Durham Performing Arts Center Review

Hadestown Is Heaven for DPAC Patrons! Don't Miss It!

The Durham Performing Arts Center will present Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown on Feb. 22-27 (photo by T Charles Erickson)

"Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do?" (lyrics from "Word to the Wise")
-- Hadestown --

The North American tour of Hadestown, playing now through Sunday, Feb. 27th, at the Durham Performing Arts Center, is a multiple-award-winning 2016 Off-Broadway, 2018 West End, and 2019 Broadway musical, with music, lyrics, and book by Vermont singer/songwriter Anaïs Mitchell. Based on the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and developed by Mitchell and director Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown begins with a warning from our host and herald of the gods, Hermes (played by Levi Kreis, in a snazzy snakeskin suit) that this is a sad tale we're about to hear. For most of us, the story is ancient in our minds; and we may not exactly remember what happens in the end. At least not right away.

There were Tony Awards® all around for this show in 2019: for Best Musical, Best Original Score Written for the Theatre, Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, and Best Orchestrations. In addition to the Tony Awards, Hadestown also won four Drama Desk Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards, and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical.

DPAC audiences on Tuesday night were excited to see something that they knew would be top quality, and the house was almost completely full. People were happy to be attending a live theater event, eagerly showing their proof-of-vaccination cards to the friendly DPAC greeters.

Anaïs Mitchell's score, which won a Grammy® for best musical-theater album, helps to hone in on our location: American folk ballads, Southern blues, and New Orleans jazz. These three musical styles are based on storytelling, and placing the band physically on the stage shows us that the music is, indeed, at the heart of the story. This heartfelt and imaginative play artfully and beautifully combines mythology and a love story, with a dose of social commentary that rings true in today's troubled world.

Levi Kreis (left), Morgan Siobhan Green, and Nicholas Barasch star as Hermes, Eurydice, and Opheus (photo by T Charles Erickson)

Eurydice (played by Morgan Siobhan Green) is a street waif who arrives cold and hungry to take shelter in a seedy train-station café. There she meets and falls in love with a young singer/songwriter, Orpheus (played by Nicholas Barasch). When Hades, the god of the underworld, lures Eurydice into the underworld with the promise of shelter and food, Orpheus sets out on a dangerous journey to bring his love back home.

Meanwhile, Hades and his lady Persephone, queen of the underworld and the embodiment of Spring, are having relationship problems. Persephone's presence on Earth brings mild weather, and plenty of food, booze, and prosperity. But the jealous Hades wants his Persephone with him in the underworld more of the time, bringing longer winters and hard times to those above.

According to the myth, Orpheus has such a magical singing voice, that he can charm the birds and calm wild beasts. Actor/singer Nicholas Barasch has a beautiful, pure tenor that certainly charmed the audience at Tuesday night's performance, and he makes it easy to understand why Eurydice would fall in love with Orpheus. Eurydice, in the legend, dies of a snakebite right away, and pretty much doesn't have much of a personality. But in Hadestown, Eurydice holds her own, as does Morgan Siobhan Green. The Orpheus and Eurydice duet, "Wedding Song," is a back-and-forth ant-and-grasshopper discussion with Eurydice the practical one ("Who's going to lay the wedding table?") and Orpheus the carefree one ("The trees gonna lay the wedding table").

Hadestown's North American tour stars Kvyn Morrow as Hades and Morgan Siobhan Green as Eurydice (photo by T Charles Erickson)

In Hadestown, which runs approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission, Hades (played by Broadway veteran Kevyn Morrow) is an Underworld Boss/King archetype who exploits his Workers as he drains the Earth of valuable resources, such as oil and coal. "Why We Build the Wall" is a call-and-response song that rings true in a troubling way: "We build the wall to keep us free. Because we have and they have not. Because they want what we have got." But Morrow's most amazing vocal work was in his solo, "Hey, Little Songbird," as Hades seductively lures Eurydice down to the underworld so that she can be his possession. Orpheus must then make the journey to the underworld to bring his love home, using his skill as a singer and songwriter to soften Hades' heart, so that he will release Eurydice.

