Hadestown


Hadestown is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Anaïs Mitchell. It tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice, a starving young girl, 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 rescue her.
The original sung-through version of the musical was performed in Barre and Vergennes, Vermont, in 2006, followed by a tour in Vermont and Massachusetts in 2007. Mitchell, unsure about the future of the musical, turned it into a concept album, released in 2010.
In 2012, Mitchell met director Rachel Chavkin, and the two reworked the stage version, with additional songs and dialogue. The new version of the musical, directed by Chavkin, premiered off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop on May 6, 2016, and ran through July 31. Following productions in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and London, England, the show premiered on Broadway in 2019. The Broadway production received critical acclaim, and at the 73rd Tony Awards it received 14 nominations and won eight, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

Synopsis

Act I

The Greek god Hermes welcomes the audience to the show, introducing the story, characters, ensemble, and band. This is followed by Eurydice and the Fates describing the harsh weather and famine of the setting. Orpheus, Hermes' ward, introduces himself to Eurydice and asks her to marry him. Eurydice is doubtful as they both live in poverty. Orpheus tells her that he is writing a song to make spring come again, and they will no longer have to struggle.
Prompted by Hermes, Orpheus tells the story of Hades and Persephone. Persephone arrives in the world above and celebrates summertime, while Eurydice begins to truly fall in love with Orpheus. Hades comes early to collect Persephone, and she voices her misery of having to return to Hadestown, Hades' underground factory. Despite hearing about the never-ending labor endured by the factory workers, Eurydice is intrigued by the rich praises sung by the Fates as well as the promise of protection that Hadestown offers. The cold weather returns and Eurydice searches for food and firewood, urging Orpheus to finish his song. Orpheus continues working on his song, as Eurydice becomes more desperate as times grow harder.
After Persephone and Hades argue, Hades leaves Hadestown to find someone who will appreciate its safety and security. He comes across a desperate Eurydice and invites her to come to Hadestown and the Fates urge Eurydice to join him. With the cold surging and an empty stomach, Eurydice sees no other choice except following Hades. She bids goodbye to Orpheus before heading to Hadestown as the Fates chastise the audience for judging her for choosing self-interest over love. Orpheus discovers Eurydice's disappearance, and decides to rescue her from Hadestown. He sets off on his journey using Hermes' instructions on how to get to Hadestown without the use of the train. Eurydice arrives in Hadestown and signs the contract, officially becoming a worker as Hades revels in his power and dominion over the denizens of his city.

Act II

In an entr'acte, Persephone sings to the patrons of a speakeasy that she runs behind Hades's back. Eurydice begins to realize the consequences of her choice to go to Hadestown: she will soon become a forgotten laborer and can never leave unless Hades consents to let her go. She forgets her memories of the world above.
Orpheus arrives in Hadestown and promises Eurydice that he will take her home with him. Hades appears and reveals to him that Eurydice willingly signed the contract and orders the workers to attack Orpheus. The Fates tell him to give up hope. Orpheus vows to find a way to free Eurydice, rallying the workers and catching Persephone's attention in the process.
Persephone is inspired by Orpheus's determination and pleads with Hades to let Eurydice go. While the workers begin to truly question the freedom they were promised, Hades bitterly offers Orpheus a chance to sing his completed song, threatening to kill him afterwards. Orpheus sings his song, reminding Hades of his love for Persephone. Hades and Persephone reconcile with a dance, after which Orpheus and Eurydice promise to stay together no matter how hard. Orpheus asks Hades if they may leave, and Hades tells him that he has not reached a decision. The Fates taunt Hades for his dilemma: If he kills Orpheus and keeps Eurydice captive, they become martyrs, but if he lets them go, he loses control over his workers as they have begun to agitate for their freedom. Hades decides to let Orpheus and Eurydice go on one condition: Orpheus must lead them out. If he turns around to confirm that Eurydice is following him, she will return to Hadestown and remain there forever.
Hermes explains the condition to Orpheus and Eurydice, and they begin heading out with the workers looking to them for hope. Persephone and Hades decide to give their relationship another chance. Just as Orpheus makes it up to the end, he is overcome by doubt and turns around, condemning Eurydice to return to Hadestown. Hermes reflects on the somber tale and why it must be told, as the story resets to the beginning and the company begins to tell it again. After the bows at curtain call, the cast honors Orpheus for his optimism and bravery.

