HADESTOWN Previews — Page 13

Can anyone post a running time thus far? Thank You!

1. I wish they had done more to establish Orpheus and Eurydice falling in love.

-AGREED. This was my problem with Miss Saigon too. the falling in love part felt SO rushed.

3. While by the end I warmed up to Amber Gray's performance, it was a little bit too much for me in the beginning - her facial expressions / movements were very exaggerated, and it turned Persephone into rather a caricature.

-I had the same exact reaction. She won me over during Epic III when she started playing more emotional.

4. Finally, I just didn't love Reeve Carney as Orpheus.

-LOL totally hated him in this. I'd kill to have seen Damon Daunno in this role

getupngo said: "1. I wish they had done more to establish Orpheus and Eurydice falling in love.

-AGREED. This was my problem with Miss Saigon too. the falling in love part felt SO rushed.

3. While by the end I warmed up to Amber Gray's performance, it was a little bit too much for me in the beginning - her facial expressions / movements were very exaggerated, and it turned Persephone into rather a caricature.

-I had the same exact reaction. She won me over during Epic III when she started playing more emotional.

4. Finally, I just didn't love Reeve Carney as Orpheus.

-LOL totally hated him in this. I'd kill to have seen Damon Daunno in this role
"



Haven't see Hadestown yet...next week but my best friend (obsessed with the show) also mentioned that Reeve Carney is the weak link in the show.Reed lacks the character edge and his pretty boy ~ vacuous stare makes him stand out as if he's lost in this show. Also, his voice is not so great. He needs to be not so scrubbed and should not shave!!! My BF said Damon was superb! Anyway, can't wait till next week!

Updated On: 4/3/19 at 02:52 PM

A million spoilers below so definitely only read after you’ve seen the show

After having gone to see hundreds of shows, I’ve done something I’ve never done before: I went to see a preview. I’ve never gone before because my thinking is why would I pay just about full price to see a work in progress? In this case though, I was like, this show has existed for years, most of the cast is the same as in London, how much of a work in progress can it be?

Well… it definitely feels like a work in progress. It’s a very good show that could be great if it can fix a couple of flaws. Maybe those flaws can’t be fixed though because if they could, you’d think the creatives would have done it already. To be clear, the show is reaaaally good but its structural flaws are significant and leave a lasting impression since you can’t help but think that if they were fixed the show would be fantastic.

Here are the flaws as I saw them:

1. Act I has to end after Wait for Me. It’s as obvious to me as it is to everyone else including the show itself given Patrick Page’s tweet that they tried it but it didn’t work. I don’t know, if Chavkin can’t figure out a way to do it… I’m kind of disappointed in Chavkin. I just feel that if a significant portion of the audience thinks it’s obvious the act should end on that song and Chavkin and her team can’t figure out a way to make it work… what does it really say about them? To me that alone would disqualify her from the Tony.

2. The previous flaw is really caused by the flaw that is Why We Build a Wall. It’s a very good song that has to be kept, especially after nine years, but how exactly does it make sense in regards to the story. I mean why is there even a wall? Hades is underground right? The wall keeps out “poverty”? Huh? How does this song belong in the show? And apparently they have nowhere else to put it so it has to end Act I so Wait for Me can’t. Except Why We Build a Wall doesn’t really end Act I, not the night I saw it. The show I saw had it end with Amber Grey asking “does anyone want a drink?” That was the end that they chose! Instead of the act ending on a gigantic high, it ended on a lame throwaway joke. It was ridiculous. The show is imprisoned to this song that is really good but doesn’t fit and screws up the structure.

3. The Hades arc is unfulfilling. Initially, the show has him as the bad guy in a way that, to my recollection, he isn’t in the original myth (In the original, doesn’t Persephone die through no fault of Hades? In Hadestown, evil Hades gets her to sign her life away). Then the show has him come around and turn good when Orpheus’ song moves him… except he goes rogue again when he places the condition on Orpheus not looking back. If you’re going to change the myth to incorporate a Hades starts bad and turns good arc, you should keep him good and have him say while he would love to free them, the underworld has laws of its own, and they’ll only be able to leave if they don’t look back. Having him place the condition at the end screws up the supposed growth of the Hades/Persephone relationship. How will things change in the fall when Hades hasn’t changed?

