Hadestown!

 Hadestown is the musical I had looked forward to all season, the reputation of the Tony Award winning show preceded it. Nothing ever hit me like Hamilton had the first time I saw it. I had entered the theater naturally resistant to the hype, but it overwhelmed my cynical self and it was every bit as good as its rep. Would Hadestown live up to it's hype?

The cast walked out and had some fun with the crowd and it was strangely silent. Then the trumpet started to wail and Hermes, the narrator for the evening, launched into a jazzy gospel tune called The Road To Hell. Introducing the cast of characters as he sang, this tune screamed New Orleans and yep I was hooked.

The story moves along as Orpheus and Eurydice are a couple of poor crazy kids falling in love. Orpheus is songwriter who can tame anything with his voice but the song is not finished. Meanwhile down in Hadestown live Hades and Persephone the arbiters of Hades. The Road to Hell, actually the Train to Hell comes for Eurydice and off she goes. Orpheus sets out to retrieve his love from the clutches of Hades.

Hades and Persephone have their own relationship problems as Persephone spends half her time in the upper world and the other half in the underworld of Hadestown. Despite the want of a happy ending this is Hell for chrissakes and its aint happening. This musical is the exact opposite of Come From Away, a testament to people's inherent goodness . This one accepts that the world sucks and there ain nuthin you can do about it.

The cast is excellent. They are all pros. Big voices and great choreography. The set is like New Orleans at night during a Satan worshiping festival. Everything about this show is perfection.

Now the politics of it. Hadestown is a drab place, like a factory floor with workers there against their will or an Amazon warehouse. Orpheus starts a workers revolt put down by Hades immediately. Hades is THE MAN.

A song called Why We Build The Wall, though written in 2006 before that idiot started fucking up the country, is even more relevant now. Why Do We Build The Wall? To keep us free. To keep the enemy out. The enemy is poverty. They just want what we got. Build the Wall to keep us free. What foresight.

Hadestown is a gem of a show. As tragic as it is, you must see it at some point. Its dark, its jazzy, its actually a joy.