Some Thoughts on "Hadestown" and the Tony Awards

I do not claim to be an oracle of who will win the Tonys but here are my ideas, culled from a lot of time spent online reading hot takes and the smaller theater award winners, discussions with my two biggest theater friends who I have been discussing theater with for over 12 years, and also brief chatting with an acquittance who is Tony-nominated adjacent (one day, she will have her own instead of just getting mentioned in speeches!).

Here are what I think the odds are of "Hadestown" winning Tonys.

Best Musical
"Hadestown" has a really good chance of winning but it is by no means guaranteed. Mostly everyone thinks it's going to come down to "Hadestown" or "Tootsie." No one is talking about "Ain't Too Proud", "Beetlejuice" doesn't seem to be a viable candidate (described by my friend as fun but nothing to write home about), and "The Prom" seems to only be really endorsed by the New York Times writers who have an unreasonable amount of power when it comes to what goes to Broadway (they are why "Hadestown" got changed so much and why "Fortress of Solitude," the best musical you've never heard of, never went to Broadway) but not necessarily the deciding vote.
The thing here is really whether the voters want to go safe and traditional with "Tootsie" or new and unique with "Hadestown." In the past few years, they have definitely tended towards the new and unique, but they also have a clear bias against sung-through musicals (see 2017 when "Come From Away" won Best Director but lost Best Musical to "Dear Evan Hansen" in spite of doing really well at the smaller awards). "Hamilton" is a recent exception to this but "Hamilton" was an exception in so many ways.
Overall "Hadestown" is the better show. Both shows have issues with their books but "Tootsie" is tighter and also less interesting. And "Hadestown" has vastly better music. Personally, I'll be surprised if "Tootsie" wins but these kinds of things have happened before.

Best Director
Basically everyone seems to say it will be Rachel Chavkin even if they don't think "Hadestown" will win best musical, and this is very interesting to me as someone who knows a bit more about the interworkings of the Oscars than the Tonys. The Oscars have done this weird and possibly bad thing a lot over the last few years where they give Best Direction to the most artistic and interesting film but Best Picture to whatever movie they enjoyed the most. Last year this was painfully obvious with Alfonso Curon winning for his direction for "Roma" but "Green Book" winning Best Picture. The Tonys don't do this as they usually give both to the same show or they give direction to a revival that will then win Best Revival. But again, 2017 this changed.
That being said "Oklahoma!" seems like the only real competitor here and if Daniel Fish wins over Rachel, I'd be okay with it. "Oklahoma!" was a revelation (and better win Best Revival over "Kiss Me Kate"). 

Best Book
Here's one where I think "Hadestown" is likely to lose. First of all, the book of "Hadestown" is messy. I love "Hadestown," it's probably my favorite musical of all time, but the book is messy. There are places that are overexplained and a lot of imbalance in how the themes are woven into the story (while still being totally brillant but yeah). There are things that should have been fixed in all the transfers, but they weren't, and it started to feel a bit like writing wack-a-mole following this show since the New York Theatre Workshop. 
Also a lot of people find "Hadestown" confusing, which is a problem, but I find this is often a problem of people not being good readers more than anything having to do with the show.
Additionally, Tony voters have no idea what the book is with a sung-through musical. Basically, they don't think there is one. Dialogue is only part of what makes the book, guys.
"Tootsie" will probably win instead. It's got a very tight script and is truthfully very funny. Even though there are as many oops-you-should-edit moments as in "Hadestown," the comedy and the appeal to the particular demographic they were shooting for will win it. 

Best Original Score
I feel like "Hadestown" has this one locked down. Even people who find the show incomprehensible seem to love the music. David Yazbek won last year for "Band's Visit" (a vastly better show than "Tootsie") so it's safe to say he's out of the running. I've got nothing else here.

Best Orchestrations
"Hadestown" has a damn good chance here too. Its music is one of its strongest qualities, and if you compare the NYTW to the Broadway in terms of orchestration, there's a lot going on here and it's all good. "Oklahoma!" is a potential opponent because of how they managed to change around the original to make it all read so much better to a modern audience.

Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role
I'm going to say Eva has only a 25% chance of winning. Stephanie J. Block seems to be a likely winner because of her previous nominations and the fact that the Tonys often give out awards for career work instead of the single show they are in. Otherwise, "The Cher Show." Really. Some people think Kelli O'Hara has a chance because the Tony voters love their generic starlets but since she's already got a Tony, I think Stephanie and Eva are much more likely competitors. "The Prom" girls seem to cancel each other out (more on the canceling effect two categories below).
If Eva wins I will be PUMPED, but I'm not counting on it.

