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Hadestown

  • Anaïs Mitchell's haunting, jazz-inflected folk opera follows Orpheus’ mythical quest to overcome Hades and regain the favor of his one true love, Eurydice.

    * * PERFORMANCE RIGHTS CURRENTLY WITHDRAWN * *

    • More information

    Description

    • Full Length Musical
    • Drama, Fables/Folktales
    • 120 minutes

    • Target Audience: Teen (Age 14 - 18), Adult
    • Cautions: Alcohol, Mild Adult Themes
    • Orchestra Size: Medium

    • Performance Group:
    • High School/Secondary, College Theatre / Student, Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups, Professional Theatre

    • Accolades:
    • Winner! Eight Tony Awards including Best Musical (2019)
      Winner! Four Drama Desk Awards (2019)
      Winner! Six Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding New Broadway Musical (2019)
      Winner! Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical (2019)
    This intriguing and beautiful folk opera delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience. Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of immortal King Hades and lady Persephone — Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. 

    Inspired by traditions of classic American folk music and vintage New Orleans jazz, Mitchell’s beguiling sung-through musical pits industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love.
    REVIEWS:

    "Achingly beautiful, thought-provoking, powerful and prophetic."

     Newsday

    "Sumptuous... Gorgeous... As good as it gets... You wish you could live in the glowy moment forever."

     The New York Times

    "Utterly fabulous... arrives on Broadway with a furnace-like blast of creativity."

     The Hollywood Reporter

    "A transporting musical hit... Anaïs Mitchell’s score is a joyful combination of folk, pop, Dixieland and blues that will make you want to rehear it as soon as the lights come up."

     Time Out

    "Unforgettable. Simply one of the most exquisite works of musical storytelling I’ve seen in my more than 25 years as a theater critic. In its supple convergence of story and song, Hadestown represents a step forward for the art form."

     Los Angeles Times

    "Visionary and ravishing. An intricate and gorgeous feat of songwriting, a vehicle for dynamite performances and a courageous experiment with form, Hadestown is cause for celebration."

     New York Magazine

    "Heavenly. Haunting. Exquisite."

     WNYC

    "The songs are gorgeous, the band is hot, and the lyrics are eerily apt for the times."

     The New Yorker

    "Hadestown feels like something more intuitive, elemental, and finely woven than a traditional musical."

     The Guardian

    Premiere Production:

    After its origins as a DIY community theatre project in 2006 and a studio album in 2010, Hadestown electrified audiences with its 2016 world premiere at New York Theatre Workshop, becoming the longest-running show in that celebrated theatre’s 40-year history. The production then received its Canadian premiere at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre in 2017 and then a 2018 sold-out engagement at London’s National Theatre. Hadestown opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on April 17, 2019, developed with and directed by Rachel Chavkin, starring Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada and Patrick Page. Hadestown made its West End debut in February 2024 at the Lyric Theatre, London. Directed by Chavkin, the production featured Dónal Finn, Grace Hodgett Young, Zachary James, Melanie La Barrie and Gloria Onitiri.

    Characters

    • Casting: 2M, 5F, 1M or F
    • Casting Attributes: Roles for Multicultural Casting, Role(s) for Non-Binary Actor(s)
    • Chorus Size: Small

  • ORPHEUS – Lyre-playing poet, gifted and naïve
    EURYDICE – A runaway, tough and vulnerable
    HADES – Compulsive industrialist, boss-king of Hadestown
    PERSEPHONE – Queen of nature and the seasons, a lush
    HERMES – Charismatic guide and storyteller, mentor to Orpheus
    FATES – Three sisters, vicious and delicious, voices in the head
    WORKERS – Spirits of labor and community, a physical and choral presence

  • In the Broadway production, the WORKERS were performed by an ensemble of five performers.

  • AUTHOR'S NOTES:
    BAND – The onstage BAND, while not listed with the characters above, is an omnipresence in Hadestown, and may join in the singing at times. For licensees using performance tracks, we've provided suggested workarounds for "Road To Hell" and Our Lady Of The Underground" (two numbers in which the BAND is directly introduced).

  • WORKERS – In the Broadway production, the WORKERS were performed by five ensemble members. Performer tracking for those five roles has been retained as follows: WORKER 1: Mezzo-Soprano; WORKER 2: Alto; WORKER 3: Tenor; WORKER 4: Baritenor; WORKER 5: Baritone. While the vocal arrangements were designed for an ensemble of five performers, licensees are welcome to envision these WORKER roles with a larger ensemble and add to the existing minimum cast framework to suit their cast.

  • HERMES – The character of HERMES has been played on Broadway by both male- and female-identifying performers. In the latter case, whenever HERMES is referred to as “Mister Hermes,” performers should use “Missus Hermes.” There is no alternate vocal score, but every HERMES should feel free to place lines or verses in a different octave if it feels or sounds better.

  • Along those lines, we are still discovering ways in which the casting of Hadestown can become more diverse, and your production will be part of that discovery! These mythic characters are archetypal but also reimagined and open to interpretation by actors of all gender identities. It has felt important to us both to reflect the diversity of the community in which the story is presented and to be mindful of the narrative implications of those choices. For any questions regarding casting, please contact your Licensing Representative.

    • Available Material

    Name Price
    Perusal Material This is optional.

    1 x Vocal Book
    1 x Libretto

    		$0.00
    Libretto This is optional. Order Now

    This intriguing and beautiful folk opera delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience. Following two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of immortal King Hades and lady Persephone — Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. 

    PLEASE NOTE: The LIBRETTO is available for SALE ONLY and is not available for hire as part of the Rehearsal Material set. It must be purchased separately.

    		$24.95

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