![]() Two choruses weave in and out of the action: a girl group-like trio of Fates (Dominique Kempf, Belén Moyano and Nyla Watson) and a five-person ensemble who start out as community observers and transform into downtrodden, depersonalized workers when the action moves, late in Act One, to Hades’ underworld lair. The structure is that of a song cycle, with relatively little spoken dialogue. ![]() ![]() Part of the fun of the show for theatre buffs will be spotting internal references to other musicals: with his guitar slung over his shoulder, continually distracted by the one great song he’s trying to write, Orpheus echoes Roger in “Rent,” while Graham’s sinuous, expressive Hades evokes Ben Vereen as the Leading Player in “Pippin.” The use of stand mics put me in mind of “Girl From the North Country” and helps set the action around the time of the Great Depression. Antonio Rodriguez) and waifish Eurydice (Hannah Whitley), and the fraught union of Persephone (Maria-Christina Oliveras) and Hades (Matthew Patrick Quinn). Via Hermes’ narration, we’re introduced to the two intertwined myths that make up the plot: the love story between aspiring songwriter Orpheus (J. The show immediately establishes its bluesy mood with an opening trombone solo performed by Emily Fredrickson, whose amazing musical capacities were one of the evening’s highlights. Eric Kang’s seven-person band plays onstage, sitting on risers looking down on the action. Rachel Hauck’s set was inspired by New Orleans venues including Preservation Hall and evokes both a speakeasy and a Greek amphitheatre, places where the community assembles to bear witness. An Act Two moment in which the magical appearance of a red rose affirms the power of love led to a collective gasp and sigh.ĭirector Rachel Chavkin extends her reputation here for creating intoxicatingly detailed stagings intended to draw audiences into an overall environment and mood (the musical that made Chavkin’s name on Broadway, “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” is getting a Toronto production from Crow’s Theatre and Musical Stage Company later this year). Its distancing devices worked effectively on me, perhaps to a fault: I found myself more impressed than moved, but many others seemed swept away. In the first number, a narrator named Hermes (Nathan Lee Graham) introduces the major characters and the general direction in which the story is heading: down a “Road to Hell.” It’s a show that revels in the fact that it’s putting on a show. In keeping with current Broadway trends, the show’s style is highly presentational, by which I mean it delivers its material as storytelling rather than inviting the audience into a fictional universe. Mirvish Productions is hosting the show’s North American tour at the Royal Alex for seven weeks before it moves on to several more Canadian cities including Edmonton, where it ran in 2017 as part of its more than a dozen-year development period. The show was nominated for 14 Tony Awards in 2019 and won eight, including Best Musical and Best Score. “Way down under the ground”: It’s not somewhere you expect a major-hit Broadway musical to go.īut even its title cues that “Hadestown” heads to some dark and moody places.Īnaïs Mitchell’s celebrated tuner blends ancient myths, musical influences from roots to show tunes, and bravura stagecraft into a celebration of the capacity of love to pierce briefly through the oppressive weight of capitalism. At the Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. Music, book, and lyrics by Anaïs Mitchell, developed with and directed by Rachel Chavkin, choreographed by David Neumann, music supervision and vocal arrangements by Liam Robinson.
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