Best Performance By An Actress In A Featured Role
Everything here comes down to Amber Gray versus Ali Stoker. The "Tootsie" actresses cancel each other out (more on the canceling effect one category below), but Ali is far and away a standout over Mary Testa. To quote my acquaintance, "Amber Gray will win because she's the most interesting woman on Broadway, like how Katrina Lenk won last year." I think she could be right here, but I will propose an additional theory for why Amber may win: Amber originated a role, one she has been working on for years. Ali stole the show in "Oklahoma!" but she stole the show with a classic show stealing role. Also, because those voters like career work, Amber has been around longer (although she wasn't nominated, she was the best thing about "Natasha Pierre" for me). Ali is young and at this point mostly known for her small role in Deaf West's "Spring Awakening."
Ali will be a Tony winner. Maybe this Sunday. Maybe in a few years. If she wins I'll be happy for her and there's no denying she will deserve the award, but I'm rooting for Amber.

Best Performance By An Actor In A Featured Role
I have gone on a journey with this category. Let me start by saying it seems like Andre DeShields will win. Now let me back up and tell you the long adventure I went on to conclude this.
I have now mentioned "canceling out" a lot, which has a tendency to happen with shows where multiple people are nominated (usually in acting). The important thing to note is that just because two people are in the same category does not mean they automatically cancel each other. Daveed Diggs won for featured actor for "Hamilton" over his costars Chris Jackson and Jon Groff, and there's a clear reason why: of the three he was the standout. He was the most dynamic and had the meatiest role. This only works when there isn't an obvious winner in that show. And this is why figuring out this category has been so damn difficult and I still may be wrong.
Originally one of my friends said he thought Andre and Patrick Page would cancel each other out and that the two guys nominated for "Ain't Too Proud" would cancel each other out and we would have the award going to the guy from "Tootsie" (sorry I don't have the names, but for the reference that guy was literally my favorite thing about "Tootsie"). I initally argued that while both "Hadestown" guys do clearly dominate the category in general, Patrick could win because he plays a dynamic character while Andre plays a static one. My friend countered that the Tony voters really love narrator characters, and well, he's right. This idea was expanded by my other friend who pointed out that Andre opens and closes the show and has a lot of the theme-dropping lines, while Patrick doesn't make his entrance until halfway through Act One and that this leaves an impression.
But ultimately it probably comes down to this: career. Andre will get the award because of his career. Every middle aged gay man I've spoken to who didn't understand the show was very proud to tell me that they saw him in "Ain't Misbehavin" in the 70s (to which I said I saw him in "Fortress of Solitude" a few years ago as a jest that none of them seemed to be amused by). 
The canceling theory may still play here, but it's hard for me to imagine that the award won't at least go to one of the "Hadestown" guys.

Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography
I'm talking about these three together because my explanation for all three is basically the same. In all three of these categories, "Hadestown" feels like an underdog because it is not flashy in the way shows like "Beetlejuice" or "King Kong" are. They don't have the grandiosity or diversity of costumes of "The Cher Show" or the traditional choreography of "Tootsie." 
But "Hadestown" is literally creating a time and place that doesn't really exist; it's not even fantasy, just otherworldliness. The scenic design and costumes anchor you in a place that is like our world but isn't and everything about the choices made, from the shifting set to the details of the costumes, is meant to create this place of kinda New Orleans, kinda 1930s, but also kinda anywhere and now. If "Hadestown" wins scenic design or costume design it will be very deserved and very unconventional.
The choreography has a similar effect. The only real 'dance' numbers are "Living It Up On Top" which is very traditional, "Way Down Hadestown" which feels more frenetic and unplanned, and "Lover's Desire" which is literally a slow dance. The thing is, the choreography throughout the show tells you so much about characters, what they are thinking, and how they are feeling in a way traditional choreography doesn't. Interesting enough Amber Gray was nominated for a dance award for the show. Like with scenic design and costume design, if "Hadestown" wins it will be deserved but a bit uexpected.

Best Lighting Design
Those "Wait For Me" lights will probably win them this Tony but it's worth acknowledging that this show has a lot of amazing lighting design from those swinging lights to the lanterns the Fates use to how Eurydice is able to disappear with the use of light, smoke, and turntable, to the lights of Hadestown, to those colored lights in "How Long" that I am now weirdly obsessed with. But those swinging lights are so iconic that they just might win it on that alone.

Best Sound Design
I know nothing about sound design and no one else seems to either. I noticed some sound design. I also noticed some sound design in "Oklahoma!" I don't know anyone who saw "King Kong" or "Ain't Too Proud." Who knows.

I Saw "Hadestown" In London: An Analysis

I saw “Hadestown” on December 27th and right afterwards I wrote a quick post where I went over a few main points that I wanted to dissect further. Previously I listened to just the bootleg where I did truthfully miss a bunch of stuff and made a lot of comments and I may refer back to some of them in this post so the link for that post is here.

To understand my perspective: The original is quite possibly my favorite musical of all time, I’m a person who sees shows in New York City on a regular basis, I’m an American who basically went over to see my British boyfriend who lives in London (also a fan of “Hadestown” but not as much as me) on the agreement that he buy the “Hadestown” tickets and I pay the air fare, and I have stolen his laptop for the evening to write this. Also it has been two days since I saw it and he and I have discussed it a lot so the overwhelming aspects have worn off and I may forget some hopefully minor details.

