I suspect Hadestown's versatility may come from its origins as a more local folk and community theater project. The original cast from 2006 was a vague mass of whoever had free time that winter (which was a lot of people; Vermont in winter is a very quiet time). This versatility continued through the 2010 studio album, or rather its live performances. Anais would travel with the show's orchestra (Michael Chorney on guitar, Robinson Morse on bass, Geza Carr on drums, Andrew Moroz on trombone, and various people on violin/viola and cello). At each town the tour came to, she'd find the local musicians, and invite them to play parts of the opera. Whoever was available would play whatever part they could fit themselves into; should my memory serve me correctly Sean Hayes played Orpheus, Hermes, and Hades at various performances. His Hermes was one of my favorites (though Ben Matchstick will always be on top for me). Even as the show grew, that versatility remained. It remembers what it was.
I've seen Hadestown on Broadway six times and I'm looking into seeing the tour next month. I couldn't agree more, I feel like every time i see a new actor they imbue the roles with their own character (for better or for worse) and it's incredible to see
Hadestown is my favorite show of all time. When I want to laugh? I listen to Something Rotten or Spamalot. When I want to cry? Oh, baby, it's Next to Normal. When I want to just... feel good? Anastasia. But Hadestown takes you back to the past-not to the origins of Broadway, but to the origin of theatre itself: Ancient Greece. Not only by its plot since it's a Greek myth, but because it achieves the final objective of theatre: catharsis. I haven't seen it live, but the cast recording, the clips, the slime tutorials, everything brings you catharsis. I love this show so much and I hope to play Persephone, Fate 3 or Hermes someday.
Every actor brings something unique to every role they're in, but i feel like hadestown really lets those choices breathe and flourish. I love how confident damon daunno was as orpheus versus how naive reeve was, and Jordan Fisher plays him with so much beautiful passion and explores orpheus's anger from what I've heard. I got to see hadestown live for the first time last week and saw Brandon Cameron understudy orpheus, and I think he brought such a beautiful balance to all of those characteristics above, he was phenomenal, I think he handled the space for interpretation so well.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and insights! I completely agree that Hadestown provides a unique space for each actor to bring their own interpretation to the roles. It's incredible to see how different actors like Damon Daunno, Reeve Carney, Jordan Fisher, and Brandon Cameron can each bring distinct qualities to Orpheus, highlighting various aspects of his character. I'm thrilled you got to see such a phenomenal performance live. Your appreciation for the nuances each actor brings truly reflects the living, evolving nature of this beautiful musical.
i agree! its the same thing with six where every actor brings something new to their characters that it is different but still is the same thing at the same time. it makes the viewing and listening experience so fun because the same material is reinterpreted and then appreciated by the audience without the need for comparison of each version or actor. variety within the same material keeps the show alive. it has been my favorite musical ever since i found out about it.
I am not too familiar with Six, so I will take your word for it. But yes its lovely to see that each actor is allowed to put their own stamp on Hadestown, isn't it.
Incredibly well put. I'm so excited for Hadestown to be more common in regional productions, and getting to see a bunch of different takes on it. (I for one would love to see a version that leans into its steampunk and post-apocalyptic elements)
I think the copyright with musicals is one of the main things that makes the medium so stuck right now. If you look at text theatre, stuff like Shakespeare is constantly rearranged, rewritten, re-imagined for new audience. Many of those ideas suck, but the ability to experiment allows for the old stories to stay relevant and find new audiences. I would LOVE to do a reworking of ALW's Phantom of the Opera where I look at it from a different angle and attempt to make the whole thing slightly less ableist, but I'm simply not allowed to. It's maddening.
You nailed it, my friend. You freaking nailed it. I have always cynically said “Broadway is a business; Theatre is an art” until I saw Hadestown. What an incredible production… this short video, as brief as it was, moved me to tears. I feel that passionate about theatre and you nailed it. I recently assistant directed a production of Spring Awakening at my college. Something that aroused me, and not rather positively, was the choreographer using some of the original choreography from the Broadway production, but just very subtly. Why do we subdue our curiosity and compromise our quality of work to produce a product of the past? Theatre IS alive. In addition, many of the cast folks have had conversations about the differences between our production and the Broadway production, as if any production of a musical that was on Broadway should be the gold standard for the prospective productions of the same titles. This model of consumerism and (as you mentioned in your brilliant video) the product of theatre, has us under a spell. Broadway is not definitive of anything. It should not be. But somehow, the theatre industry is under that spell that any title that reaches a scale such as Broadway is definitive and the formula goes: to ensure the success of a title being produced regionally or in a community theatre, it has to be similar if not the same to the original Broadway production. I hope we come to accept that a Broadway production of a title can just be and let be. It’s okay to play with theatre….
