DALLAS — If you've ever wondered what it's like to travel to hell and back, "Hadestown" is for you!
Winner of eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, it's one of the best national tours to come through Dallas in a long time, and that's saying a lot!
The premise sounds weird, but don't let that put you off. It intertwines the Greek myths of Orpheus and Eurydice, and Hades and Persephone.
The setting is somewhat contemporary. Think jazzy New Orleans.
Hermes, the messenger of the gods, is our flashy narrator played by Levi Kreis (Tony Award winner for "Million Dollar Quartet"). Harry Connick, Jr. would be great in the movie version.
Eurydice arrives, a hungry vagabond, and the golden-voiced Orpheus is smitten -- Nicholas Barasch is Ed Sheeran 2.0. Morgan Siobhan Green is fresh and vulnerable as his muse. Persephone spends half the year up top for spring and summer, then descends to Hadestown to spend her dark months with husband, Hades. She is played with incredible sass by Kimberly Marable, direct from the original Broadway company, the powerful Hades by Kevyn Morrow.
When Persephone and Hades are on the outs, Hades seizes on the chance to lure Eurydice into his hellish lair. Will she take the bait?
Honestly, every one of these five leads is stellar.
Rounding out the cast are the three Fates who taunt our leads. Both the trio of ladies and the chorus members who double as Hades' workforce are fine complements -- props to Will Mann who schooled and launched his stage career in North Texas!
Anais Mitchell wrote the book, music and lyrics for Hadestown, and it's clear why TIME Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. It is sung throughout with songs ranging from spirited to emotional. The musicians are live on stage.
A single set transforms over the course of the show. The production design, at one point, features lamps swinging from the rafters, and it's stunning!
Mask up and head to Hadestown. Don't say "the devil made me do it," say I did.
(Presented by Dallas Summer Musicals. Winspear Opera House-Dallas through Jan. 30. For tickets visit dallassummermusicals.org.)