8. The set and staging give me LIFE. During “Way Down Hadestown” I literally smacked my boyfriend’s leg just to ensure that he was seeing what I was seeing. We also did a lot of pointing but it was mostly at either Amber Gray or Patrick Page doing subtle acting things in the corner.

I’m actually going to start on a positive note and end on a positive note so let’s talk about this first since it will help lay the groundwork for other details.

I was originally pretty unimpressed with the set. There was no curtain or anything so the set was just there when we got in and when the show started the actors just went out and took their seats. I remembered reading in a review of the show that it looked like the backroom of a church in New Orleans and I kind of see what they mean but it was more evocative than direct. It actually reminded me a bit of the set from “Once” with less character.

It’s a mostly light wood set in a half circle with steps and the musicians are sitting on the steps. Above that there’s a balcony that is very French Quarter with a black iron spiral staircase and there’s a huge set of double doors behind the balcony. When the show starts, Hades and Persephone are sitting on the balcony and they basically chill there until their respective entrances into the show, which I thought was cool but I was constantly watching them just because I love them and both Amber Gray and Patrick Page never stop acting so it’s fun to see little things like Hades reading the newspaper and Persephone fanning herself and looking bored. It also hurt my brain to contemplate that they are Underworld gods who are in the Underworld when they are on the balcony but they’re above everyone else? It doesn’t totally make sense but it looks cool.

On the half circle stage below there are a bunch of tables and chairs during the first half of act one where the chorus are chilling in modern work clothes (I forgot to mention the clothes, damnit; I’ll do it after this). Most of the Orpheus and Eurydice action in the first half of act one happens here with some minor going-up-on-the-steps. Hermes is positioned stage right for nearly the whole show with a few small moments of dancing with Persephone during “Living It Up On Top” and “Way Down Hadestown.” This fact will be important later.

The first really key aspect to the staging is the turntable on the floor. I don’t know the proper terminology but it’s a three layered turntable, which doesn’t do anything in the show all the way until “Way Down Hadestown” at which point it becomes an essential feature. Amusingly, the audience seemed fairly unsure of the show until that song, which seemed to win everyone over because 1. it’s a banger and 2. that’s when the show started to get epic. That song is obviously a big number and it starts with this dance Persephone instigates that I will discuss specifically in the section on Amber Gray’s performance but what you need to know is that she’s in the center of the circle and most of the action happens there. Of course, if you are watching above you see Hades in the balcony putting on his coat and sunglasses before he descends the spiral staircase for “You’re early.” “I missed ya.” He helps Persephone put on her coat and then they go to stand in the center circle which raises up to put them above everyone which is the position they’re in when Eurydice says her line. This gives Hades a good vantage point to notice her, setting the stage for “Hey Little Songbird.” After Hades’ “one, two, three, four” the platform descends slowly into the ground as smoke raises up around them and I lost myself. It was epic.

From there the turn tables got used a lot. “Chant 1” had Hades and Persephone on the center as a platform with the chorus on the first outer circle and Orpheus or Eurydice on the furthest circle. “Chant II” was similar with Eurydice in the middle circle with the workers, Orpheus in the first rung, and Hades and Persephone on the outer rung walking in opposite directions, opposed to each other. In “Wait For Me II” the turntable is used to break part Hades and Persephone’s clasped hands. During “Gone I’m Gone” Eurydice descends into the floor the same way Hades and Persephone did in “Way Down” and she doesn’t emerge again until her solo in “Why We Build The Wall” where she literally comes out of the floor to show her devotion to the cause. I’m pretty sure Orpheus also descends into the floor during “Wait For Me” among a ton of smoke. During “How Long” the circle is open which literally forces Hades and Persephone to sing to each other across a gap between them (symbolism!). And finally, when Orpheus turns around, Eurydice descends into the floor again, slowly and tragically.

The other really big set thing that happens is during “Wait For Me” when the set breaks apart into three pieces, creating two narrow streets that characters can walk down. This is basically the Underworld set and through the magic of lighting mostly, looks entirely different. At this point, I kind of understood why the set was so bare and bereft of color. Once “Why We Build The Wall” starts, you feel less like you are in an enclosed area and more like you are in a huge city. The table and chairs on the balcony disappear and that huge set of double doors is now the entrance to Hades’ office.

Some aspects of the original NY production remain but in different ways. The double headed mic which was apparently integral to the original staging is still there but it is mostly off to the side. Hades uses it during “Why We Build The Wall” and it gets a few other cameos but it no longer seems to have any symbolic meaning itself. The swinging lights from “Wait For Me” are there and the Fates still use lanterns during that song and “Doubt Comes In” which was expertly staged with lighting and smoke to have Eurydice disappear and reappear. 

