By David Roberts
Theatre Reviews Limited
Producers Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy announced today that “Hadestown,” the new musical by celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, developed with visionary director and Tony Award® nominee Rachel Chavkin, will transfer this spring to Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street).
Preview performances for “Hadestown” will begin Friday, March 22 ahead of a Wednesday, April 17 official opening night. Casting and ticketing information for the Broadway production will be announced shortly.
“The genius of Anaïs Mitchell’s work in “Hadestown” is that she takes a myth as old as time and gives it a new life so vibrant and relevant that audiences hold their breath, waiting to see how this timeless tale will unfold,” producer Mara Isaacs said. “Rachel Chavkin and the entire creative team have created a pulse-racing world for Anaïs’ joyous and haunting score to live. As we prepare for Broadway, I’m thrilled for New York audiences to see this entirely new production, a raucous and electrifying celebration that is truly a show for our times.”
“Hadestown” originated in 2006 as Mitchell’s community theater project that traveled Vermont before gaining a cult following when she turned the songs into an acclaimed album which was called “far and away one of the best records of 2010” (Sunday Times of London). In 2013, Mitchell saw Chavkin’s celebrated Off-Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812, and knew she had found her artistic partner. Together, the two women have transformed “Hadestown” into a genre-defying new musical that blends modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz to reimagine a sweeping ancient tale.
“Hadestown” electrified audiences with its 2016 world premiere at New York Theatre Workshop before receiving its Canadian premiere at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre in 2017. The National Theatre provided further development to “Hadestown” in London and the show is currently playing at the National’s Olivier Theatre through Saturday, January 26, 2019, before it’s eagerly anticipated Broadway debut.
“Hadestown” follows two intertwining love stories — that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone — as it invites audiences on an epic journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and Chavkin’s poetic imagination pit nature against industry, faith against doubt, and love against fear. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers and singers, “Hadestown” delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience.
Welcome to the intriguing and beautiful world of “your next musical theater obsession” (Vogue).
The creative team for Broadway will feature Drama Desk Award nominee Rachel Hauck (set design), three-time Tony Award nominee Michael Krass (costume design), Tony Award winner Bradley King (lighting design), Tony Award nominee Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz (sound design), Bessie Award® winner David Neumann (choreography), Liam Robinson (music direction and vocal arrangements), Michael Chorney, Todd Sickafoose (arrangements and orchestrations), Ken Cerniglia (dramaturgy), and Stewart/Whitley (casting).
“Hadestown” was developed with funding from the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center and was further developed by The Ground Floor at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. “Hadestown” was co-conceived by Ben T. Matchstick.