Hadestown, aka Orpheus and Eurydice, the Opera

The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice inspires great operas. There's Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (or Orphée et Eurydice), Offenbach's parody operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, and now to that list we have to add Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown. Because make no mistake -- Hadestown might be playing at the Walter Kerr theater and be advertised as a musical, but it is an opera from curtain to curtain. Its appeal lies not in the usual musical theater tropes but in its operatic scope and scale. This is a work that goes from the heart to the heart.

Noblezada, de Shields, Carney, photo @ Matthew Murphy

Rachel Chavkin (director of the equally operatic, large-scale Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812) has taken Anaïs Mitchell's 2010 concept album and turned it into a folk opera. We start in what looks like a New Orleans jazz club, complete with a seven piece orchestral ensemble. Rachel Hauck's scenic design relies heavily on a turntable at the center of the stage as well as a trap door to transition between "up top" and the underworld. When the curtain rises we are "up top" and Hermes (a smooth, dapper André de Shields) introduces us to the main characters in the rousing opening number "Road to Hell."

Of course we meet the main protagonists: Orpheus (described as a "poor boy" by Hermes, and in this version of the story so guileless as to be almost a simpleton) and Eurydice (in this version  a spunky runaway). It's an example of the operatic nature of the work that Orpheus is played by Reeve Carney, a high tenor with a celestial, almost disembodied voice, and Eurydice by Eva Noblezada, whose is a prototypical lyric soprano. They fall in love, get married, but their love is tested by a famine caused by Hades summoning his wife Persephone for her six month stay in the underworld.

Match made in Hades: Page and Grey, photo @ Matthew Murphy

It's when Hades and Persephone shows up that the story gets a jolt of electricity. Amber Gray as Persephone doesn't just sizzle as Persephone, she blazes. Her gravely contralto tears through "Livin' It Up On Top." Patrick Page with his thundering majestic bass is terrifying as Hades. In this reimagining Hades is a backbreaking robber baron, forcing the inhabitants of Hades to work round the clock "building that wall" and other industrial projects. Mitchell's book does not force the political analogies, although with the political climate being what it is today "Why We Build The Wall" has a very different implication than when it was composed in 2010. This being a Greek myth there are of course the Three Fates (Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Kay Trinidad).

This video gives you only an idea of how charismatic Grey is:

Underworld is filled with overworked laborers, photo @ Sara Krulwich

The reason I call this work "operatic" is because as Hermes says, we all know how this story will end.  "It's a sad tale, it's a tragedy," he reminds us periodically. So why tell it? Because the story is really an excuse for the characters to sing a bunch of beautiful, vivid arias. Mitchell's score is one of the most unique I've encountered in musical theater in years, and the work is almost entirely sung-through. There's Orpheus's anthem "Wait For Me," the gorgeous duet between Orpheus and Eurydice, "All I've Ever Known." The underworld characters also get their big arias: Hades' "Hey Little Songbird" is delightfully creepy, and Persephone opens the second act with the rousing "Our Lady of the Underworld."

Here's the lovely duet between Orpheus and Eurydice:



In fact, if there's one weakness of Hadestown it's that in act two many of the songs do not advance the story, and despite the constant turntable set and the chilling way a descent into the underworld is portrayed (a sudden drop into the trap door), the drama turns static while the characters keep on singing one beautiful song after another. At some point in the second act Hadestown predictably turns into a tale about the power of music, as it's Orpheus's enchanting voice and song that persuades Persephone to urge Hades to let the lovers go. For better and for worse, Mitchell has written an opera, and that includes a lot of standing and singing. This is not a musical that will be known for its witty dialogue.

Yet at the end of the afternoon there were sobs all around. That's the power of telling a timeless myth through music that touches the heart. The five main characters are all giving epic performances. They all embody their roles to such an extent that at the end of the show they gave rather solemn bows, without any of the usual bouncy Broadway curtain call walk. They then sang an encore "I Raise My Cup to Him."

If you love opera, go to Hadestown. UPDATE: Hadestown has just been nominated for 14 Tony Awards. I think it should definitely win Best Musical, Direction, Score, and Featured Actress for Amber Gray. Patrick Page and André de Shields ... hard to decide who deserves Featured Actor more.