Oh and during “I conduct the electric city” there’s a little explosion of the lights because Hades is a drama queen.

I forget costumes. Okay, here you go.

I said this before somewhere else but the costumes need work just because they are not really cohesive. The gods are all in some kind of 1930s-ish look (although Persephone’s dress (it’s two dresses but they are the same in two colors) could read as 80s) and seem to have varying levels of shiny to their outfits. Hermes and the Fates have very shiny outfits, Persephone’s has some kind of glitzy in the detailing on her dress and the pinstripes on Hades’ suit really sparkle in certain lights. Hades also has shiny sleeve garters (is that what they’re called) and, curiously, a red back on his vest. My boyfriend said that the red back isn’t really apparent until scenes where Hades is vulnerable with Persephone so I guess that’s it’s symbolic purpose.

Also, Hades’ wall tattoo. I don’t know. It’s somehow cool and lame at the same time.

This is contrasted with the chorus and Orpheus and Eurydice who are kind of in shabby modern clothes. It’s weird and it may have something to do with choices made regarding the setting that I will get to at Point One.

1. The addition of the climate change thing, Orpheus’ ignorance about the gods, and the new “Epic” origin and how this diminishes the essence of a creator and kind of makes Eurydice seems more unreasonable.

So I said in my bootleg post that I liked how they redid “Anyway The Wind Blows” to be a character development moment for Eurydice and I stand by that but it also instigates a more overt addition of climate change as a theme in the show. Eurydice sings, “Strange things happen in the world today./Fall comes early, spring comes late” which I didn’t know the meaning of when I listened to the boot. Climate change was already kind of an under-the-surface idea in the original but now it’s very literal.

It turns out that the weather has changed because Hades is basically trying to keep Persephone with him as much as possible. This is explained directly as him keeping her with him because their marriage is going poorly and he’s afraid if he lets her leave that she won’t come back. I think this is totally fine, by the way, especially because it suits the original theme about doubt and trust.

Here’s where it gets weird. Orpheus was always kind of magic. His singing manifests Persephone in both the original and this one when he sings about her. In this one, Orpheus first creates a flower with his music which he gives to Eurydice and it becomes a big symbol in the show. The change is that in this production, he seems to be singing about the story of Hades and Persephone because he somehow has dreamed up this “la la la la la la la” tune which Hermes tells him straight out is the tune of an old song that, if he can bring about the rest of the words, will fix the climate change. This really takes away Orpheus’ music credentials and kind of changes his motivations from “write music, save girlfriend” to “write music to save the world and oh my girlfriend too”. More on their relationship in Point Three.

To digress slightly, Orpheus doesn’t even know that the gods are real until Hermes (a literal god, by the way) tells him that Hades and Persephone are real and they control the weather. His lines from “Way Down Hadestown” have gone to Persephone since he doesn’t actually know anything about Hadestown. This asks the question: is “Hadestown” set in the modern day? The near future? It doesn’t seem to be an alternate Great Depression setting, which the original seemed to be. If it is the modern day or near future, what’s up with the gods throwback clothes?

Anyway, in the original Orpheus’ commitment to writing a song about Hades and Persephone came off more as the devotion a creator experiences when they personally connect with a subject. He is fixated on their relationship, not because fixating on it will have some grand purpose, but because he connects to their story and is moved by it (and because it ends up as a parallel to his own). In the original, it also seems that Orpheus is kind of friendly with Persephone, like they’ve met before, so that could be a very strong case for his commitment. This is why in the original “Chant I”, Eurydice very much so has every reason to be pissed at him for ignoring her for the song. It is the essence of someone who creates to be fixated on their creation, occasionally to the determent of their relationships. In this version, since Orpheus is trying to write the song to literally save the world, Eurydice’s complaints feel more selfish.

A sort of “reveal” about the origin of “Epic” comes in “Epic III” when he is singing to Hades and Hades asks him how he knew about the “la la” melody because apparently, it’s actually a tune Hades came up with as a response to his love for Persephone. When Hades sings the tune he also manifests a flower, which Persephone puts in the pocket of his vest (the flower matches the back of it, by the way). I originally didn’t like this idea on the basis of “but Hades isn’t a musician” to which my boyfriend smartly replied, “but that incomplete melody isn’t something a musician would come up with.” Dang, he’s right.

I don’t mind the explanation about Hades’ doubt that Persephone will return causing climate change or even the fact that the tune was originally Hades’ but I hate both Orpheus’ ignorance about the gods and the directly stated idea that the song will fix the world. They severely weaken both Orpheus and Eurydice’s characters.

2. More on the “revolution” idea I discussed after I listened to the boot and why it conflicts with the main themes of doubt and love. Also how the chorus is both good and bad.

The second half of Act Two has developed communist tendencies and we need to talk about this. I joked a long time ago that Orpheus is a commie and Hades is a greedy capitalist, but that subtext has rapidly become text. In the original, Orpheus shows his red scarf with his line in “Living It Up On Top” about giving you a song for free. This line is gone now, which weakens his character, but let’s focus on the chorus.

