“[A]nd the final breath is love.” – Stage Manager

Hadestown: The Musical is a pro-shot of the hit Broadway New Orleans Jazz and folk-inspired musical that’s also an adaptation of the Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice while intertwining the love story of Hades and Persephone. Orpheus (Reeve Carney) is a struggling musician and a son of a muse. Eurydice (Eva Noblezada) is a starving young girl. The two meet and immediately fall in love. After Eurydice is bitten by a rattlesnake and dies, Orpheus travels to Hadestown to bring her back to the land of the living. But Hades (Patrick Page) won’t let her leave. Orpheus must complete the song he’s working on or must leave Hadestown, never to return for the love of his life.

Hadestown has had a cult following for a while. It’s original concept album has been developing since the mid-2000’s. It had a creepy, gothic sound. Something that Tom Waits would make. As it developed, it leaned more into the Bluegrass/New Orleans Jazz-Inspired musical and then it finally reached Broadway where it shed more of that bluegrass skin and focused more on that folksy and New Orleans Jazz sound that we hear and know today. When it announced its premiere on Broadway, everyone knew that was going to be Hadestown‘s year. No other musical (No! Beetlejuice was not robbed! Stop that!) could hold a candle to what was going to be the new biggest hit on Broadway. And even after COVID and multiple shows closing on Broadway, it has persevered. It has pushed through and still filled seats every night. When it goes on tour, it is one of the most high-in-demand shows to be seen. It is beloved and having only listened to the soundtrack. I understood the hype.

I thought the music was gorgeous, but missing something. I didn’t have the same emotional response compared to some other people. But that only came from me just listening to the soundtrack released before the transfer to Broadway. Once it got on Broadway, it had the things I needed. I needed Hermes to be charismatic. Andre de Shields was that. I needed to still hear Patrick Page and Amber Gray as Hades and Persephone because they were my favorite parts. They reprised their roles. And I needed that big song. “Wait for Me” and it’s reprise were those big songs. But it still wasn’t enough to fall head over heels with it. I wouldn’t go to the underworld like Orpheus does for Eurydice. I would enjoy myself and then move onto the next musical (I was doing a musical binge at the time. I had to move on). But then I saw how this concept was realized. The costumes, the set, how the lighting worked and how it all became realized and then fell for the musical. I really wanted to see this thing. But somehow, I’ve avoided the musical. I could’ve seen when it toured in St. Louis and I avoided it then. I could’ve seen it in New York and I avoided it then in favor of seeing it on tour back home (which I then avoided both times) and other newer shows. So I just waited for this show. I don’t know why. I then saw it earlier this year at my high school and that was great (for a high school show). But I am so glad that I waited for this because it is incredible.

I’ve noticed with a number of pro-shots recently, they’ve avoided the fact that they were pro-shots. They seemingly want to avoid the fact that this is theatre or give a little nod to the fact that it is a professionally recorded production with showing the theatre outside and the excited fans waiting for the curtain to rise. This film does not do that. It opens with the usual trope of pro-shots with showing the audience, name dropping where it was recorded and the date, but it does something different. It bucks the trend, by going meta with it. Acknowledging these are actors. We literally take a peek behind the curtain as the camera roams backstage. We see Amber Gray warming up. We see someone putting the finishing touches on Andre de Shields’ makeup and costume. We watch Patrick Page get into costume. We get the opportunity to see both Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney share an intimate moment as husband and wife before they head on stage. We even get to see how they do a “circle up”. A theatre ritual for the cast to do before every show to wish each other luck. And then the show begins with Andre de Shields’ slow march as Hermes to center stage as he circles each member of the band and ensemble with magnetic, yet very restrained glee. The crowd is excited and the cast can barely contain themselves. Now, the story can be told.

Giving us big clues of what’s to come with this pro-shot, the film doesn’t let up. Instead of sticking to giving us a close up of the actors here and there and then a wide shot, what is done with the camera here is incredible. I really love the cinematography in this film. Yes, it was shot on digital, but the way it looks, it tries to emulate being shot on film with the grainy filter. But the shots and angles the camera uses like when Orpheus heads down to the underworld for the first time or the final shot of the cast and audience raising their cups stick out to me. I think this film matches the show’s energy as well, sometimes frenetically cutting to keep up with the show, but never detracts from the experience, only enhancing it. I do feel like the show used the lighting to its maximum potential because I doubt that’s what it looks like every night. So many wonderfully lit scenes and usage of the lights. I think the costumes are great. I love how much it sticks to the concept of this steampunk-like world. I mean, that’s the only way to describe it. But I also really like the set too.

I think the songs are still gorgeous. With now knowing the context and how the cast is performing each song, they hit even harder. With reuniting the original Broadway cast, one can get worried that they will either act like they never left or it will be obvious that time has taken some of the beauty that was seen originally. At first, it seemed that way with the older cast members like de Shields and Page’s voices sounding like they were wavering. But it didn’t matter. Watching them perform showed us all why they are so iconic as these roles. While Reeve Carney isn’t the most expressive of the cast, his voice is angelic as the naive and poor poet Orpheus. He does his best work when he’s effortlessly belting out songs, hanging out in heaven with his falsetto or overcome with the power of the music. Eva Noblezada carries the emotional weight of the musical when she plays Eurydice. She nails every emotional moment, her voice emotive and trembling with every failure. She nails what’s needed in every scene, constantly proactive as she’s attuned to her scene partners. Andre de Shields relies on his charm and stage presence as Hermes. Taking his time and moving in hypnotic ways to reel the audience in as the main storyteller. Patrick Page bass vocals rattles the stage and commands the stage as Hades. And Ms. Amber Gray? She’s the most expressive out of everyone else. Carrying an energy with her that embodies the joyfulness and tragedy of this show. She’s so much fun and adds many layers. The ensemble is also great, don’t get it twisted. They make their small numbers feel like a grand ensemble.

But with this film, there’s one last thing to discuss and it’s the reason why I hold it now in even higher regard: it’s how it talks about love. Love of life. Love of life. Love of the human race and all the hurt that comes with it. To love is to dance. To love is to sacrifice. To love is to understand. To love to go through hell and back again. To love is to look. To love is to do it all over again, a thousand times because it might turn it out differently this time.

We are so blessed to have two Greek adaptations in theaters right now and that they are both masterpieces. Make sure to see this before it leaves theaters. It only has 3 days left.

RATING: 5/5