Musical numbers

Source:
; Act I
  • "Road to Hell" – Hermes, Company
  • "Any Way the Wind Blows" – Eurydice, The Fates
  • "Come Home With Me" – Orpheus, Eurydice, Hermes, Workers
  • "Wedding Song" – Orpheus, Eurydice, Workers
  • "Epic I" – Orpheus, Hermes
  • "Livin' it Up on Top" – Persephone, Hermes, Orpheus, Company
  • "All I've Ever Known" – Eurydice, Orpheus
  • "Way Down Hadestown" – Company
  • "A Gathering Storm" – Hermes, Orpheus, Eurydice, The Fates
  • "Epic II" – Orpheus
  • "Chant" – Company
  • "Hey, Little Songbird" – Hades, Eurydice
  • "When the Chips Are Down" – The Fates, Eurydice
  • "Gone, I'm Gone" – Eurydice, The Fates
  • "Wait for Me" – Hermes, Orpheus, The Fates, Workers
  • "Why We Build the Wall" – Hades, Company
; Act II
  • "Our Lady of the Underground" – Persephone
  • "Way Down Hadestown " – Hermes, The Fates, Eurydice, Workers
  • "Flowers" – Eurydice
  • "Come Home With Me " – Orpheus, Eurydice
  • "Papers" – Hades, Company
  • "Nothing Changes" – The Fates
  • "If It's True" – Orpheus, Hermes, Workers
  • "How Long?" – Persephone, Hades
  • "Chant " – Company
  • "Epic III" – Orpheus, Company
  • "Promises" – Eurydice, Orpheus
  • "Word to the Wise" – The Fates
  • "His Kiss, the Riot" – Hades
  • "Wait for Me " – Hermes, Company
  • "Doubt Comes In" – Orpheus, Eurydice, The Fates, Workers
  • "Road to Hell " – Hermes, Company
  • "We Raise our Cups" – Persephone, Eurydice, Company

Productions

Early versions (2006–2012)

An early version of Hadestown was performed in the cities of Barre and Vergennes, Vermont, in 2006, before going on a seven-day, ten-city tour in Mitchell's home state of Vermont and Massachusetts in 2007. The creative team included director/designer Ben T. Matchstick and orchestrator/arranger Michael Chorney, with a cast drawn from artists in Vermont, including Mitchell as Eurydice and Matchstick as Hermes. Unsure of the future of the stage version, Mitchell released a concept album in 2010.
In November 2012, a reading at Barnard College was directed by Matchstick and starred Damon Daunno as Orpheus, Allison Case as Eurydice, André De Shields as Hermes, Harriett D Foy as Persephone, and Paul Kandel as Hades. The Fates included Krystal Joy Brown, with a men's chorus that included Javier Muñoz. On August 16, 2014, as part of New York Theatre Workshop's Dartmouth College residency, the work-in-progress was staged at the Hopkins Center for the Arts' Bentley Theater, following a two-week developmental workshop. Directed by Rachel Chavkin, the cast included Daunno as Orpheus, Amber Gray as Persephone, and Shaina Taub as a Fate.
In October 2015, NYTW gave another performance with Daunno as Orpheus, Nabiyah Be as Eurydice, Taub as the Fates, and Gray as Persephone. Two more workshops were held prior to rehearsals beginning in April 2016 at the NYTW. The last of these introduced orchestrations by Michael Chorney, and Chris Sullivan joined the cast as Hermes.

Off-Broadway (2016)

After watching a production of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 directed by Rachel Chavkin in 2012, Mitchell and Chavkin discussed gaps in the concept album's storyline and began to expand the stage version of the musical. Mitchell wrote an additional 15 songs and added dialogue to clarify the plot and deepen characterization. Todd Sickafoose contributed additional/co-arrangements and orchestrations to Chorney's. Hadestown premiered at New York Theatre Workshop, running from May 3, 2016, through July 31. The production starred Daunno as Orpheus, Be as Eurydice, Gray as Persephone, Patrick Page as Hades, Sullivan as Hermes, and Lulu Fall, Jessie Shelton, and Taub as the Fates. On October 14, 2016, an EP was released featuring four songs from the musical, recorded live on June 28 and 29, 2016. A full live album was released on October 6, 2017. The production was featured in the documentary series Working in the Theatre produced by the American Theatre Wing.
The show received a developmental workshop presented by NYTW on March 24, 2017, with Reeve Carney as Orpheus, Gizel Jiménez as Eurydice, Page as Hades, Gray as Persephone, De Shields as Hermes, as well as Yvette González-Nacer and Crystal Lucas-Perry.