Thank you so much for your insightful comment, @andreslikestheatre! I wholeheartedly agree with you that theatre as an art form should be allowed to evolve and change. Your experiences with Spring Awakening and the discussions surrounding it highlight an important aspect of the industry's current state. You're absolutely right that the pressure to mimic Broadway productions can sometimes stifle creativity and originality. It's essential for us as artists to challenge this mindset and embrace the uniqueness of each production, allowing it to stand on its own merits rather than being constrained by past interpretations. I appreciate your passion for theatre and your dedication to pushing boundaries in your own work. Let's continue to encourage experimentation and innovation within the theatre community. Here's to celebrating the diversity of voices and perspectives in our art form!
You should watch some videos of the WestEnd right now, they have made interesting changes that change the characters in subtle but important and unique ways, I love this show so much!
It’s an interesting point to bring up MacKintosh because indeed his clauses do stymy innovation in future projects. Although, MacKintosh himself has sited Tyrone Guthries production agreements as his model. As Brecht would say “model-T theatre” has always been around.
Also, I saw the recent tour of Les Mis a few months ago, and they had made changes from the last time I saw it on tour in 2019. For one, the original tour cut Dog Eats Dog, which I was happy about, but the new tour added it back. The staging was similar with set pieces, but many actors made some changes with their characters and songs. For instance, I have heard "Bring Him Home" performed many times, but this time was so unique and amazing the way he sang and closed the song, the audience literally sat in silence for 30 seconds until they all realized they should start clapping. So while much of the show was the same, no major changes, I think shows are starting to realize you need to allow actors to do unique portrayals. I think Hadestown and Six have been the best at letting this happen, I have seen both performed several times, but other shows are slowly catching on.
I really don’t think any musical could dethrone hadestown as my favorite of all time. It’s just so unique and perfect.
It really is quite good.
I suspect Hadestown's versatility may come from its origins as a more local folk and community theater project. The original cast from 2006 was a vague mass of whoever had free time that winter (which was a lot of people; Vermont in winter is a very quiet time). This versatility continued through the 2010 studio album, or rather its live performances. Anais would travel with the show's orchestra (Michael Chorney on guitar, Robinson Morse on bass, Geza Carr on drums, Andrew Moroz on trombone, and various people on violin/viola and cello). At each town the tour came to, she'd find the local musicians, and invite them to play parts of the opera. Whoever was available would play whatever part they could fit themselves into; should my memory serve me correctly Sean Hayes played Orpheus, Hermes, and Hades at various performances. His Hermes was one of my favorites (though Ben Matchstick will always be on top for me).
Even as the show grew, that versatility remained. It remembers what it was.
It’s a good thesis as to why the show works. A show is made or broken in its pre broadway life.
@@julianrmundsI’ll take your word for it! I don’t know much about musicals or shows or theater. I just know entirely too much about Hadestown
I've seen Hadestown on Broadway six times and I'm looking into seeing the tour next month. I couldn't agree more, I feel like every time i see a new actor they imbue the roles with their own character (for better or for worse) and it's incredible to see
Wow! You are a big fan. Good for you!
Hadestown is my favorite show of all time. When I want to laugh? I listen to Something Rotten or Spamalot. When I want to cry? Oh, baby, it's Next to Normal. When I want to just... feel good? Anastasia. But Hadestown takes you back to the past-not to the origins of Broadway, but to the origin of theatre itself: Ancient Greece. Not only by its plot since it's a Greek myth, but because it achieves the final objective of theatre: catharsis. I haven't seen it live, but the cast recording, the clips, the slime tutorials, everything brings you catharsis. I love this show so much and I hope to play Persephone, Fate 3 or Hermes someday.
I hope you get try those roles too! You are set with a great playlist.
Every actor brings something unique to every role they're in, but i feel like hadestown really lets those choices breathe and flourish. I love how confident damon daunno was as orpheus versus how naive reeve was, and Jordan Fisher plays him with so much beautiful passion and explores orpheus's anger from what I've heard. I got to see hadestown live for the first time last week and saw Brandon Cameron understudy orpheus, and I think he brought such a beautiful balance to all of those characteristics above, he was phenomenal, I think he handled the space for interpretation so well.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and insights! I completely agree that Hadestown provides a unique space for each actor to bring their own interpretation to the roles. It's incredible to see how different actors like Damon Daunno, Reeve Carney, Jordan Fisher, and Brandon Cameron can each bring distinct qualities to Orpheus, highlighting various aspects of his character. I'm thrilled you got to see such a phenomenal performance live. Your appreciation for the nuances each actor brings truly reflects the living, evolving nature of this beautiful musical.
