics, going "King of silver.. *smiling and nodding* king of gold"

Then during Chant we see him change for the first time. During his last verse (the Gods have forgotten...) you can see him slowly realise what's going on, and looking in absolute shock.

Then, in Wait For Me, he starts off joking again, which Clive Rowe's Hermes does back to him. Marley is excited as he asks "Where's Eurydice?", as if he wants to show her some funny line he just made up, and Clive responds with a smile on his face, "brother what do you care..." but as he reveals what happened, you see Marley change. It's no longer a joke to him, reality has hit. During the actual song you can see how scared he is, but still confident (he's a lot like Jordan Fischer in this song).

Then, in the second act during Come Home With Me II, he seems scared but confident, he checks if Eurydice is okay, and talks back to Hades on full force. But as he gets beaten up he gets completely destroyed. During 'Nothing Changes' he lays flat on his back, as if he's passed out. But during If It's True he wakes up again. He's now angry at the world, angry at Hades. Constantly pointing to his office door, rallying up the workers. During "Is this how the world is?" He finally realises what's going on, no more jokes. And during Epic III there aren't any jokes anymore either. He sings to Hades as if his lofe depends on it, and the before mentioned Alastair Parker supports that very well. When Marley first sings his melody, Alastair runs towards him in anger, fist in the air (which was truly scary to see live) but Marley doesn't flinch. He keeps singing.

During promises, it seems like he truly wants to make sure that Eurydice knows what he can and can not give, because he knows how it is to be oblivious.

The only (small) problem I have though is right at the start of Word to the Wise, he asks "can we go?" In that same, joking way as he did in Act 1, which to mee seems out of place after his entire arc. But ofcourse, it's only a small thing, so it doesn't really matter. Anyways: during Doubt Comes In he gives everything he can. His soft falsetto notes turn into raspy vocals as he sings "is this a trap...". I had goosebumps for the entire song.

Then, after he has turned around and Euryidice goes back, (unlike most Orphei I've seen, who run just as she descends) he starts running right when it's too late, you could hear a very soft "no no no no" as he runs towards the pit.

One last thing I'd like to mention (about the entire cast, but also still mostly Marley) is the silent acting they do here. Every character reacts expressively, and most importantly, with intent. It seems that everyone on stage knows exactly where their character is supposed to go narratively, and acts accordingly throughout the show. A great (and I assume to be improvised) example of this is during Way Down Hadestown. Bethany (Eurydice)'s shoe got untied during the song, and Marley (who had already been very protective of her during this number) pulled her asside for her to tie it, but they both stayed in character. He looked annoyed at the Fates and Workers as they danced, as if he wanted to tell them to watch out (it wasn't any actors fault the shoe got untied)

Overall, this cast was just great. I was lucky enough to talk to everyone at the stage door (at which I already told Marley and Alastair how much I liked their acring and emphasis on arcs)

Everyone seemed to have a great grasp on their characters, and how they all should change. It was a great experience, and I would go again if I could (sadly, I live in the Netherlands)

I’m leaving school in 2 months and I wanted to have my leavers shirt hadestown themed, does anyone have any ideas for what quote I should use? Ive already thought about “to the world we dream about, and the one we live in now” but I wanted to know if there were any other suggestions.

So this is just to recap the recent cast changes that will be happening and has already happened on Broadway

1. Joshua Colley is departing this month with Jeffrey & Brandon covering Orpheus for a week till John Michael Lyles joins in on June 16th

2. Emily Afton who is Worker 1 has taken a short sabbatical and has left Hadestown for a few weeks

3. To cover for Emily’s absence, Sojourner Brown who was previously a Swing for Worker 1 & 2 and Eurydice is now full time Worker 1 and only covers the Fates (as that was Emily’s cover order)

4. It seems Tara has left Hadestown Broadway again and Alex Lugo has been put on the site & company playbill as Swing so they might be sticking around longer till Emily comes back or till Tara comes back. Idk if Alex will be covering Eurydice to make up for Sojourner or will be covering Persephone to make up for Tara. Idk. Highkey kinda want them to cover ALL!!! Of em 😁

5. Jordan Tyson confirmed she will be in Hadestown till August which will be her 6th month in Hadestown so happy to see that the 6 month contracts are back (cause I personally didn’t like the 4 months cause that was just brutal seeing such short contracts for me personally especially for Isa Briones & Myra Molly as well as Carlos Valdes & Ali Bourzgui who only had 4 months in Hadestown). No clue about Gaby & He who must not be named but most likely, it’ll be a full cast change come august minus John who would have just joined on.

Thats all! 🌹🌹🌹🌹

I love Hadestown. It's my favorite musical, but I keep seeing posts and threads about how horrible the new Hades is. I don't know if discussions around that are allowed in here but if you know you know. I also haven't seen any clips or heard anything from the new cast (I know it's illegal to record in the theater, but compared to the ten million clips I've seen of Jack Wolfe, it's odd). I've read virtually nothing about the new cast other than the cureent Hades. I've never seen a show on Broadway before and I will have a chance this summer to see Hadestown. But I want to know, is the cast actually worth seeing?

Edit: typos

Hi, for an oral presentation at school I will talk about greek mythology in current world, I will talk about musical but my teacher said that I had to explain difference between the musical and the myth and why these difference exists.

EDIT: it's just a part of my oral presentation, i do other things in my oral presentation, i know i could make research as my own and i did it but but i don't have enough time i ask for a pieces not all my homework.

I've been following production since the original album and workshops, already enjoyed the show and have been moved to tears in the past. In the meantime, I met my partner and fell in love for the first time we talked about the show on and off over the years.

When we finally got to see the tour together I found myself absolutely sobbing during All I've Ever Known, a song that I've previously enjoyed but never felt so strongly about. Literally any of the romantic interactions had me in shambles in a way they never had before (They danced, how long, epic 3, "Wait for me." "I will" etc)

Has anyone else had the experience of finding love after your first listen/watch and having it be a much more moving experience coming back to it after that?