Persephone (played by Kimberly Marable, direct from the Broadway Hadestown company) is a diva goddess, all dressed in green with a "suitcase full of Summertime." In Act One, Marable raises the roof with "Living It Up on Top": "Been to hell and back again, but like my mama always said ... if you ain't six feet underground, you're living it up on top." In Act Two, Marable amazes us again with her rendition of "Our Lady of the Underground."

Two different ensemble groups represent the Greek chorus -- reacting, responding, and participating in the story. Three extremely talented singer/musicians represent The Fates as sassy church ladies all dolled-up in shades of gray. Belén Moyano, Bex Odorisio, and Shea Renne are a delight to see and hear as they sashay around the stage, meddling in the humans' business by way of tight three-part harmonies in "Nothing Changes" and "Word to the Wise."

The other chorus is an amazing five-member ensemble of singers and dancers who represent the downtrodden, poor, and exploited Workers: Lindsey Hailes, Chibueze Ihuoma, Will Mann, Sydney Parra, and Jamari Johnson Williams. Choreographer David Neumann embeds their choreography into the staging in a very organic way. No traditional dance steps are used, as he has curated moves that resemble coal mining, or factory work, or ditch digging.

Kimberly Marable stars as Persephone in the North American tour of Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown (photo by T Charles Erickson)

A rotating turntable on the stage floor enhances the travelling theme of the show's staging and choreography. Scenic designer Rachel Hauck's unit set has a rich and creepy New Orleans style, complete with a wrought-iron balcony, multiple levels for the musicians, and a gaping oven-like center maw that serves as the portal to the underworld. Lighting designer Bradley King uses color and pattern to change the set's personality drastically from scene to scene and location to location.

Michael Krass' costumes are superb, especially for the gods. Hades is the perfect fat cat in his fit-to-perfection pinstripe suit, with silver threads and a vest with a red silk back. Persephone's body-hugging dress, with enormous flouncy sleeves, is leafy green while she is above ground, and repeats exactly as a dark colorless dress when she is in the underworld.

Shout out to the amazing onstage band, especially Audrey Ochoa on the trombone. Audiences should plan to linger after the show is over to hear the band wrap up the evening with a bit of improvisational fun.

The tour of Hadestown stars (from left) Shea Renne, Bex Odorisio, and Belén Moyano as The Fates (photo by T Charles Erickson)

Anaïs Mitchell's HADESTOWN (In Person at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22-27), presented as part of Truist Broadway at DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center in Durham). TRAILERS: https://www.hadestown.com/gallery.php. THE PRESENTER/VENUE: https://www.dpacnc.com/, https://www.facebook.com/DPACNC, https://www.instagram.com/DPACNC/, https://twitter.com/DPAC, and https://www.youtube.com/user/DPACLive. DIRECTIONS: https://www.dpacnc.com/plan-your-visit/directions. PARKING: https://www.dpacnc.com/plan-your-visit/parking. DPAC COVID-19 REQUIREMENTS: https://www.dpacnc.com/events/vaccination-and-covid-19-test-requirements. THE TOUR: https://www.hadestown.com/, https://www.hadestown.com/tour.php, https://www.facebook.com/HadestownOfficial/, https://www.instagram.com/hadestown/, https://twitter.com/hadestown, and https://www.youtube.com/c/Hadestown. TOUR CAST & TOUR CREATIVE TEAM: https://www.hadestown.com/tour-team.php. TICKETS: $35 and up, plus taxes and ticket fees. Click here to buy tickets. GROUPS (10+ tickets): 919-680-2787, Groups@DPACnc.com, and https://www.dpacnc.com/events/groups-services. INFORMATION: 919-680-2787 or CustomerService@DPACnc.com.

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