I saw Brandon Cameron as well and he is amazing. None of the Orpheuses are bad, they’re just different and that’s what makes it so beautiful.
i agree! its the same thing with six where every actor brings something new to their characters that it is different but still is the same thing at the same time. it makes the viewing and listening experience so fun because the same material is reinterpreted and then appreciated by the audience without the need for comparison of each version or actor. variety within the same material keeps the show alive. it has been my favorite musical ever since i found out about it.
I am not too familiar with Six, so I will take your word for it. But yes its lovely to see that each actor is allowed to put their own stamp on Hadestown, isn't it.
this is like actually the most underrated video on the internet
Thank you!
Incredibly well put. I'm so excited for Hadestown to be more common in regional productions, and getting to see a bunch of different takes on it. (I for one would love to see a version that leans into its steampunk and post-apocalyptic elements)
That's a fascinating aspect I hadn't even considered.
I think the copyright with musicals is one of the main things that makes the medium so stuck right now. If you look at text theatre, stuff like Shakespeare is constantly rearranged, rewritten, re-imagined for new audience. Many of those ideas suck, but the ability to experiment allows for the old stories to stay relevant and find new audiences. I would LOVE to do a reworking of ALW's Phantom of the Opera where I look at it from a different angle and attempt to make the whole thing slightly less ableist, but I'm simply not allowed to. It's maddening.
You are not wrong. And I will likely do a talk in the future with this in mind.
Musicals aren't stuck lol
You nailed it, my friend. You freaking nailed it.
I have always cynically said “Broadway is a business; Theatre is an art” until I saw Hadestown. What an incredible production… this short video, as brief as it was, moved me to tears. I feel that passionate about theatre and you nailed it.
I recently assistant directed a production of Spring Awakening at my college. Something that aroused me, and not rather positively, was the choreographer using some of the original choreography from the Broadway production, but just very subtly. Why do we subdue our curiosity and compromise our quality of work to produce a product of the past? Theatre IS alive. In addition, many of the cast folks have had conversations about the differences between our production and the Broadway production, as if any production of a musical that was on Broadway should be the gold standard for the prospective productions of the same titles. This model of consumerism and (as you mentioned in your brilliant video) the product of theatre, has us under a spell. Broadway is not definitive of anything. It should not be. But somehow, the theatre industry is under that spell that any title that reaches a scale such as Broadway is definitive and the formula goes: to ensure the success of a title being produced regionally or in a community theatre, it has to be similar if not the same to the original Broadway production. I hope we come to accept that a Broadway production of a title can just be and let be. It’s okay to play with theatre….
Thank you so much for your insightful comment, @andreslikestheatre! I wholeheartedly agree with you that theatre as an art form should be allowed to evolve and change. Your experiences with Spring Awakening and the discussions surrounding it highlight an important aspect of the industry's current state.
You're absolutely right that the pressure to mimic Broadway productions can sometimes stifle creativity and originality. It's essential for us as artists to challenge this mindset and embrace the uniqueness of each production, allowing it to stand on its own merits rather than being constrained by past interpretations.
I appreciate your passion for theatre and your dedication to pushing boundaries in your own work. Let's continue to encourage experimentation and innovation within the theatre community. Here's to celebrating the diversity of voices and perspectives in our art form!
You should watch some videos of the WestEnd right now, they have made interesting changes that change the characters in subtle but important and unique ways, I love this show so much!
I will look it up. Thank you.
We can look to Cameron Mackintosh in the 1980s, he pioneered the factory model.
It’s an interesting point to bring up MacKintosh because indeed his clauses do stymy innovation in future projects. Although, MacKintosh himself has sited Tyrone Guthries production agreements as his model. As Brecht would say “model-T theatre” has always been around.
you could 100% read audiobooks
Thank you. I in fact have!
Also, I saw the recent tour of Les Mis a few months ago, and they had made changes from the last time I saw it on tour in 2019. For one, the original tour cut Dog Eats Dog, which I was happy about, but the new tour added it back. The staging was similar with set pieces, but many actors made some changes with their characters and songs. For instance, I have heard "Bring Him Home" performed many times, but this time was so unique and amazing the way he sang and closed the song, the audience literally sat in silence for 30 seconds until they all realized they should start clapping. So while much of the show was the same, no major changes, I think shows are starting to realize you need to allow actors to do unique portrayals. I think Hadestown and Six have been the best at letting this happen, I have seen both performed several times, but other shows are slowly catching on.
This is good to hear.
I agree with what you say. I loved the new way staging of Lez Mis.
1:54
It’s the way you said “duUuUde!” Like your friend just took a bite of your food
I have indeed been in this situation.
An interesting analysis! I didn't know about this history.
Also, are you by chance using a voice program for your voice over?
Yes I am. I just simply use audacity and my recording mic.