Instead of the subtext we now have this “Show me the way” theme in the later portion of the show that seems to imply that if Orpheus can get Eurydice out of Hadestown, everyone can escape and be free. Eurydice even says, “What about them?” meaning the workers when she is encouraging Orpheus to leave***. But like, they’re dead? Why would they have a revolution?

In the original, the threat of Hades losing control of Hadestown was present because the shades were all taught to question by Orpheus in “If It’s True” and then they watched as Hades proposes the deal with Orpheus. There was never really a set up that said the shades would revolt; in fact it was supposed to be Hades’ doubt in their loyalty that drove him to make the deal instead of just letting Orpheus and Eurydice leave outright as a gift for sort of fixing his marriage. By making the threat literal,  Hades seems way more reasonable for his willingness to make a deal and the shades also seem less reasonable when in “His Kiss, The Riot” Hades explains that he gave them jobs because they were suffering. Hell, if his marriage is fixed he may not need all his emotional support industry anymore and he won’t work them as hard.

This whole change reads as trying to fix a problem that was never there.

Now to address the chorus. The original didn’t have a chorus so this is an addition and it is sometimes great and sometimes not. It’s great whenever there are choral bits from the original where the workers are supposed to be singing but were originally just the main actors. The downside is that they overuse the chorus during times when the focus should be more personal. The single worst case of this is in “Come Home With Me” where the chorus is saying Orpheus’ lines with him. It’s also pretty bad in “Wait For Me” where there seems to be way more chorus than before and a superfluous bit where the stones let him in that seems to be added solely to justify the fact that the chorus of workers is singing with him. Dial it back, guys.

All this community really detracts from the core connection between the two relationships at the heart of this story. This is a story that focuses on individual relationships in the grand scheme and now it is trying to fit too many things in at once.

*** There is a slight implied idea that Eurydice is so self interested that this is character development for her, which I guess if she is self interested this would explain her not caring about Orpheus’ world saving song. But also, she learns to care about one (1) singy boy in addition to herself. This brotherhood idea comes off a bit forced.

3. How Eva is the perfect Eurydice and Reeve is an acceptable Orpheus, but there’s something off here (feat. Choreography from “All I’ve Ever Known”)

Going off the idea of personal vs. public moments, let’s talk about Eurydice and Orpheus.

Eva Noblezada is absolutely ridiculous as Eurydice. She blew me away. Every note was astounding. “Flowers”, one of my least favorite songs in the show, made me cry when she sang it because she felt every word and made you feel it. They have seriously lucked out with her.

Reeve Carney is okay. He has greatly improved over time (my boyfriend admitted that he actually likes his falsetto more than Damon Duanno’s) but when he’s up against Eva, Amber, and Patrick, he’s clearly the weakest link. Also, to apologize for something I said in my bootleg review where I was irritated by him singing like Lou Reed, he does this mostly as an acting thing to show Orpheus trying to come up with lyrics he doesn’t already have so it’s fine.

The problem is between them and I’m not even so sure if it’s their chemistry, which I originally suspected. So many of the parts of the show that really drive home how much Orpheus loves Eurydice have been changed so that they focus more on Orpheus’ man pain (especially “If It’s True” and “Doubt Comes In”).

The most awkward part of this dynamic difficulty comes in with the choreography for “All I’ve Ever Known.” Throughout the song, they’re doing a bunch of different things that are clearly meant to show aspects of their relationship: they have a kind of simulated sex moment, laying next to each other, piggy back rides, jumping into his arms, etc. It feels unnatural and like they are trying to convey a passing of time which isn’t really needed if the audience buys the relationship.

My boyfriend actually had a great solution here: Eurydice sings forlornly to herself at the beginning, then she sings to Orpheus during the rest. Instead of choreography, he takes her in his arms like she says in the song and everything is very simple and intimate.

As for the rest? “If It’s True” really needs to go back to its original lyrics. It’s now really strange how a song about Orpheus’ man pain and doubt of Hades’ words is the song that “broke [Persephone’s] heart in two” when the original song was a tearful plea about how much he loved her and much more worthy of Persephone’s sympathy.

4. Amber Gray is literally perfect even when she accidently spills water on herself at the curtain call.

Damnit. Give her the Tony right now, I swear.

I mentioned before that Amber never stops acting for even a second and oh, do I mean it. Amber has been playing this role for a long time and it shows because her performance is fully integrated. There are so many details that just make her a consistent delight to watch.

During “Road To Hell” she’s excitedly clapping for everyone (amusingly Hades claps unenthusiastically for everyone expect Persephone who he stands up for) and throughout the moments leading up to her intro, she’s leaning on the balcony bored, glaring at Hades, looking around like she’s waiting for time to pass, etc.