4. Others may disagree but I thought it was a flaw for the show to be a tragedy yet, until the last scene, come across as hopeful and optimistic. As in, even when Eurydice is working down below, it always felt it would work out for her (possibly because she and especially Orpheus are played with childlike innocence). Hadestown doesn't really come off as a tragic love story since the love story part is unconvincing. As others said, there's no real romance/spark between Orpheus and Eurydice (I think it's because Orpheus especially comes across as an innocent child). Rather the show comes off as an "overcoming obstacle" story except this time they don't overcome the obstacle. If someone was unfamiliar with the myth and only saw the musical, wouldn’t they have thought it would have a happy ending? It had that feel to me to the point that I was actually wondering if they were going to rewrite the myth and give it that happy ending. It seemed like the creatives knew that having the show end in tragedy was a problem given the overall tone of the show, so they had the raise a cup song as a way to end on a uplifting note, but I thought it just didn’t work. Apparently they did too since they tried taking it out and saw it didn’t work the other way either. Either way isn’t an ideal end. And isn’t it insane that nine years after the concept album, they still aren’t sure of how to end the show?

5. Speaking of other things that didn’t work for me, Amber Grey’s song to start Act 2 just seemed completely off. The show presents her as this sad figure whose relationship with Hades is almost a prison but then suddenly she turns into the sultry caricature from Great Comet. I was waiting for her to bust out “Charming”. It just seemed so out of character and also seemed like it was thrown in there to give Amber Grey a signature number.

6. On a positive note, the way the set opened up as Orpheus goes down to Hades was amazing. I didn’t even know something like that could be done! It was just really impressive (which is why the Act had to end there!). As a whole I really liked the set with the rotations and sinking center so points to Chavkin there.

7. I adore Eva Noblezada and would watch her read a phone book and, unlike others, liked Reeve Carney’s high notes. I thought Anais Mitchell did a good job with that song also since there was a lot of pressure to deliver a great song given how the song itself is responsible for ending winter. You can’t have a crap song for that and I thought Anais delivered. In general I thought the music was fantastic.

8. Anyway, overall I think the problem with the show is that the creatives are too in love with individual parts that don’t fit the overall structure. On one hand, they don’t want to take those parts out because they are, when examined on their own without the overriding story, great. But they make the whole less than the sum of the parts and overall had me feel the show is a missed opportunity rather than unabashed success.

Updated On: 4/4/19 at 01:39 AM

Saw this last night and I was enamored. I tried to go in with my hopes not set super high and left feeling like I saw something truly special. While I can agree with some of the critiques, namely the end of Act 1 and the feeling like the relationships were rushed, but they honestly didn't greatly affect my love for this show. Rachel Chavkin is a genius. Her staging is beautiful and Wait for Me is hands down one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen on stage. While some found Reeve's portrayal problematic, it somehow strangely worked for me. It was a bold choice but he was so invested in the choice it just made sense to me. I think that all the actors were so invested and their relationships with each other were so strong that it just worked seamlessly. You can tell that they could feel the energy around the show and that they knew they had the audience in the palm of their hand. I've seen almost every Tony eligible show this season (except Kong and Beetlejuice) and I would honestly be so surprised if this didn't win the majority of the awards this season. It is by far the most complete and enjoyable show produced.



Stage door was crowded but not insane (and the people out there were all so incredibly polite and helpful to make sure the people in the back also got their playbills signed). Within 30 minutes everyone but Andre, Amber, and the fates came out (there seemed to be a few friends of the cast going backstage). Reeve was so sweet and was chatting up with lots of people. Eva recorded a sweet message to someone who could not make it that night, Patrick was soooo nice and made sure everyone who wanted to say hello got a chance to, and the ensemble members seemed truly touched at the overwhelming reaction from the fans. Plus there is Timothy Hughes who is just stunning to look at both on stage and was just as beautiful off.

treblemakerz wrote: n"She went downduring the matinee today"

That's what I heard. I'm not sure why they made such a last minute alteration, but I cringed at it. At least when she sunk into the ground, it was like she was being dragged away from Orpheus; when she walked away tonight, it looked almost as if she chose to leave. It didn't work at all. Which I really hope they realize and fix, because it's the only moment in the entire show that made me go "huh?""

