Review: ‘Hadestown’ at the Walter Kerr Theatre

The cast of “Hadestown” on Broadway

The setting is now a Great Depression-inspired post Apocalypse, something the three Fates describe in the show’s opening number, “Any Way the Wind Blows.” Hermes (yes, he’s crept into this upside down legend, too), played by the rather formidable André De Shields, nattily attired in a shiny silver suit, introduces each character in “Road to Hell,” where he invites theatergoers to “Ride that train to the end of the line,” an offer no one refuses for the next three hours.

Directed by Rachel Chavkin, the story alternates between a mechanical underworld, reminiscent of catacombs in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, and a basement jazz joint in New Orleans, where a swinging seven-piece onstage band delivers Ms. Mitchell’s folk/blues/pop/Dixieland score, while Rachel Hauck’s haunting set miraculously morphs from one to the other.

David Neumann’s choreography knows no bounds, especially the scene where a group of hanging lamps in the Underworld factory move in as polished a fashion to the music as the factory workers.

The term “Myth” comes from the Ancient Greek μῦθος, or mythos, which means a speech, narrative, fiction, or plot. In turn, the Ancient Greek μυθολογία, or mythología, means the telling of stories. “Hadestown,” as it turns out, is a community of storytellers, not very different in this respect from Chavkin’s “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.”

And the stories are told again, and again, and again.

Appropriately enough, at the very end of “Hadestown,” a rather dejected looking Hermes begins to tell this particular story again, noting that, no matter how many times it is told or sung, people always hope for a happier ending. And in the moving final number, Persephone continues to tell the story as well, raising a toast to Orpheus (“I Raise My Cup”).

THE DETAILS

Hadestown
Walter Kerr Theatre
219 W 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
Runtime: 2 hours and 30 min.
www.hadestown.com

(Photos: Accura Media Group)

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