HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/06
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#1
Posted: 10/29/18 at 12:19pm
Anyone planning on catching any early previews? The show begins its London run this Friday, November 2.
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#2
Posted: 10/29/18 at 3:28pm
I am going Saturday night, can't wait!
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#3
Posted: 10/29/18 at 3:37pm
I love this preview video https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/VIDEO-Inside-Rehearsals-for-HADESTOWN-with-Reeve-Carney-Eva-Noblezada-and-More-20181029
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#4
Posted: 10/29/18 at 3:42pm
Has the West End board gone missing?
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#5
Posted: 10/29/18 at 6:24pm
Wow, this looks like it's going to be amazing! Does anyone know if the London space is in the round? It seems like that to me. Choreography looks great. It seems very different from the NYTW choreo.
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#6
Posted: 10/29/18 at 6:25pm
macnyc said: "Wow, this looks like it's going to be amazing! Does anyone know if the London space is in the round? "
No it isn't x
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#9
Posted: 11/2/18 at 5:48pm
Only one more sleep!!!!
Chorus Member Joined: 10/19/12
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#10
Posted: 11/2/18 at 6:23pm
Going next week after scoring a ticket today...I was positively surprised that the National released some tickets this afternoon for the upcoming performances.
Broadway Star Joined: 3/8/13
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#11
Posted: 11/2/18 at 6:56pmThe pics on Insta look SOO COOL!!!
Leading Actor Joined: 1/20/18
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#12
Posted: 11/3/18 at 12:29am
can anyone report on the merchandise that's available? will it eventually be posted on https://shop.nationaltheatre.org.uk?
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#13
Posted: 11/3/18 at 7:55pm
Well that was a crushing disappointment...
Caveats
I knew nothing about the show other than the Comet connection to Chavkin and Grey. I also had seats in the circle so a bit away from the stage but still had a great view.
The Good
The musical itself was fantastic as was the singing from everyone but the lead male who I thought was miscast but still very good.
The Bad
Everything’s else. I HATED the set and staging, it just did not work. It hobbled the whole production. The direction was terrible. It was DULL when it should’ve been exciting. It was people twirling around on a revolving stage for 2 hours. The choreography was killed by the set as was the entire cast even doing the simplest of things like trying to do anything other than sing. Spin spin spin...
I am hoping they can iron some of this out during previews and getting people to use what little stage they have a little more and drag us into the story a little instead of the audience straining to understand the lyrics so they know wtf is going on.
As it stands it is little better than a stage reading of a concept album spinning on a turntable.
If Meh-ta is what they are aiming for, they passed with flying colours. As the thrilling original piece of theatre that it is crying out to be it fails miserably and that makes me very sad for all involved.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/19/17
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#14
Posted: 11/3/18 at 8:15pm
I am shocked at the negative reaction on social media. I thought this was going to be a hit 
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#15
Posted: 11/3/18 at 8:30pmI’ve mostly seen positive feedback on social media and on TheatreBoard, which is London’s messageboard.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/19/17
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#16
Posted: 11/3/18 at 8:52pmThe negative reactions are more on twitter
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#17
Posted: 11/3/18 at 9:07pm
Bwayfan292 said: "The negative reactions are more on twitter"
I just searched “Hadestown” on Twitter and I went back pretty far and everything I saw was positive. Can you link specific tweets?
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#18
Posted: 11/3/18 at 9:54pmThe pictures of the set so far are disappointing.
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#19
Posted: 11/4/18 at 12:46amThe set looks great, in my opinion. Love the album, so I'm very excited for this.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#20
Posted: 11/4/18 at 1:43am
The set looks...fine? It's not anything thrilling or new. It just looks like some turntables, which are a pretty old concept. And I'm not sure why the turntables are so integral to the story?
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#21
Posted: 11/4/18 at 1:53amI see one negative review on Instagram. Everything else on social media is a rave. The set looks great. Better than what was in NY and Canada.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/19/17
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#22
Posted: 11/4/18 at 1:08amSorry I got called into work, I can’t seem to find them anymore, but they were mostly unimpressed with the sets.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/13/16
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#23
Posted: 11/4/18 at 1:22amI'm still not seeing them. I'm actually only seeing positive things about the set.
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#24
Posted: 11/4/18 at 7:55amRippedMan said: "The set looks...fine? It's not anything thrilling or new. It just looks like some turntables, which are a pretty old concept. And I'm not sure why the turntables are so integral to the story?"
I do not see this for two weeks but are they using the drum revolve which differs from the typical turntable? It is kind of a character in its own right ... not used a lot but always commented about when it is.
Even if they are not using the revolve people may find this short video about what it can do to be interesting:
https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/file/9401/view
HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London - Previews#25
Posted: 11/4/18 at 8:14am
There is nothing wrong with the set visually, it is the constraints it puts on the performers that is the problem. It looks like a tiny set dropped in the middle of a massive stage and it gave me flashbacks of the terrible 'meta' version of The Colour Purple. For the first 10 minutes I kept wondering why they were building a railroad in the middle of B.B Kings' Blues Bar.
While the 'turntable' is used to great effect towards the end of the show, the rest of the time it is used to spin people around instead of them moving about the stage and filling the (tiny) available space.
Instead of a row of dancers fanned out across the stage, they are spinning around a small circle in the centre of the stage....endlessly. The visual impact of the choreography is lost to the point that they may as well not even be there.
During major dramatic moments when the characters are singing to each other, instead of facing each other and emoting the lyrics, they stand dead still facing the opposite direction and spinning in opposite directions on the turntable. I got the 'metaphor' (how could you not it's there the whole show), but the emotion of the material is lost.
It's just 'odd', really, really odd and instead of enjoying the production and being pulled into the story and what was happening on an emotional level, I found myself constantly pulled out of the material by wtf directorial decisions. I spent the whole night thinking, this should be so damned exciting, but it is as flat as a tack!
The fact that Chavkin had gone from using the space so brilliantly in Comet to this is just mind boggling.
When the curtain call is the most emotionally affecting moment of the production (apart from the obvious BIG moment in the show) something is very wrong.
The Canadian production looked MUCH better as the turntable was a small part of a sparse stage with plenty of room to breathe.
It is such a shame as the material and performers/performances are SO strong.
If this staging goes to Broadway, they can kiss those otherwise much deserved Tonys goodbye!
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