Canada (2017)

Hadestown was presented as a pre-Broadway tryout as part of the 2017/2018 season at Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Chavkin again directed, with performances from November 11 to December 3, 2017, with Gray and Page reprising their roles from NYTW. The production was presented in collaboration with Mara Isaacs and Dale Franzen, who produced the off-Broadway run. The production also starred Carney as Orpheus, T.V. Carpio as Eurydice, and Kingsley Leggs as Hermes.

London (2018)

Hadestown was next performed in the Olivier Theatre of the National Theatre in London, running from November 2018 to January 2019. Designers included Rachel Hauck, Michael Krass, Bradley King, and Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz. David Neumann choreographed. Page, Gray, and Carney reprised their previous roles, joined by Eva Noblezada, De Shields, Carly Mercedes Dyer, Rosie Fletcher, and Gloria Onitiri.

Broadway (2019–present)

Hadestown opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre, with previews beginning on March 22, 2019, and an official opening on April 17, 2019. Page, Gray, De Shields, Carney, and Noblezada reprised their roles, joined by Jewelle Blackman, González-Nacer and Kay Trinidad. The Broadway production was produced by Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold and Tom Kirdahy. Designs were again by Hauck, Krass, King, Steinberg and Paz, and Neumann again choreographed. On March 12, 2020, performances were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The musical resumed performances on September 2, 2021. Hadestown is the longest-running show at the Walter Kerr Theatre and, as of 2025, the production has run for more than 2,000 performances.

North American national tour (2021–2024)

A national tour was planned for 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour was postponed to 2021. It launched at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where it ran for three weeks starting October 15, 2021. Prior to the launch, the production had a tryout at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina, from October 5 to 10, 2021. The tour starred Nicholas Barasch as Orpheus, Morgan Siobhan Green as Eurydice, Kevyn Morrow as Hades, Kimberly Marable as Persephone, Levi Kreis as Hermes, and Belén Moyano, Bex Odorisio, and Shea Renne as the Fates. The tour closed on May 26, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, after more than 980 performances in 85 cities across the U.S. and Canada.

North American national tour (2024–present)

A non-Equity national tour began on October 3, 2024 at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, Connecticut. It is directed by Keenan Tyler Oliphant and choreographed by T. Oliver Reid. The cast originally starred Nickolaus Colón as Hades, Megan Colton as Eurydice, Jaylon C. Crump as Hermes, Namisa Mdlalose Bizana as Persephone and Bryan Munar as Orpheus. Performances are scheduled to end at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas, in June 2026.

South Korea

A South Korean production of Hadestown ran from August 2021 to February 2022, at the LG Arts Center in Seoul. This Korean-language production starred Zo Hyung-gyun, Kang-hyun Park, and Xiumin rotating as Orpheus, and Kim Hwan-hee and Kim Soo-ha rotating as Eurydice. The production won Best Musical at the Korea Musical Awards. The musical returned to South Korea from July 12, 2024 and was expected to play until October 6 at the Charlotte Theater in Seoul. Hyung-gyun and Park reprised the role of Orpheus, with Kim Min-seok. Hwan-hee and Soo-ha reprised their roles as Eurydice.

West End (2024–present)

Hadestown began previews on February 10, 2024, in the West End with an official opening on February 21, at the Lyric Theatre, London. The cast includes Dónal Finn as Orpheus, Grace Hodgett Young as Eurydice, Zachary James as Hades, Melanie La Barrie as Hermes, and Gloria Onitiri as Persephone. The production is scheduled to run to at least December 2026. A live cast recording was released on December 6, 2024.
Five of the original London and Broadway cast members, Carney, Noblezada, Page, Gray and De Shields, were set to reprise their roles in the West End production for five weeks in February and March 2025. Tickets sold out for this cast's return in "a matter of hours". After Page was injured during rehearsals, however, Phillip Boykin stepped into the role, joining the other four. Page returned only for the filming of the production with this cast on February 28 and March 1, 2025. Cast replacements beginning in March 2026 are set to include Rachel Adedeji as Persephone, Bethany Antonia as Eurydice and Clive Rowe as Hermes.

