‘Hadestown: The Musical’ Review – A Magical Capture That Combines The Best of Live Theatre And Film

Eva Noblezada as Eurydice and Reeve Carney as Orpheus in Hadestown: The Musical | Courtesy of Bleecker Street and LD Entertainment

Journey into the depths of the underworld in Brett Sullivan’s magical capture of the beloved Broadway hit, Hadestown: The Musical. Based on Rachel Chavkin’s stage direction and featuring music and lyrics from Anaïs Mitchell, Hadestown: The Musical breathes new life into a pair of familiar Greek myths. Captured over a week of performances in London’s West End, this filmed version of Hadestown: The Musical reunites the original five leads from Hadestown‘s Broadway run—Reeve Carney, Eva Noblezada, Patrick Page, Amber Gray, and André De Shields—and captures their performances for posterity in a recording that sets a new gold standard for live theatrical films. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll walk out of the theater humming more than a few unforgettable tunes.

An Old Tale Retold for A Modern Age

Hadestown takes the Greek myths of Orpheus (Carney) and Eurydice (Noblezada), and of Hades (Page) and Persephone (Gray), and remixes them into a jazz-inspired musical about hope in the face of insurmountable odds. Meet Orpheus and Eurydice, a pair of young lovers facing the harshness of the world—a harshness made all the worse by the secretive factory run by Hades and the ever-worsening conditions caused by Persephone’s longer and longer absences from the world above. While Orpheus sets about finishing the song he believes will “bring the world back into tune”, Eurydice finds herself tempted by the promises of Hades and his mysteriously prosperous Hadestown. And the rest, as they say, is the epitome of tragedy as Orpheus races to the underworld on a desperate quest to free his love from Hades’ clutches.

As the messenger god, Hermes (De Shields), says throughout the show, “it’s a sad song, but we sing it anyway”. And that’s the message at the core of Hadestown—no matter how hard the road may appear, we must always go down it. We must always hope against hope that this time, this time, everything will turn out all right. At its core, Hadestown is an ode to “the world we dream about, and the one we live in now”, and that message shines bright throughout the musical. Led by the heartbreaking and electric performances of its outstanding cast, Hadestown is a piece of theatre that’s beautiful in its tragedy, hopeful in its hopelessness, and wholly magical in every sense of the word. And it’s that sense of magic that Brett Sullivan captures so perfectly in this recording that carefully walks the line between theatrical stage musical and cinematic extravaganza.

More of a Concert Film than a Traditional Theatrical Musical Recording

Seeing a production of Hadestown is a communal experience. We all know the story, and yet we’re collectively swept away by the depths of the performances and the lure of Mitchell’s music. Sullivan’s capture of Hadestown maintains that communal experience while also doing things only a film can do. Here, the camera wanders throughout the theatre, mixing wider shots from the audience’s perspective with more immersive close-ups from the onstage characters’ perspectives. What results is this electric hodgepodge of immersive storytelling that both elevates the stage production into a cinematic masterpiece while honoring its roots as a piece of live theatre, complete with shots of the live band and shots of the live audience reacting to the events onstage, with their audible reactions retained within the film’s sound mix.

In this sense, Sullivan’s recording of Hadestown feels more like a concert film than a traditional recording of a stage musical. Sure, Sullivan prioritizes the needs of the story, both narratively and emotionally; every decision made is in service of the story in one way or another. But Sullivan also takes great care to preserve the experience of seeing Hadestown. It’s both a capture of the story itself and the experience of seeing the story; an ode to the piece’s inherent theatricality while also taking advantage of the unique perspectives film can offer. If you’ve seen Hadestown a hundred times, you’ll find something new in this recording—whether it’s angles you could never hope to see from the audience or little moments shared between actors. And if you’re new to the world of Hadestown, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect starting place.

Persephone and Hades

While Hadestown may be a technical marvel, the reunion of the musical’s original Broadway leads and the performances they give make up the heart and soul of this production. Gray is the obvious highlight here. Persephone starts the show needing to self-medicate just to survive her time in Hadestown but ultimately ends up in a more hopeful place, filled with a newfound sense of life. Gray gives that journey such a real, palpable sense of reality. She’s got all of these larger-than-life moments in her musical numbers, but then there are all of these quiet moments where she just reacts to what’s going on around her, and those moments are what bring Persephone to life.

Similarly, Page commands both the stage and screen, prowling around like a scorpion ready to strike, seemingly unaffected by the injury that’s left him in a medical boot that’s been brilliantly incorporated into his costume. Page finds both the intensity of the character and the vulnerability, often in the same song, and he’s a sight to behold. There’s a specific moment he shares with Persephone toward the musical’s climax that’s so heartbreaking in its vulnerability but also subtle enough to be missed onstage, and Sullivan captures it brilliantly here. Together, Gray and Page play off each other exactly the way a long-married couple might. There’s grief, sure, but there’s an immense amount of love shared between them. 

Orpheus, Eurydice, and Hermes

Speaking of love, Carney and Noblezada ground Orpheus and Eurydice’s tragic love story in a real sense of desperation. Orpheus is desperate to finish his song, fix the world, and give Eurydice everything she could possibly want. Meanwhile, Eurydice is just so desperate to survive and be seen. It’s their desperation that spells their doom, and Carney and Noblezada follow those desperations to their extremes. But still, the love they share is palpable and electric, even as their orbits ebb and flow from one another. They make up the heart of the show, and they carry that weight on their shoulders brilliantly.

And then there’s De Shields’ Hermes, the narrator of the show who holds it all together. De Shields imbues Hermes with this playful edge; never sinister but always knowing. He never judges the characters, even as it seems he knows their decisions and outcomes before they happen. Instead, he gives the piece a real sense of hope and warmth; a guiding light in troubled times. Members of the West End production fill out the rest of the cast, and all of them leap off the screen—particularly Bella Brown, Madeline Charlemagne, and Allie Daniel, all of whom give the Fates a deliciously sinister edge as they move in and out of the story.

Aided by Sullivan’s camerawork, even the devoted will find something new in the cast’s performances, whether a subtle facial expression or an off-the-cuff interaction between two characters. This is a preservation of a cast at the top of their game and an everlasting ode to the years of work and dedication they’ve poured into the material.

Final Thoughts

Brett Sullivan’s capture of Hadestown: The Musical delivers a live theatrical recording that’s about as perfect as could be. Combining the best elements of live theatre and film, Hadestown: The Musical is both a celebration of the experience of seeing Hadestown on stage and a brilliant piece of storytelling in its own right. Led by the electric performances of the show’s reunited Broadway cast, Hadestown: The Musical finds the hope within the hopeless and the joy within the tragedy. It’s a magical recording that’s sure to please Hadestown devotees and newbies alike. And for those in the know, keep an ear out for that iconic Hadestown gasp; long may it reign.

Hadestown: The Musical opens in theaters July 24th, courtesy of Crosswalk, a division of Bleecker Street.