When this critic first saw Hadestown on Broadway (with fellow UW-Madison alum André de Shields in the key role of Hermès), it didn’t seem like a show with a broad-enough appeal to tour. But what do I know? Hadestown won 8 Tony Awards and became a sensation that still draws crowds of nearly 100% of capacity on Broadway.
It seems as though the ancient Greek love story between simple Orpheus and strong-minded Eurydice resonates with audiences everywhere. The national tour that played in Milwaukee recently had its final performance on May 7.
The musical remains a cautionary tale of trust, power and longing. At first sight, Eurydice (charmingly played by Hannah Whitley) immediately falls in love with the romantic Orpheus (a young, handsome and well-spoken J. Antionio Rodriguez). After they proclaim their love for one another, she waits patiently while Orpheus toils to finish a song.
However, she is also aware of her rumbling stomach. Tired of living in poverty, she becomes a willing plaything for the god Hades (the imposing Matthew Patrick Quinn). However, to get what he’s promised her, she needs to “ride a train” to the underworld. Here, Hades has turned hell into an industrial complex, where dead workers toil endlessly to produce electricity (apparently, the fires of hell aren’t bright enough). Once Hades has had his fill of Eurydice, she joins the other workers.
The choreography throughout is stunning, with some of the best moves reserved for ensemble members who appear as workers in Hades.
Meanwhile, Hades has some relationship problems of his own. He has convinced the goddess Persephone (a lively Maria-Christina Oliversas) to marry him and live in the underworld. She consents, with one condition. Each spring, she returns to the world above, just in time to bring spring/summer abundance to the land. Dressed in a gauzy, spring-green frock (costumes by Michael Krass), she looks like a vision out of a Fragonard painting. Persephone carries a basket brimming with colorful flowers.
Describing all of this is the god Hermés (the slinky, quick-stepping Nathan Lee Graham), who also has some of the musical’s best songs. In league with a trio of Fates (all excellent performers), he kicks off the show with the mesmerizing song, “Road to Hell.” Later, the whole company joins him for a rousing production number, “Way Down Hadestown.”
It's interesting to note that a different song, “Why We Build the Wall,” was written about a dozen years before Trump became the U.S. president. One can almost hear Trump echo the words of Hades’ song, as he claims that a high wall will preserve the freedom of those who live within it.
Of course, the wall does anything BUT provide freedom. It is a prison within a prison, which prevents the inhabitants from viewing what happens outside the wall. It meets Hades’s desire for complete power, but it doesn’t impress his wife, Persephone. In fact, she is more in tune with the desires of the younger lovers, who want to leave the underworld and return to the surface. They want a chance to live their lives. Hades is reluctant to agree, as he sees this as a threat to his total control. He finally allows the two to leave, despite Eurydice having “signed papers” that would keep her in hell forever.
Hermés sees the impossibility of the situation at once, but he is powerless to prevent it. Instead, he (and the company) keep singing the “same old song, a sad song,” in the hope that the ending will turn out differently. Sadly, it never does.
The world of Hadestown is brilliantly realized in Rachel Hauck’s scenic design. The set has a New Orleans kind of vibe, one that is reinforced throughout the show (think of the glittering black umbrella that Hermés uses, not to mention some of the flashy costumes). The fading twilight is courtesy of lighting designer Bradley King.
Hadestown caps off an excellent season of traveling shows in Milwaukee this year (with Tootsie as the final production next month). Hadestown is seen in Milwaukee in all its glory, with a large Equity cast and a set that basically matches the Broadway original. Hadestown transports the audience to a (literally) other-worldly experience. There are lessons lived and lessons learned. Even if those lessons date back to the ancient Greeks, they still have resonance today.
