I first saw Anais Mitchell's Hadestown in 2016, when it was playing Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop. It was such a wonderful show, I saw it again at the National Theatre in London when I was in England visiting my sister.
That production got a bit lost in the cavernous space of the Olivier, a theatre that Iain Mackintosh has named one of the worst theatre spaces designed during the 20th century. When the show opened on Broadway, I did not run out to see it a third time.
However, this year singer/songwriter legend Ani DiFranco joined the cast as Persephone. She sang that role in the show's original concept album, so this casting made sense, and as someone who went to a liberal arts college in the 1990s, I was contractually obligated to see Ani DiFranco on Broadway.
Last night, I finally got a chance to do just that, and DiFranco did not disappoint. Amber Gray originated the role of Persephone on stage, later appearing on Broadway in such musicals as Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 and Here We Are. DiFranco might not be as experienced of an actor as Gray, but she exerts an aura that made Persephone a joy to behold.
Each actor I have seen in the role of Hermes has been completely different, but Jon Jon Briones, who is currently Hermes on Broadway, made the role work for him in a manner that was unique. It probably helped that his real-life daughter Isa Briones is in the show as Eurydice. The tender moments between the god and the mortal became even more tender when audience members recalled that the two performers are actually related.
While I didn't see Jordan Fisher as Orpheus, I had no complaints with his understudy, Brandon Cameron, a swing who made his Broadway debut with this show. Previous performers I'd seen in the role either had amazing voices or were strong actors, but Cameron's singing and acting were both superb. The same could be said for Max Kumangai, who played Hades, though in a manner quite different from Patrick Page, who made the part famous.
If you've never seen Hadestown before, now is a great time to go.