Perhaps the elevator was't working right at last minute or they wanted to try something different? Is that possible?

LeftofLinus said: "the feeling like the relationships were rushed"

It's not my intent to argue for or against this practice, but the concept of the "rushed relationship" is not really new in musical theatre. Entire relationships in this medium often occur within the scope of a single song. Consider Marius and Cosette in Les Miserables, Raoul and Christine in Phantom of the Opera, or Chris and Kim in Miss Saigon. These characters basically just see each other and then declare their undying love in the space of two verses and two choruses. The depiction of passing time is often unique in musicals because songs are used to convey thoughts, feelings, and events in neat little packages, rather than by actually showing the proceedings in a literal manner.

Updated On: 4/4/19 at 10:15 AM

Isn't the "...Wall" song almost a decade old? Not sure how it could be an intentional Trump metaphor. (That said, I'm not seeing it til the 28th, so it could be now staged in an overtly metaphorical way.)

Warbucks2 said: "I do not like politically pandering in shows at all. But that is not what happened here. The song was written in 2006, well before Trump took office and before his whole “build the wall” movement. The show just happens to have landed on broadway at a time when there is a political issue that matches up with that song.

Here’s an article by the Anais Mitchell talking about this: https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_581cbcb7e4b044f827a78c0a/amp"

Great point, and super interesting article! Thank you for sharing. While clearly not an intentional allusion to Trump, I do think keeping it in comes off that way and wish it would be dropped. If that truly wasn't the intent, it's a big distraction to the actual plot.

Lot666 said: "LeftofLinus said: "the feeling like the relationships were rushed"

It's not my intent to argue for or againstthispractice, but the concept of the "rushed relationship" is not really new inmusical theatre. Entire relationships in this medium often occur within the scope of a single song. Consider Marius and Cosette in Les Miserables, Raoul and Christine in Phantom of the Opera, orChris and Kim in Miss Saigon. These characters basically just see each other and then declare their undying love in the space of two verses and two choruses. The depictionof passingtime is often unique in musicals because songs are used to convey thoughts, feelings, and events inneat little packages, rather than by actually showing the proceedings in a literal manner."



I quite like how they did it previously - in the opening number when Orpheus and Eurydice were introduced, they both walk up to the front and lock eyes for a moment. It feels a little mystical, as though they were being guided to fall in love by the hands of the gods. That, with the restarting the story at the end, and the way the lyrics were at the time, really made it feel like this was only the most recent time they fell in love, and that on a subconcious level they recognised each other

50by25 said: "If Orpheus really is going to have this masterpiece that magically makes all the flowers bloom and makes Hades have a change of heart, it ought to be good."

Beauty (or good) is in the eye of the beholder, but I happen to agree with you very much about that song.

I agree with so much of what you and spidernight have expressed, especially regarding the pacing (and for me, the show didn't even become engaging to look at until the turntable came into play) and the inclusion of "Why We Build a Wall". If this is Hades, and the inhabitants are supposed to be suffering, why do they behave like supportive right-wingers? Is the allegory meant to be as basic as, Trump supporters are from Hell? If so, that's kind of a "duh..." point to make.

Although the song may be good (personally, I found it to be a well-done homage to Nordine's Word Jazz recordings, but expressing a pretty mediocre, overly-obvious political statement), I think it takes courage to cut a song - even if it's 'good' - for the sake of the cohesiveness of the show. I agree with those who feel the song didn't fit.

jpbran's point (Isn't the "...Wall" song almost a decade old? Not sure how it could be an intentional Trump metaphor) is one I thought about, too. It makes me think that it's possible that the song was not cut because of its unintentionally timely reference to Trump.

For me, the staging/choreography of the wind storm was one of my favorite moments in the show. I wish there had been more of those kinds of moments. Most of the time, I found myself dying for something interesting to look at, other than the lighting. (FWIW, I liked the use of shadows in Act II)

Is the point being lost entirely by the beauty of Timothy Hughes that he and the other "4" workers are in hell toiling miserably each 'day' by building this wall?

There is also at least one refer via a lyric that the walls are listening, that the wall brings news back to Hades.

Enjoy the show! Don't over analyze it to hell...I mean Hades.