Happy Monday!

Last week, I saw the Hadestown National Tour in Toronto. I hadn’t seen Hadestown yet because I’d heard it was sad, and, well…I’m a baby. I did have a t-shirt from the Broadway production that my sister got me, though, and it’s very high quality, so I was hopeful that the show would live up to the t-shirt.

Anyway, Hadestown is a musical adaptation of the Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice, so it’s not a secret where the plot is going. Plus, if you didn’t know, the opening song literally says “It’s a sad tale, a tragedy.” So you can’t be too surprised. In this version, the characters live in a moody, grayscale universe where it’s cold all the time, people are hungry, and there’s general malaise. In order to escape the frigid weather and to get fed, Eurydice goes to Hadestown to work for Hades building his wall, and Orpheus goes to save her.

Putting aside Hades’ literal wall for a second, the show has a semi-permeable fourth wall. Hadestown is framed by a narrator, Hermes (not to be confused with the orange brand), and it feels like we’re listening to someone read from a storybook. But Hermes also plays a part in the story and interacts with the characters on stage, as well as with the audience. Sometimes it feels as if the audience is in the story – like when we’re encouraged to respond to the characters’ introductions in the beginning. The band sits on stage and is also half-in, half-out of the story. This framing device is very “theatre-y” because it requires the audience to further suspend their disbelief, so I could see it annoying some people. It’s also more of a song cycle than a typical play, but I liked it. (I would’ve liked it more if Hermes had cleaner diction, but his charisma made up for it.)

I’ll cut to the chase: I liked Hadestown, but I didn’t love it. There were moments I loved – many moments. But something was missing for me.

Let me start with what I liked: first, the music. The composer/bookwriter is Anaïs Mitchell, and her music feels edgy, singer-songwriter-y, folky. The melodies are really pretty, and the harmonies are gorgeous (especially the 3-part harmonies performed by the Fates). Anaïs seems to really love adding punchy, powerful endings to songs, as if they end with an exclamation point. I like this for the most part, though one could argue that if you emphasize too many things, then nothing is emphasized. My favourite songs were “Come Home With Me,” “Wait for Me (reprise)” and “All I’ve Ever Known,” and I find myself relistening to the cast album this week. I’d even go so far as to say that the climax in Wait for Me (reprise) is one of my favourite moments in all of musical theatre.

Another thing I liked: the acting. Not a weak link in the bunch. My standouts:

• J. Antonio Rodriguez as Orpheus was boyish, hopeful, and so very likeable.
• Hannah Whitley as Eurydice was bold, intense…by the final bows, she seemed emotionally exhausted. Together, their love story was so sweet, and it was easy to root for them.
• Nathan Lee Graham as Hermes – wonderful storyteller, very charismatic. Not going to harp on the enunciation thing, but…
• Maria-Christina Oliveras as Persephone and Matthew Patrick Quinn as Hades – I liked their relationship dynamic. It was tortured and complicated, but the love they shared felt real. I loved Matthew’s deep bass voice. So fun.
• The 3 fates – Dominique Kempf, Belen Moyano and Naya Watson – they were pitch-perfect and super chic, like mystical ancient Greek Heathers in all-grey attire.
• Literally the entire chorus – they sold it, and they looked super cool in their leather work overalls and bathing caps. They looked like if Showtime’s Dexter worked in a cranberry bog and wanted to avoid wetting his hair.

Other things I liked: the staging and the costumes. The set itself was fairly simple – a few chairs, some risers, and some mechanized doors. But it felt industrial, hipster, and current. There was also a turntable in the middle of the stage, and I’m a sucker for a spinning stage. The costumes…well, I’ve already discussed the avant garde leather attire. I also liked how Orpheus looked like a mix between a gondolier and a waiter, and how Eurydice looked like if Mimi from Rent showered more.

Overall, the show feels fresh, new, inventive. I’m 90% of the way there, but there were a few things that I really didn’t like that distracted me from the show:

1. The music and pacing – just as there were standout songs, there were a few that I was “meh” about. E.g. the character Persephone is introduced in Act I with a great brassy jazz number called “Living it Up On Top,” but then the Act II opener “Our Lady of the Underground” is tonally similar to that one, except now Persephone is in a black dress instead of a green one. It felt a bit repetitive, and I got lost somewhere in Act I. Act II moved much more quickly and felt better paced overall.

2. All the falsetto singing. J. Antonio Rodriguez (Orpheus) has a beautiful, powerful voice. This is not his fault. Half of Orpheus’ material is so high that he has to switch from chest voice to head voice (aka falsetto), and J. Antonio’s falsetto was noticeably less powerful than his chest voice, so the switch was a tad jarring. The original Orpheus from Broadway, Reeve Carney, is a true Irish tenor, meaning that his voice sits higher than other tenors (and therefore sounds more comfortable and natural singing those super high notes). J. Antonio can hit the notes, but the transition was not smooth.

3. It’s a teeeeeensy bit preachy. The song “Why We Build the Wall” in particular made a few people roll their eyes (I know, because I heard them talking about it at intermission). I don’t mind the message, and I get that it’s theatre and anti-industrialist and whatnot – it just wasn’t the most subtle song, and I prefer songs that “show” as opposed to “tell.”

4. The diction. Don’t want to dwell, but it was hard to understand some songs. Is this a stylistic thing with new musicals? I don’t know, but I just want to be able to hear the words.

So, overall: yeah, I liked it. I can understand why Hadestown won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Musical – it feels special, the music is really good, and it’s “artsy.” I’m not sure if I would’ve voted for it over Beetlejuice (very hot take), but I get it. I would recommend the touring production – it’s high quality, it looks expensive, the cast is strong, and the show itself is pretty good.

Hadestown is playing in Toronto at the Royal Alexandra Theatre until August 20, 2023. You can buy Toronto tickets here, or try your luck at $59 rush tickets here (not a bad option if you plan on going alone, but difficult to get good pairs of tickets). For the full tour schedule, click here.

Featured image: Mirvish.com