Right before “Living It Up On Top” she puts on her coat and goes around to give Hades a kiss on the cheek and when he doesn’t really respond she waves her hand dismissively at him before clumsily going down the stairs. “Living It Up” is a weird number to see because I always imagined it really upbeat but this performance felt kind of bleak. I think they slowed down the tempo and also the choreography left a lot to be desired. But even more than that is the way Amber Gray plays it. Instead of being a happy drunk like I was expecting, she’s a drunk with underlying melancholy. She isn’t drinking to have fun; she’s drinking to get through the day and it shows. You can barely bop along with it because you know that this is all artifice for Persephone because her marriage is falling apart.

During “Way Down Hadestown” this somehow gets even worse and it’s brilliantly played. Persephone slumps over when she hears the train coming and looks comatose until she slowly starts dancing in a way that builds and builds until it becomes this frenzied one woman performance that no one knows how to react to. It was some of the best choreography in the show and throughout the whole song you can see this mix of emotions Persephone is feeling. She doesn’t want to go back to Hades because it’s so hard being with him but she’s also sad because she wishes things were better between them, but she’s happy to be above ground but she can never forget her problems really.

“Why We Build The Wall” is such an intense thing in general but again, I was blown away by Amber and what she was doing. During the song, Persephone is now in her black dress (I thought the costume change would be after Act One but nope) and she’s standing to the left of Hades while he sings. It looked to me like the kind of positioning you see when a politician is admitting to something horrible so he has his wife next to him to make him look better. She sings with this expression that says she’s going through the motions, moreso than anyone else.

Then Eurydice comes into Hadestown and Persephone is shook. Initially it seems to be a sort of dull surprise and mild horror that Hades has made good on his statement about finding someone who will appreciate his town. At the end of the song proper, however, she slumps backwards as if she has given up, kind of an opposite slump to “Way Down Hadestown,” and as Hades passes her on his way up to his office with Eurydice, he taps her on the arm which seems to bring her back to life* and she moves downstage, trying to subtly wipe tears from her eyes. It’s kind of the first real moment in the show when you see how much Persephone cares about Hades and it really makes her “Anybody want a drink?” line similar to “Living It Up On Top”: fun in theory but masking a deep unhappiness. The audience still laughed though.

“Our Lady Of The Underground” is a show stopper. Amber sings the hell out of it, but there is this really great moment right at the end when the workers are all raiding her bag and she just looks like she has come down from her high only to have life hit her.

She’s still on stage during “Way Down Hadestown II” when Eurydice comes in now wearing her worker uniform. She lingers near Eurydice and listens to the fact that Eurydice didn’t actually do anything with Hades aside from sign a contract and die and that she’s not special at all but just another worker. When Persephone realizes that her husband didn’t cheat on her and that he was just trying to make her jealous, she kind of scoffs at Eurydice and walks off triumphantly.

“How Long” and “Chant II” I mentioned the staging of and oh, Amber sells the pleading and the anger.

I’ll talk about “Lover’s Desire” and “Wait For Me II” in Point Six.

That’s mostly it. At the end of the curtain call “I Raise My Cup” (which is a bit different and I should probably talk about it) Amber Gray drank from the cup and spilled water on herself. I don’t think it was on purpose but it was amusing and I was just surprised to see there was actually something in the cup.

Again, give her a Tony.

*The arm tap thing is interesting and I’ve thought about it a lot. On one hand, it could be Hades wanting to make sure she’s paying attention to the fact that he’s going to his office with Eurydice, which is a dick move but definitely in line with where Hades is at this moment. On the flip side, he could be trying to reassure her that he sees her and nothing is really going to happen with Eurydice and it’s just business. Clearly, she takes it the first way, but the intention really is ambiguous.

5. What did you do to the later half of act two’s best lyrics?! (AND MUSIC PARTS)

I mentioned most of these as they affect Orpheus and Eurydice’s relationship (“If it’s True”, “Doubt Comes In”) but I will call out a few new things.

“Epic III” is shorter for no reason.

“Promises” is cut in half and no longer has that moment of resolution in the first half that I thought was so amazing for showing the development of Orpheus and Eurydice’s relationship. Also, no string interlude.

The accordion interlude in “His Kiss, The Riot” is now really discordant and isn’t as good.

“Wait For Me II” suffers from revolution. Same with “Chant II”. “Chant II” also lost Persephone’s lines about banging Hades in a garden, which is probably because someone said, “Uh, Persephone says she’s going to give Eurydice advice and then doesn’t.” I mean, they’re right, but I didn’t see that as a problem.

And to note a dialogue change, when Orpheus turns around in the original there’s no dialogue, just Eurydice’s gasp, but there was a brief period of time where she said “You’re early” and he responded with “I missed you.” This was iconic and never should have been removed. Now he says “It’s you” and she says “It’s me” which is kind of a callback to what they say when he arrives in the Underworld but oh, the other dialogue is so much more on point. With a good subtle thing like that, maybe they could finally trash Persephone saying outright that Orpheus and Eurydice are just like she and Hades used to be (an additional bit of dialogue before “How Long” which is just lazy).