Australia (2025)

A production opened in Sydney, Australia, at the Theatre Royal, on February 10, 2025, co-produced by Opera Australia.
The cast included Christine Anu as Hermes, Noah Mullins as Orpheus, Abigail Adriano as Eurydice, Adrian Tamburini as Hades and Elenoa Rokobaro as Persephone. The production closed in Sydney on April 26, opened at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, on May 8 and closed on July 13.

Netherlands (2025)

A staging opened in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at the Royal Theater Carré on June 20, 2025. The cast includes Claudia de Breij and Maarten Heijmans as Hermes, Jeangu Macrooy as Orpheus, Sara Afiba as Eurydice, Edwin Jonker as Hades, and Joy Wielkens as Persephone. The production closed on September 6, 2025.

Casts

Original casts of original production and major-market revivals of ''Hadestown''

Notable replacements

;Broadway
;North American Tour
;West End

Recordings

Mitchell's 2007 album The Brightness contains the song "Hades & Persephone", which was renamed "How Long?" for the musical. Mitchell released a concept album, based on the musical, on March 9, 2010, through Righteous Babe Records. A live cast recording of the off-Broadway production was released on October 6, 2017, through Parlophone Records. A four-track EP entitled Why We Build the Wall was released for digital retailers on October 13, 2016, to promotion the album.
A Broadway cast recording was released digitally on July 26, 2019, through Sing It Again Records. The two-CD recording was available at a later date. A holiday album recorded by Blackman, Gonzalez-Nacer and Trinidad titled If the Fates Allow, was released on November 20, 2020, and features guest contributions from the other original cast members.
A live recording of selections from the West End production was released on December 6, 2024 on streaming, CD and vinyl.

Themes

Writer Anaïs Mitchell said she was inspired by Les Misérables to write a musical that was about the power of both romance and politics: "It's a love story, but politics really is romantic."
Director Rachel Chavkin said addressing climate change had always been central to the show: "As we thought more and more about shaping the world that Eurydice and Orpheus are living in — a world caused, in Greek mythological terms, by the decay of the ancient marriage between Hades and Persephone, a world that is out of balance, where it is either freezing or blazing hot, where food becomes scarcer and the idea of stability becomes harder to imagine, and a character, Eurydice, who has spent her life running – all of those things kind of crystallized while we were making the show." The show did a joint promotion with Natural Resources Defense Council to raise awareness and bring a greater sense of urgency to the push for action on the issue of climate change.
US cultural commentator Bridget Read highlights the economic themes: "Orpheus and Eurydice's tragedy becomes, in the hands of Mitchell, an argument for collective bargaining...I don't think its untoward of me to hear the class politics in a musical in which the characters sing the word poverty more times than I've ever heard it before in the vicinity of Times Square." In China, The Paper has published a review of Hadestown, "The Realm Underneath: Hadestown and Utopia" by historian Hansong Li, who frames the musical as a work of not only musical ingenuity but also social critique.
Todd Osborne comments on the self-conscious significance of the medium of song within the work: "It is a musical both about how art can save us and how, especially in an apocalyptic world, hope might be the only thing we have left."

Reception

The New York Times described the Off-Broadway production as "inventive" and "gorgeously sung", praising its simplicity and intimacy. The Hollywood Reporter described the added dialogue as "wince-inducing" but favored its high energy and immersive staging. Several reviews drew parallels between the song "Why We Build the Wall" and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, though the song predates the campaign by about a decade.
The production opened on Broadway on April 17, 2019, to critical acclaim, with praise for its direction and the performances. The New York Times called it "gorgeous" and "hypnotic", especially noting its improvement from the New York Theatre Workshop version. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter calls it "utterly fabulous", in particular praising the performances of Gray and Page.
Japanese producer Madoka Imura and theatre journalist Yusei Kageyama praised the musical for its novelty and creativity, in contrast to a recent trend in Broadway to "avoid risks" by adapting films and recasting classics.