Hadestown Is A Remarkable Jazzy Version of An Age-Old Mythological Tale

‘Hadestown: This Jazzy Version of an Age-Old Story Comes Highly Recommended’ is a review by Irina Dunn.

Composer Anaïs Mitchell originally produced the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice as a song album, and it ended up as a musical set in Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana.  

Here, the age-old story is told through the strains and rhythms of a jazz band arranged on stage, three musicians on a raised platform to the left, four on the right. In this way, the Theatre Royal is transformed into a jazz palace. 

In the opening scenes, four swing dancers enliven the jazz palace with their energetic movements, and later, down in Hades, five dancers circle the stage as workers labouring in the mines. 

Eurydice, movingly sung by Abigail Adriano, has descended to the underworld of her own volition because cost-of-living etc was tough up above (ring any bells?) and Hades promises her warmth (plenty of it!) and food down there. Instead, she is made to join an industrial workforce in the mines. 

Orpheus leaves behind his job waiting on tables in Preservation Hall to pursue his paramour to the depths of Hades. In the role of the young lover and musician, Noah Mullins sometimes had difficulty sliding between his falsetto and tenor ranges but that may have been first-night nerves. When he got it right, his voice was beautiful. 

It’s a pity Eurydice was dressed in dirty brown rags taken from Vinnies. Nonetheless the young lovers were moving in their portrayal of the doomed pair, although more drama could have been made of the moment Orpheus disobeys Hades’ command.  

The other two characters in Hell are Hades himself and his wife Persephone — his niece (yes, the Greek gods didn’t mind a bit of incest!) whom he abducted from her parents, Zeus and spouse Demeter, to become his wife. 

The most interesting character, and one who commands the stage with his presence, is Adrian Tamburini as Hades, whose impressive bass rings out across to the back seats of the theatre.  

Sung by Elenoa Rokobaro, Persephone is a spicy little antagonist to her husband / uncle, and their moments of conflict are all too human. 

Watching over the young pair is Hermes, the winged herald who can move between the upper and lower worlds and is the protector of travellers. In her silver outfit, Christine Anu is an impressive Hermes as she moves about on the edges of the action explaining the story and guiding the characters.  

Also on stage are the three Fates, who sing and dance their way through the production. Their only “solo” song, Word to The Wise, is an address to Hades, who is uncertain whether to let Orpheus and Eurydice leave his realm. Their last words, “give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves” gives him the idea for the terrible promise he exacts from Orpheus.

Hadestown is remarkable for the variety of the interesting songs – both music and lyrics – that Mitchell has produced, from Why We Build the Wall (“Why do we build the wall, we build the wall to keep us free” – a nod to Trump, I think) to the beautiful and moving concluding hymn to Orpheus, Pour The Wine and Raise a Cup. 

Despite a glitch which had the auditorium lights turned on half an hour into the musical for about 10 minutes, this wonderfully original musical proceeded smoothly. The costumes were mostly terrific, the staging and lighting were excellent, and the choreography by David Neumann and direction by Rachel Chavkin were exceptional. All this made for a terrific audience experience. 

Given that Anaïs Mitchell originally wrote the musical as a song album, it’s remarkable how far it’s come and how many awards it has picked up along the way. 

Highly recommended – by me!

Hadestown

Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell is on at the Theatre Royal until 26 April.