“It’s an old tale from way back when,
And we’re gonna sing it again and again.”
I’ve heard it said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. But in the world of Hadestown, when you live near the train tracks to Hell, naivety seems to set up shop there as well. Set in a world of Gods and a world of Men, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice takes centerstage in this soulful, beautiful take on the “world we dream about, and the one we live in now.”
As you sit there in the audience, enthralled in your own separate existence, you are unprepared for the world you are about to be thrust into. And there is no easy transition. No announcement to silence your phones, nor orchestral intro. One moment, you may be reading your program or making idle chit-chat with your seatmate, and then suddenly you are in that cafe on the train tracks on the road to Hell.
Well, alright.
Before you can make sense of the transition of what was before to what there is now, you are cast into this world of fate, and destiny, and mythos. A world with Mr. Hermes (played by Nathan Lee Graham) as your guide as you gaze upon the eternal balance of beginnings and ends; joy and sorrow; jealousy and trust; life and death; love and doubt.
With Music, Lyrics, and Book by Anaïs Mitchell and Direction and Development by Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown playing at the National Theatre now through June 18th will pierce your heart and show you why this fresh take on a myth over 2,500 years old is deserving of eight Tonys!
From the very first millisecond of this performance, you will be ushered into an existence of style, grace, and soulful music that will pierce your mortal soul. Led by the God of travelers himself, Mr. Hermes (Graham), and welcomed by the notes of the lively band onstage, you are greeted with the sight of a bland yet magnificent set designed by Rachel Hauck and lighted by Bradley King. Tinged with an essence reminiscent of a jazz cafe one might find in old-towne Louisiana, the deceptively simple but elegant set on stage breathes the very ethos of a Southern Americana mining-town settled on the railway path to the Underworld. While the set lays the foundations for the backdrop of our story, pairing it with the dynamic and subtle beauty of the lighting (both stark and nuanced) merely adds the layers upon layers upon layers of the story as it unfolds. For instance, though the set is mostly stationary (mostly!), the impact of the lighting choices complimenting the coldness of winter (in blue) or the coming of Persephone’s (Maria-Christina Oliveras) Summer arrival (in green) creates a liveliness that is in no way distracting from the story on stage, but only seeks to heighten the nuanced aura of the characters as they live and breathe through their performance. In its more dramatic moments, when the walls expand to encompass the journey to the Underworld, your soul will quake as you descend into the down-below, and when the lamps dance you will feel a desire to bob and weave through the perils of the journey down.
While it is unfortunate there are a few moments where lights are used to blind the audience briefly, their artistic placements are well intended to stress the use of power and grandeur. Alternatively, the lack of light to represent the dark descent (and later ascent) is haunting and allows for some beautiful opportunities for the Fates to cast a powerfully expressive burst of doubt in our protagonist’s mind through masterful movement and spacing.
Taking literal center-stage, a motorized turn-table is utilized to heighten movement and dynamic spacing as it occasionally transports our characters onstage in a horizontal circle. Sometimes representing a cycle only they can break, sometimes emphasizing the futility of their stagnant movement forward, this turntable is used well to add to the impact of whatever the choreography or movement on stage seeks to depict.
And the choreography and movement of the characters always seeks to make an impact! With choreography by David Neumann, the performers on stage ebb and flow masterfully like water flowing through a babbling brook. Able to transcend between the stark and hard movements of the earthly Underworld or light and breeziness of the world above, the dance and movement of this performance will at times encompass all earthly elements to create a lovely balance of strength and loss along with transcendence (or literal descendance) of the characters emotions.
As for the overall themes and execution of the story itself; Mitchell’s Hadestown is created to manufacture the very essence of music personified. But then again, being centered around the myth of a legendary musician said to bend the laws of existence to his will, it is no surprise that the execution of this story would be poetically lyrical and melodic from beginning to end. It is merely an added bonus that the ensemble of this production, from band, to chorus, to principals, are so in-sync with each other so as to pull this tale from the very depths of the Underworld and boost it to the heights of the Heavens (or at least to the Fields of Elysium)!
