Hadestown – A Love Story That Will Take You To Hell

Hadestown is the modern retelling of the ancient Greek myth of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and their journey into the descent to Hell. In its most simplistic form, it is the story of Eurydice, a young girl looking for something to eat, who goes to work in a hellish industrial version of the Greek underworld to escape poverty and the cold, and her poor singer-songwriter lover Orpheus comes to attempt to rescue her. 

Hadestown is one of the most moving, exciting productions to hit the Proctors stage in a long time. That comment came from someone who, truth be told, had somewhere between little and no interest in seeing the show at any time. The National Tour is moving, heart-wrenching, and so bursting with talent from the production values to the cast members, it will keep you riveted in your seat. At times, during the production, the silence of the audience was more deafening than the standing ovation at the show’s end. 

Anaïs Mitchell has written a book that can be heady to plow through, but pay attention, get accustomed to the names, and follow along; you will get into the flow of the piece. Mitchell is a triple threat here as she has also penned the music and lyrics, which are beautiful and captivating and will reach out and grab you. The music is reminiscent of the golden age of jazz and a blend of folk music. The message throughout is established in the show’s opening, “it’s a sad song,” “it’s a sad tale”… the audience, if they are paying attention, should realize this might just not be another happy musical.

The set created by Rachel Hauck is a stunning reimagining of a New Orleans street. A combination of a single set piece, a rotating turntable on the stage, and a backdrop wall that opens and closes like a two-piece garage door that is ready to engulf and swallow the characters is brilliant. The balcony from which, throughout the first act, Hades lords over his world, a somewhat ironic touch that the god of the underworld rules from above his minions.

Bradley King‘s lighting design becomes a character unto itself. The lighting effects, while all basic in nature, with no CGI needed here, transform the audience and the players into the depths of Hell.  Michael Krass‘ costume design and Jennifer Mullins’s hair design are subtly understated and work perfectly with the characters. Hades black pin stripped suit threaded with silver, Hermes’s custom suit with small, almost imperceptible wings on his cuffs and Persephone’s bright sunshine yellow outfit for the six months of the year she spends among the people of the world before returning to the bowels of Hell and her costume becomes layers of rich, lush black fabric all combine to create a magnificent visual.

Musical Director Eric Kang conducts his small, 7-piece orchestra on the stage, and they become a part of the story. Kang has deftly conducted instruments against vocals, sometimes creating a cacophony of sound and others creating a lyric poem played out before us. The chorus (today’s version of the Greek chorus) and the Muses bring them along through the plot line as needed brilliantly.

The cast is as well thought out as the production. Hannah Whitley, as Eurydice, the girl at the end of her rope, has a voice that, while almost goes “thready” at times, is able to transform from languid to rich, full, and pleading. Chibueze Ihuoma is Orpheus, the son of the Muse of epic poetry, who charms all living things. Ihuoma does his character justice, his tenor voice, almost at times sounding like a castrato, is engulfing and captivating. His tonal purity and range of his voice are worth the price of admission. Matthew Patrick Quinn is Hades; visually, he is exactly as one might think of the lord of evil. His commanding presence is a combination of the snake-like swarm, GQ style, and a low bass voice whose timber could fall a tree is the complete opposite of Ihouma’s. What a wonderful juxtaposition the two sounds create of good and evil. 

Bret West is Persephone, the torch song singer who, in her own way, brings both light and darkness into the underworld. She moves and sings like the best of Bessie Smith and the jazz singers of the 30s.  Rounding out the cast of main characters is Nathan Lee Graham as Hermes, our tour guide through the story. Graham has taken the best of his Broadway Tony-winning predecessor Andre De Shields and given his Hermes a new life and more humanity.  

This writer has become a believer. Hadestown presents a love story that withstands the test of time. It leaves you with a sense of what is and what might have been. The final message is most simple, trust in yourself, believe in your mind, and have faith in your heart.

Hadestown at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady through March 5. For more information: www.proctors.org or call the box office for tickets at 518-346-6204.