Hadestown, one hell of a ride
Going Down? Tony Award-winner “Hadestown” at the Ahmanson by Bondo Wyszpolski As the house lights dim and the stage lights emerge, we seem to be in a Depression-era New Orleans honkytonk saloon. Right away, ah, there’s a welcoming allure, but one years in the making. This unconventional re-spinning of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth by Anaïs Mitchell began brewing in 2006. She composed the lively music, wrote the lyrics, crafted the book, and in 2019 “Hadestown” garnered 14 Tony nominations, winning eight, including those for Best Musical and Best Original score. Now it’s on the move, at the Ahmanson through May and later this summer in Costa Mesa. Liberties are taken, in this chronicle of a death foretold. Orpheus (Nicholas Barasch) will win and then lose his Eurydice (Morgan Siobhan Green), and after a heroic effort lose her yet again. Musicals, however, rarely if ever end on the downbeat, whereas with opera not only is a prolonged demise expected, but often the tenor or soprano will rise up from their deathbed to sing one last aria. Even this reviewer has openly wept and pulled out his hair at performances of “Madama Butterfly.” And so, just as the ship goes down in every version…
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