There’s a specific choice towards the end that I really want to address though. During “Road To Hell II” the show ends by restarting. In theory, this is a great idea because the show is cyclical in nature and with its themes. Eurydice comes in looking for a match in her original clothes. Persephone comes in wearing her green dress.

The problem with this is that they still sing “I Raise My Cup”. They changed some of the lyrics to be more universal but it still talks about where Orpheus is half the time and it’s like, um, he’s standing right there? It doesn’t totally work. I say one of these things need to be cut or “Cup” needs to be completely universal and not about Orpheus at all.

6. Why does the text imply that Hades is evil when his character is the same as it’s always been and he’s actually super sympathetic most of the time? (Feat. How Patrick Page gets Hades in a way no one else does)

I mentioned the disconnect already so I’ll just talk about Patrick Page.

Patrick Page, being that he possesses a voice that sounds like the rumbling of the Earth, primarily seems to play villains. I first saw him as Frollo in “Hunchback” which was great but it took a while for me to hear Hades and not Frollo when I listened to “Hadestown.” Because of this type-casting, he is clearly psyched to play Hades. His Twitter and anything he ever says about the show conveys how much he loves the show and loves the character. Specially, he seems to love the fact that Hades isn’t a villain and that Hades’ primary motivation is really his love for his wife with a secondary motivation of keeping his kingdom running smoothly.**

Like Amber, he has been playing this role since the beginning and it shows. Like Amber, he has all the subtle details down. I mentioned the standing up when Persephone is announced but in the beginning he also rolls his eyes when Hermes is playing to the audience and I’m right there with him honestly. He lowers his sunglasses at Eurydice in “Way Down Hadestown” in this intrigued way. He is genuinely scary during “Why We Build The Wall” and every aspect of act two shows how much he cares about Persephone.

My boyfriend particularly was effected by him in “Epic III” and how he loses his composure and reunites with Persephone when he makes the flower appear.

The dance in “Lover’s Desire” is interesting because it starts as a slow two step (they’re in step now, get it) and then escalates and ends with him really showing vulnerability by burying his face into her shoulder. Yes, I cried.

I think the prime subtle moment for Patrick Page though comes during “His Kiss, The Riot.” When he says the word “beautiful” he looks directly at Persephone before looking away on “poisonous”. Nice.

He also should get a Tony,

**The villain of “Hadestown” is doubt.

7. Andre DeShields is a totally different Hermes.

I have talked at length about the four main characters but technically there is a fifth and there’s kind of a reason why I saved him for last.

Hermes in the original felt very much like a part of the show because he is the narrator but was also very clearly present during all the action of the show. Whenever I see stills of the original show or the Canada show, Hermes is right there with everyone else.

This isn’t how he’s played now. Throughout almost the entire show, he’s stage right. He dances a little with Persephone during “Living It Up” and is actually on stage during “Way Down Hadestown” but even when Hades gives him his plan, Hades goes stage right to do it. Hermes offers all advice to Orpheus and Eurydice from stage right. Hermes even implies that he doesn’t totally know what’s going on until the end when he admits that everything is a cycle.

My boyfriend, a fan of Andre DeShields from “Fortress of Solitude”, said that it wasn’t that this was bad but that it repositions Hermes as more of a god figure than a god who lives in between. Before Hermes was a god like Persephone who will hang out with the commoners but now he is positioned above them. I had once joked that in the class system of “Hadestown”, Hermes is the one with the reasonable job. Even as my boyfriend explained this change from chill god to god who only interacts when necessary, I could see his resolve slipping as he managed to accidentally talk himself into realizing that Hermes was better before. Even the way he’s dressed is flashier and less like a rumpled middle class man in the 1930s.

Mythologically speaking, it makes more sense for Hermes to be the go between as he was the one who brought people to the Underworld. He would understand people and know their stories.

I have to wonder if this change comes from the casting of Andre DeShields who is a new addition.

9. Overall, the show is so freaking enjoyable and I will see it multiple times on Broadway BUT the lyrics and story changes have been detrimental to a show that was nearly perfect, mostly in the name of being more heavy handed and less subtle.

Like I will pay a lot of money because the good that has been untouched or added is so good even with all the problems.

And that’s how the story ends.

The Myth Of Persephone in "Hadestown."

I’ve written many posts on Tumblr where I analyze various print and media versions of The Myth of Persephone born out of a specific fascination I have with the myth and mythology in general (and a book writing related reason) under the tag “The Persephone Project.” For a year I have also been unable to stop talking about and occasionally posting about the musical “Hadestown.” However, I realized yesterday as I listened to the musical for the first time in many months that I have never analyzed The Myth of Persephone as it exists in “Hadestown.” Yes, “Hadestown” is actually about The Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice but because the musical elevates the characters of Hades and Persephone to main character status and their relationship, and more specifically the changes that their relationship has gone through over time, is such a prominent feature in the musical as it is a foil to the relationship between Orpheus and Eurydice, The Myth of Persephone had to be addressed at least a little for context.

