‘Hadestown’ a hot time in Hartford
Ever hear the entire cavernous Mortensen Hall at The Bushnell fall entirely quiet in rapt anticipation? Thousands of people waiting for a word or a song or a smile that will quench their anticipation and lead them to the next exciting phase of an engrossing story? Yeah, it doesn’t happen very often.
“Hadestown” is casting that special spell at The Bushnell this week.
The hit Broadway musical by Anaïs Mitchell conjures that spine-tingling suspenseful feeling and does it with a story that’s thousands of years old. The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of the classic boy/girl love stories of all time. “Hadestown” makes it sound fresh and relevant.
Shivers go up your spine as you contemplate the fate of two people in love who’ve been brought to the depths of hell. They talk to Hades himself, gain sympathy from Persephone and commune with a stomping, twisting bunch of demonic workers.
Smoke rolls down the aisles of The Bushnell. Ethereal sounds raise your spirits, then doomladen lighting effects dash them. This is a fraught journey and an endlessly invigorating one.
Besides being mystical, moody and contemplative, “Hadestown” is jazzy and jaunty.
Its style works for fans of traditional musicals, with easy-to-follow songs and stories about finding love and finding oneself. But this is also a show for fans of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Max Fleischer cartoons, Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson and other gritty jazz/ blues totems. It also recalls the experimental Sarah Ruhl play “Eurydice,” which was adapted into an opera in 2020, drawn from the same myth but with different conclusions.
Yet “Hadestown” is its own divine thing, not fitting easy comparisons with any other theater event. The earthy atmosphere and haunted bar room setting may remind you briefly of shows like “Once,” “Rent” and even “Stomp,” and also of the plays of Jean Genet or Jean-paul Sartre, but all references fall
short. “Hadestown” conjures a dark spirit and a transformative burst of love all its own.
A lot of this incisive stagecraft springs from the wild imagination of director Rachel Chavkin, who created a similarly crazed dreamworld for the punk rock parable “Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls” by Meg Miroshnik for the Yale Repertory Theatre in 2014. You might also remember her staging of the much more tranquil yet equally engrossing Bess Wohl’s “Small Mouth Sounds” at Long Wharf Theatre in 2017.
“Hadestown” began as a song cycle concert event and then a concept album. There’s almost no spoken dialogue. Its songs are its fortune. Mitchell’s songs are in a consistent style, but not one you can pinpoint. They’re like anti-folk ballads played with instruments you associate with 1920s jump blues. A seven-piece band featuring a trombone, violin and double bass is right onstage with the actors who add train whistles, accordion and electric guitar to the mix.
What’s amazing is that when Orpheus tells you that he’s written a song that will change the world, that melody actually gets heard — and it’s pretty convincing. “Hadestown” draws you in and makes you believe.
The cast at The Bushnell does not try to ape the original Broadway players, as touring shows often feel they have to. The performers are free to bring their own special talents to the roles.
At Tuesday’s opening night performance, both Orpheus and Eurydice were played by understudies, J. Antonio Rodriguez and Belén Moyano. Rodriguez has a withdrawn, unassuming manner that made it all the more magical when he grabbed an electric guitar (the modern translation of Orpheus’ mystical lyre) and warbled song that miraculously made plants grow. Rodriguez came off like an indie-pop Mario Lanza. Moyano, by contrast, had a tough survivor’s mien. Her singing voice was often lower than Rodriguez, which adds one more unpredictable stylistic surprise to a show that’s full of them.
Nathan Lee Graham was supremely smooth, sinuous and self-confident as the narrator god Hermes. He sang the metaphorical intro song “Road to Hell” which connects the ancient Greek myth to 20th-century blues tropes by invoking trains, depression and lonesome wanderings.
Lindsey Hailes (who alternates performances with
Nyla Watson) sings in a lovely bluesy voice while swaying intoxicatedly as Persephone. The three Fates provide soulful backing as well as philosophical insights, not unlike the girl-group trio of “Little Shop of Horrors” but in a very different manner. There’s also the downtrodden and largely silent but physical quintet of netherworld laborers. The show’s secret weapon is its range of perspectives. Orpheus and Eurydice’s journey, together and separately, is not a simple love story. It’s open to interpretation both psychologically and musically.
Some of the best moments come from the maelstrom of the entire cast and orchestra bracing for “The Gathering Storm” or leading you down “The Road to Hell,” but the pretty love songs like “Promises” or “All I’ve Ever Known” can be just as stunning. “Hadestown” has showstopping moments that genuinely stop the show, which is some trick for a show that the majority of the audience is likely experiencing for the first time.
“Hadestown” has been on Broadway since the spring of 2019. The national tour was supposed to start in 2020 but was delayed a year by the COVID pandemic. The Bushnell was originally scheduled to get the show in October 2020. It might have felt very different seeing this show about isolation, severed relationships, darkness, hopelessness and extreme challenges back before COVID vaccines or during major surges.
The advantage now is that “Hadestown” doesn’t force comparisons to current events quite as strongly. This tale of love torn asunder in a world of chaos and confusion stands on its own terms, as it has done for over 2,000 years.