Hadestown: A cool night in hell
'Hadestown' runs through May 12 at Belk Theater
This review by longtime Charlotte arts critic Lawrence Toppman was published by The Charlotte Ledger on May 8, 2024. You can find out more about The Charlotte Ledger’s commitment to smart local news and information and sign up for our newsletter for free here. And check out this link for Toppman’s archive of reviews in the Ledger.
Review: In ‘Hadestown,’ two Greek myths meld in the underworld yet the focus is on love
Will Mann (center) plays Hermes the narrator in “Hadestown” at the Belk Theater through Sunday. (Photo courtesy of Blumenthal Arts)
by Lawrence Toppman
I’ve been reminded many times that every night of a show is the first night for someone in the audience. Sure enough: When what happens at the end of “Hadestown” did happen Tuesday at Belk Theater, someone in the orchestra seats let out a long, low, “Noooooo.” Even those of us who know this Greek myth well were right there with her.
I should say “myths.” The 2019 Tony-winning musical, back again on its national tour, intertwines the story of Orpheus and Eurydice with the legend of Persephone and Hades.
In the first, a singer whose beautiful voice can move stones goes alive into hell to rescue his beloved Eurydice from the Land of Shades — assuming they can pass a test set by Hades, lord of the underworld. In the second, Hades falls in love with Persephone, abducts her and marries her, allowing her to return to the world above for six months of the year to make it fertile again.
Singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, who did the book, lyrics and music, worked on this project a long time. It debuted as a “folk opera” in 2006-07 with regional productions in New England, then became a concept album in 2010. She teamed with director Rachel Chavkin two years later, and versions went to Canada, London and off-Broadway before winning eight Tonys.
Along the way, it became socially conscious. We hear references to oceans rising and swamping us, the need to build a wall (in the name of “freedom”) to keep out those who want to “take what we have” — and the mindlessness of people who slavishly follow would-be dictators in hopes of prosperity. The show doesn’t identify any politicians currently indicted on multiple counts, but the implication is inescapable.
Yet the focus remains on love: the way it sweetens the dullest of lives, the way it sours when one partner exerts too much pressure, the way trust must be tested and renewed. If few of us face the potentially fatal trials of Orpheus and Eurydice, we can still identify with their dilemma.
Chavkin and Mitchell keep the show in almost constant flux. Hadestown may be the last stop of an infernal railroad before hell itself, but its denizens percolate with life. Hell, staffed by workers in voluntary thrall to King Hades, is a grinding swirl of grimy activity. Only the central couple stop to write a song, look into each other’s eyes, contemplate their fates. (Speaking of Fates, Mitchell gives us three ruthlessly persecutorial women of that name. I think she means the Furies. The Fates of Greek mythology determined destinies good and ill but didn’t hate anyone.)
The creators set the show up as a series of contrasts: ethereal tenor Orpheus (J. Antonio Rodriguez) vs. deep bass Hades (Matthew Patrick Quinn); seen-it-all Persephone (understudy Marla Louissaint, knocking ‘em dead) vs. naïve Eurydice (Amaya Braganza). Hermes, the narrator, is a contradiction in himself in the form of Will Mann: a big man with a big presence who can show surprising delicacy in tender moments. All are excellent.
The show won Tonys for scenic design, lighting design and sound design, and the innovations include a turntable that makes the five-person chorus seem larger than it is and intimidating, stage-sweeping blazes of light with which the glum King Hades tries to reproduce the world above.
Except for a hidden drummer, the rollicking seven-piece band sits on stage, which seems apt; the opening sequence could be taking place in a New Orleans dive. I have no idea whether the Broadway version featured a dancing trombonist, but my hat’s off to Emily Fredrickson.
If You’re Going: “Hadestown” runs through May 12 at Belk Theater, 100 N. Tryon St. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday.
Lawrence Toppman covered the arts for 40 years at The Charlotte Observer before retiring in 2020. Now, he’s back in the critic’s chair for the Charlotte Ledger — look for his reviews about two times each month in the Charlotte Ledger.
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