Initiated by Nathan Lee Graham’s Mr. Hermes, Graham invokes an ardor of style and finesse that captivates and guides the audience through the story unfolding onstage. At times, stepping in as an advisor to the characters, Mr. Hermes largely serves as a narrator to the action as it unfolds. Acting simultaneously as an observer and as an influencing godly force in this tale of Gods and Men, Graham resides in an in-between existence where he simultaneously recounts the actions as they occur as well as lives them. Graham is able to masterfully play the balance as observer and guide as he presents and disappears in plain view throughout the performance.
Ultimately, the story does center around the tale of the tragic lovers of Orpheus (played by J. Antonio Rodriguez) and Eurydice (Hannah Whitley). Well balanced with each other, Rodriguez’s innocence balances beautifully with Whitley’s pragmatic pessimistic view of the world (and then later vice versa); and when they sing, the heavens shine upon their pairing. Rodriguez’s range of a higher falsetto to countertenor evokes a classic sense of male innocence and naivety that echoes what contemporary listeners would think of as “angelic”. Serving as a balance to his “rose colored” view of the world, Whitley’s pragmatic and often pessimistic tone grounds her lover’s lofty world view and brings him down to earth (and then down some more). Strong in the First Act, but really shining through the dark in the Second, Whitley’s emotional depth is able to break the listener’s heart with her rendition of “Flowers.” Though their story is foreshadowed with their tragedy from the very early lines of the first song, the strength of their bond and hope for their shared future encourages the viewer to cast out any sense of inevitability so that when that fateful moment comes, it hits hard and it hits ruthlessly.
Secondary, but no less strong, is the simultaneous love story of Hades (Matthew Patrick Quinn) and Persephone (Maria-Christina Oliveras). The very definition of everything low, Quinn’s Hades is played with a bass so low your chest will vibrate. Oozing charm and danger, his performance of the King of the Underworld is captivating and controlling every time he takes the stage. Well, that is he is able to captivate and control everyone except his wife and lover, Persephone (Oliveras). Where Quinn is imposing and authoritative in the very best of ways, Oliveras is able to counter with the intensity of a summer breeze cooling a hot flame. Clearly the life of the party, when she’s given the freedom to “Livin’ It Up On Top”, Oliveras pairs well with Quinn’s overbearing personality, and both are able to elicit the sorrowful pang of love and pain that comes from a relationship far past its honeymoon phase.
Complimentary to all the action that unfolds are the three Fates played by Dominique Kempf, Belén Moyano, and Nyla Watson. Both menacing and light, these three blow in like the wind itself in every instance they take the stage. Harmonious as sirens, they are able to deceive the full harm of their influence by the beauty and grace they personify throughout. Ever present, they fade into the background as effortlessly as they are able to take full command of your attention when they so desire.
But this show would not astonish as much as it does without the amazing and fantabulous work of the Working Chorus and the Band itself! Composed of only five members, the Working Chorus played by Jordan Bollwerk, Shavey Brown, Courtney Lauster, Sean Watkinson, and Racquel Williams are able to fill the stage and so effortlessly complement the movement and action of the story, the production truly sings because of them! The live on-stage band (sans percussionist Eli Rojas who is backstage but does receive a deserved Act Two shout out from Persephone!), are conducted by Eric Kang with music coordination by David Lai, and feature Kely Pinheiro on Cello, Kyung LeBanc on Violin, Michiko Egger on Guitar, Emily Fredrickson on Trombone, and Calvin Jones on Double Bass.
If you have heard the soundtrack before, I have no doubt you may be humming “Wait For Me” at this very moment. But don’t wait on this one! Faster than a Spring Day in the DC area, Hadestown will be gone before you know it! I guess if you have so much confidence in your musical abilities, you could try to make the journey to the Underworld yourself to bring this show back with you, but why go through the risk of angering the King of the Underworld when you can more easily venture to the National Theatre instead!
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission
Hadestown plays through June 18th 2023 at The National Theatre— 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, DC. For tickets call the box office at 202-628-6161 or purchase them online.
