See it if You love brilliant, bold takes on classic stories. You enjoy lyrical folk music and beautiful acting/singing to accompany it.
Don't see it if You want a musical with a lot of dialogue or fast-moving plot. It's very mythic/epic.
See it if you're a fan of director Rachel Chavkin (Great Comet), or ambitious new musical theatre in general.
Don't see it if you want to miss out on the best new musical of the season.
See it if you love musicals that are sung through but not operatic.Thoroughly enjoyed it. Staging is riveting. The performances will amaze you.
Don't see it if you...actually I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't want to see this. I loved every second of it.Delightful.
See it if You love great singing,dancing,musicians,musical scores,riveting love stories,Greek mythology,unique staging PATRICK PAGE!!!! FLAWLESS
Don't see it if You are too conventional to enjoy innovative theatre Hated Once Do not believe in Hades Dislike sitting on wooden chairs with a thin pad
See it if You enjoy a unique presentation of a classic story.
Don't see it if You like your Greek tragedies presented classically.
See it if You like bluegrass, folk, jazz; smart staging and bright performances
Don't see it if You need a happy ending - spoiler alert.
See it if You love new vibrant original musicals with heart, soul, and brains. You want to see a cast and band that leaves it all on stage.
Don't see it if You hate life itself.
See it if A beautifully acted and directed show with an excellent cast and music. It's original even if it retells an accent tale. What a wonderful
Don't see it if You only want to see mediocrity
"Anais Mitchell’s remarkably diverting musical...This highly original piece has been directed with great flair by the talented Rachel Chavkin…Chavkin ensures that we are immersed fully in this captivating tale, since the cast often stands and dances before us (and even interacts with a few of us)…Mitchell’s magnificently varied score is the main attraction…More importantly, each piece of the mostly sung-through score works beautifully in this theatrical setting."
Read more
“What Mitchell’s music doesn’t have is much dramatic drive. Song after song gives us a glimpse into the characters’ emotional state. Rarely are we further along in the story when someone finishes singing...Mitchell the lyricist is no match for Mitchell the composer. Her wordplay is intelligent, but rarely is it inspired...Rachel Chavkin’s direction occasionally creates magnificent stage pictures, but the individual moments don’t build.”
Read more
“This interestingly told and interestingly staged journey to the Underworld, alas, only occasionally hits the heights...While we have a bunch of prettyish numbers...things don’t get hot until we get the hell to Hades. The second act more thoroughly engages us and holds our attention...Fans of Mitchell’s album will likely be wowed by the piece, and the stage version is a worthy attempt at trying something different. But this visit to 'Hadestown' is not quite compelling.”
Read more
"Mitchell and the ever-inventive director Rachel Chavkin have transformed the song cycle into a theatrical piece that sticks close to the main storyline but they've added a down-home Louisiana vibe that is alternately sweet and peppery and deliciously satisfying...The multiracial cast is terrific, except for Damon Daunno's Orpheus who is charming but strains when his songs venture into falsetto…Best of all, however, is Chris Sullivan, who plays the world-weary narrator Hermes."
Read more
"Mitchell’s version cleverly evokes the 'satanic mills' of industrialisation and the lonely romance of the railroads, but it’s not quite enough to pad out the story for two hours. As directed and co-developed by Rachel Chavkin, 'Hadestown' thus feels more like a semi-staged concert (albeit an entertaining one) than a fully developed work of musical theatre. The ending in particular fails to extract much pathos from Orpheus’s fatal backward glance."
Read more
“Offers one of the most enjoyable new scores this side of ‘Hamilton’...You feel as if you've slipped into a wormhole and landed in a New Orleans jazz joint circa the 1920s...The story of Orpheus and Eurydice doesn't quite justify a two-hour show, and the second act of 'Hadestown' feels flat...Still, good luck trying to get Mitchell's infectious, down-and-dirty melodies out of your head.”
Read more
“Tightly directed by Rachel Chavkin, who helped develop the piece, one feels literally a part of the story from beginning to end...The score, ranging from ballads to bluegrass, is brilliant...Page turns in a bravura performance as Hades, and Gray is wonderful as Persephone. Her performance captures both the exuberance of a bird in a flight and one trapped in a cage...With a story of love, loss, and rebirth both timeless and universal, ‘Hadestown’ makes for a totally thrilling experience.”
Read more
"The Orpheus myth is about so much more than young love denied. And, luckily, singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and director Rachel Chavkin celebrate such depths in the delightful new folk opera 'Hadestown'...The piece infuses the familiar Greek legend with sharp-edged commentary on capitalism, exuberant songs, and a complex meditation on love....Mitchell's best songs are raucous group numbers, expanding the characters' dilemmas into playful meditations on love and hardship."
Read more