The “Hadestown” version of The Myth of Persephone is actually one of only two that I’ve seen where Demeter, Persephone’s mother, is entirely absent. I don’t just mean she isn’t physically in the show, but she is only alluded to twice and one of those times is a play on words that is clearly meant to evoke the more common versions of the myth without necessarily addressing her directly. That “joke” time is from Hades in “Chant” when he says, “Someone grateful for her fate/Someone who appreciates/The comforts of a gilded cage/And doesn’t try to fly away/The moment Mother Nature calls.” Obviously, Mother Nature is Demeter in this scenario but in this kind of Demeter-less universe Hades could just be more vaguely gripping about Persephone’s job and how she has to leave him to bring about spring and how he wishes he had someone who could stay with him all year round. In Greek Mythology the true Mother Nature is actually not Demeter but Gaia, who is actually the grandmother of Hades and Demeter, but that’s another path this argument could go down. Either way, the comment is more of a shout out than a direct addressing of the presence of Demeter in the “Hadestown” universe.

The second time Demeter is mentioned is much more direct but mentioning her almost doesn’t relate to the myth at all. In “Epic III” later on in the show, Orpheus is trying to convince Hades to let him and Eurydice leave by reminding him of what it was like for him to be young and in love by painting the image of the first time he saw Persephone “in her mother’s garden.” The fact that Persephone was in her mother’s garden in this scenario is not particularly significant to the story aside from the fact that it conveys the idea that Persephone was younger. She was young and therefore still lived in her mother’s garden: symbolically unwed.

Any discussion of the actual Myth of Persephone is completely absent of Demeter and any other players who sometimes feature in the myth like Zeus, Hecate, Hermes, and Helios. Orpheus lays out the myth very broadly in “Epic I” when he says, “Lady Persephone half of the year was bound to stay down in the Underworld.” There is no mention of Hades kidnapping her, no mention of pomegranate seeds, no mention of Demeter causing winter, and no mention of deals made.

Whenever Persephone discusses the formation of her relationship with Hades it is always very positive and seems to lack complications or any kind of deals. In “Chant” she says to Hades, “I recall there was a time/We were happy, you and I/In the garden where we met/Nothing was between us yet.” Early on in the show, this evokes the idea of a mutually formed relationship that has only soured with time. Persephone gets more explicit about it (ha) in “Chant II” when she tells Eurydice the specifics under the guise of giving her advice,

“Love was when he came to me
Begging on his bended knee
To please have pity on his heart
And let him lay me in the dirt

I felt his arms around me then
We didn’t need a wedding bed
Dark seeds scattered on the ground
The wild birds were flying around

That’s when I became his wife
But that was in another life
That was in another world
When I was a young girl.”

The story of her marriage is simple through her explanation: they met, later he asked her to marry him, they had sex as a consummation of their marriage, and that is what started the arrangement of her spending half her time in the Underworld. Without Demeter to fight for half her time while her husband claims the other half, the implied narrative is very different.

In this narrative, we can assume that the world’s nature state is one of winter and that it is through the work of Persephone specifically that we have seasons. Her decision to marry the King of the Underworld meant that she was committing herself to him, and as such, must give up some of her time to be with him in order for them to have a real marriage. You could say this is still sexist, like the original narrative can be, but realistically Hades has a higher status as an older god and a king and actually would be completely unable to abandon his job as King of the Underworld to spend time with her. His job is constant, which is why Hades is often portrayed in more original-myth-accurate media as being overworked and tired a lot. While there are no flowers or warm weather in Persephone’s absence, there is not a complete destruction of order like there would be if Hades left his job to spend six months with his wife. People be dying always.

This also kind of allows Persephone’s dual nature to be fully shown in a way a lot of myths neglect because of Persephone’s usual lack of agency. It is not Demeter that brings on cold and death in winter but Persephone herself through her choices. She was draw to the darkness in Hades, “hungry for the Underworld” as she calls it, and thus became a force of death herself half the time when she isn’t a force of life. In “How Long” she reflects on the cyclical nature of her job and really, the necessity of the life and death cycle that her marriage to Hades causes with a kind of acceptance.

Ultimately, the “Hadestown” version of The Myth of Persephone may be one of the best ones even if it’s one of the least accurate as it lacks basically all the major iconic components of the myth. I’ve complained in the past about how Demeter often ends up becoming the most focused on character in the Myth of Persephone with Persephone often given little development or even regulated to an object to be bartered for. When you remove Demeter from the narrative, Persephone increases in both importance and agency and the true nature of her character and what makes her so interesting is revealed.

“Hadestown” is so brilliant, I can barely even deal with it.