On February 5, 2025, I got the unique opportunity to experience the North American non-equity tour of “Hadestown” at Indiana University in Bloomington. Fittingly enough, to attend the performance, I dressed as Orpheus and my girlfriend, Hamilton Southeastern High School senior Morgan Wren, dressed as Eurydice. Mt. Vernon High School juniors Zoe Boyd and Hannah Hummel and Mt. Vernon High School graduate Alyssa Brown also went with us, dressed as Persephone, a brick wall and Hades himself, respectively.
The venue itself was gorgeous. The Indiana University auditorium was impressively spacious and, though I sat farther away from the stage than I would have liked, I still had a great view. The first thing I noticed was the sheer difference between listening to a recording of the brass instruments and hearing them live. The instrumentals were crisp and echoed throughout the auditorium. It was truly incredible to hear.
As for the cast, Jaylon C. Crump and Nickolaus Colón, who played Hermes and Hades, respectively, were both, in my opinion, better than the original Broadway cast. Megan Colton was also particularly impressive as Eurydice. Eurydice’s part at the end of “Way Down Hadestown” and her solo in “Wait for Me (Reprise)” both made me audibly gasp because Colton’s vocals were just that good. Namisa Mdlalose Bizana and Bryan Munar were each as great as Persephone and Orpheus, respectively, as well.
“Hadestown” is a modern rendition of the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. For those unfamiliar with the myth, Orpheus, after losing his wife, Eurydice, makes a bargain with the Greek god Hades to bring Eurydice back. Hades agrees, but on one condition: that Orpheus shall not turn to look as he leads Eurydice out of the underworld.
The first song of “Hadestown” is “Road to Hell,” a jazzy number in which Hermes introduces the cast of the musical and its story. He tells the audience that the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice is a “tale of a love from long ago.” I was immediately blown away by the quality of the instruments and drawn into the musical.
Another highlight, “Wedding Song” mostly consists of Orpheus making unrealistic promises in response to Eurydice’s valid concerns about how the pair are going to get by in such a cruel world. Orpheus states that the rivers will give them their wedding bands, the trees will lay their wedding table and the birds will make their wedding bed. It is in this song, too, that Orpheus’s song is first sung. Upon singing a part of his song, Orpheus presents Eurydice with a red carnation that the song has caused to grow. “Hadestown” is often associated with this flower.
Red carnations work incredibly well as iconography for the musical, alluding to the fist and rose, International Workers’ Day, springtime and, of course, Orpheus’s love for and devotion to Eurydice. Additionally, the red carnation serves as an allusion to Portugal’s “Carnation Revolution,” a movement that freed Portugal from its authoritarian leader over fifty years ago. This is incredibly significant when considering the themes of “Hadestown” prevalent in its second act.
By far my favorite sequence of songs in the musical starts with “A Gathering Storm,” in which Orpheus determines that he has to finish his song. In response, Eurydice warns Orpheus that there is a storm coming and that they need food and firewood. However, he has already left to work on his song and does not hear her. This song is followed by “Epic II,” which is Orpheus’s second draft of his song. He states that Hades is the king of everything under the ground, but he becomes bitter and jealous when Persephone leaves for the spring, doubting that she will return.
I prefer the off-Broadway version of “Epic II,” in which some of the lyrics are changed, but the Broadway version is good as well. “Epic II” transitions seamlessly into “Chant,” one of my favorite songs featured in “Hadestown.” While Orpheus struggles to finish his song, Eurydice, searching for food and firewood, is caught in a storm of the gods’ wrath. Meanwhile, down in Hadestown, Persephone argues with Hades about the unnatural conditions of the Underworld. Hadestown is portrayed as an industrial hellscape in which Hades owns everything. The touring cast performed this sequence of songs beautifully.
Additionally, I was mesmerized by the staging and lighting when Orpheus set out to find Eurydice in the Underworld, no matter what, in what is arguably the most popular song in the musical, “Wait for Me.” Of course, I had seen the choreography of “Wait for Me” before, having watched performances of the song on YouTube, but it was so much more impressive live. The way that the lanterns swung out into the audience and the lights dimmed was ethereal.
“Why We Build the Wall” is another one of my favorite tracks from “Hadestown.” I was blown away by how good it sounded live. Additionally, I was impressed by “If it’s True,” which is easily another one of my favorite songs from “Hadestown.” Bryan Munar’s vocals as Orpheus were absolutely gorgeous.
“Chant (Reprise)” is probably my favorite “Hadestown” number. I wholeheartedly believe that the North American tour cast of “Hadestown” performed this song well. I was also taken with the performance of “Epic III” that followed immediately afterward.“Epic III” has gone through a lot of lyrical changes since its original debut on Anaïs Mitchell’s 2010 studio album “Hadestown.”
In my opinion, the original version of “Epic III” will always remain the most impactful. This performance was no exception to the many lyrical changes that “Epic III” has gone through. I immediately noticed that some of the lyrics were changed once more, this time from the Broadway version of “Hadestown.” I think that the lyrical changes were nice. “There’s a hole in his arms where the world used to be / when Persephone’s gone” is an example of gorgeous lyric change.
I was very disappointed by the fact that the performance did not feature the iconic “Hadestown” revolving stage. The choreography in songs like “Chant” and its reprise and even “Doubt Comes In” were changed significantly from their Broadway counterparts. For example, in “Doubt Comes In,” when Orpheus turns to look at Eurydice, instead of the stage plummeting her into the depths of Hadestown as in the original musical, she is carried away by the workers in the tour version.
Overall, I would recommend seeing “Hadestown” live. It is my favorite musical by far and seeing it live was an experience I will never forget.