Hadestown takes a couple of ancient mythological tales from over 2,000 years ago and creates a wholly original piece of musical theatre. It’s easy to see why it took home eight Tony Awards in 2019 including Best New Musical. It’s one of those shows that feels like it’s doing something new and that’s always exciting. The songs are a mixture of blues and folk with hints of industrial opera and musical theatre as channelled through the early 20th century. It sounds completely unique without sounding alien. The music, lyrics, and book are all by Anais Mitchell who has found a sound that perfectly matches the story and design of the production. If you didn’t catch Hadestown when it came through in 2022, I hope you have tickets already, if not get them while there are still a few left. It’s a stunner of a show with a lived in look that dazzles with the change of a lighting cue.

Hadestown is a story that is told by Hermes, a story he has told before and a story he will tell again. It starts with Orpheus, a poor boy, but he has a gift to give. A song that will make you see the world as it could be, rather than as it is. It’s about a girl, Eurydice, who comes to town and has nothing but falls in love with the boy. It’s also about the God Hades and his wife Persephone, who spends half her time in Hadestown and half in the upper world where she came from. Hades rules the underworld represented as an industrial factory where they build “the wall”. After Hades and Persephone have a fight, he heads to the above world and finds Eurydice, who is cold and hungry, and asks her to come to Hadestown where she will be warm and fed. Egged on by the Fates, she falls for it and gets a ticket on the train to hell. When Orpheus learns that Eurydice has gone to Hadestown, he goes there to find her to bring her home. But Hades is not in the habit of letting people go once they have signed a contract with him.

The roles of Orpheus and Eurydice were performed by Bryan Munar and Megan Colton and unfortunately they are not evenly matched. Colton is fantastic as Eurydice soulful and compelling in songs like “All I’ve Ever Known“. The role of Orpheus I noted in my previous review requires someone with the range of Frankie Valli, unfortunately Munar doesn’t quite have the range, when he goes to the upper registers there’s no power behind it. Munar’s vocals are impressive when it gets down into his comfort zone, but his acting is flat and even his body movements seem devoid of any emotion or tension. In the role of our narrator Hermes is Jaylon C. Crump who has style and sass and everything you want in the role, he was a crowd favorite. Nickolaus Colon and Namisa Mdlalose Bizana play Hades and Persephone, Colon’s deep rich voice is thrilling as the King of the Underworld. Bizana seemed a little flat in the first Act but after intermission she turned the tables and the dance she and Colon do to Orpheus’ song is enchanting. Several big moments to shine, both are top notch vocalists. Scenic Design by Rachel Nauck, Costume Design by Michael Krass and Lighting Design by Bradley King all play crucial roles. The production itself is really well done with all the departments clicking to create a unified whole.

I was talking with M’Colleague Jill, from Cherry and Spoon (if you don’t follow her for her reviews you should http://www.cherryandspoon.com/) and we were commenting on how it feels like everything we see lately seems to reflect the world we find ourselves in no matter when it was written. Hadestown began its theatrical life back in 2006 but check out these lyrics from the song “Why We Build the Wall” sung by Hades the greek, equivalent you might say of Satan.

Because we have and they have not
Because they want what we have got
The enemy is poverty
And the wall keeps out the enemy
And we build the wall to keep us free
That’s why we build the wall
We build the wall to keep us free

“Why We Build the Wall” by Anaïs Mitchell

It’s hard not to view Hades as a certain political figure with his wall meant to distract preying on the unfortunate using fear to get them to act against their own best interests. Hadestown runs through February 16th at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis for more information and to purchase any remaining tickets go to. https://hennepinarts.org/events/hadestown-2025

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