Hadestown blank slate?

[brdwybuff]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 8:46am

I am going to see Hadestown with a blank slate. Is it recommended to know much about greek mythology before for better understanding?

[quizking101]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 8:52am

I went in blind and I was able to follow the story just fine

[Dkinny23]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 9:01am

I went in blind and had no trouble. The entire show is practically about defining who each person is (obviously there’s more to it lol but a lot of the narration is about explaining the characters)

There’s also a very small summary of each character in the playbill which I read before the show started. That helped so that I wasn’t totally unaware of who the characters were but you don’t necessarily even need to read that

[Wick3]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 10:06am

I agree they do a good job with the narration introducing/explaining the characters. Just remember how Hadestown is pronounced (hay-dees-town; not haidstown.) 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 10:34am

^Did they add a quiz to be able to get o to the theater?

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 2:21pm

brdwybuff said: "I am going to see Hadestown with a blank slate. Is it recommended to know much about greek mythology before for better understanding?"

 

I would read up on the ending or at least the point of the story as I was very confused at the ending, as for a great myth it felt like it has no point/moral. I would understand if it were an original work, but most fables/myths have a moral and a point. Once on this Island has a tragic ending, but “Why we tell the Story” explains its purpose and reason behind having to relive the tragedy with each retelling. Hadestown town ends with a similar “this is why we tell the story song” but never say the actual reason, just to that this story will keep happening like a version of Hell from American Horror Story Coven.  I just found it very jarring and confusing,  and wished I knew the ending going in so I could prepare for it .

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 2:39pm

bdn223 said: "I would read up on the ending or at least the point of the story as I was very confused at the ending, as for a great myth it felt like it has no point/moral."

As long as the heroine doesn't end up becoming a tree, I should be OK...

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 2:57pm

If you don't know anything about the myth, leave it that way. I went in blind, and I think the story would have been spoiled if I read up on it beforehand.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 3:00pm

I totally disagree with BDN, i think we are told exactly why.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 3:01pm

CT2NYC said: "I think the story would have been spoiled if I read up on it beforehand."

That is the point, though, no? Knowing the myth to better enjoy its musicalization, rather than having to absorb it all?

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 3:15pm

haterobics said: "CT2NYC said: "I think the story would have been spoiled if I read up on it beforehand."

That is the point, though, no? Knowing the myth to better enjoy its musicalization, rather than having to absorb it all?"

It's a simple story, and not that much to absorb.

[bearhorn]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 4:14pm

I just saw this on Thursday (with nothing more that a general concept) and could understand everything. Loved it. Hope you do too.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 5/5/19 at 5:01pm

brdwybuff said: "I am going to see Hadestown with a blank slate. Is it recommended to know much about greek mythology before for better understanding?"

totally not necessary but if you have the time to read up yea why not? Your Playbill includes a who's who in greek mythology section

Updated On: 5/5/19 at 05:01 PM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 12:39am

Absolutely do NOT read up on the myths before going to see HADESTOWN!!! The joy of live theater is having the company take you on a journey to somewhere you weren't expecting. Do you want to know how each episode of GAME OF THRONES will end before you view it? Utter nonsense. To the poster who wrote he wished he knew the ending going in so he could prepare for it, what kind of fragile snowflake needs such hand-holding to attend a Broadway show?

 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 1:30am

Someone in a Tree, I respectfully disagree with you. GOT is a melodrama (and a good one, no shame in that) and plot surprises are a primary feature of the form.

I haven't seen the show, but any adaptation of Orpheus/Eurydice is likely to be more akin to a Greek tragedy. The OP is wrong that such myths always have a "moral". S/he's confusing myths with Aesop fables.

However, unless they've greatly changed the original story, the "moral" of Orpheus is akin to that of the Hebrew story of Lot's Wife: "No backsies when you've made a deal with God (or the Gods)."

Here is the Wiki summary of the original myth. No doubt the musical diverges in some ways, but if you know the original, you'll appreciate the changes even more and still enjoy some degree of suspense. Or at least *I* would.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_and_Eurydice


 

[Kenglin24]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 11:48am

I have to be honest, my wife and I went in blind and loved the show... however when the big moment at the end happened we both looked at eachother like “wait what, why did ‘BLANK’ do that?” We didn’t quite understand why it happened.

I don’t want to mention what happens specifically because I don’t want to spoil it for you.  After the show we read how an important factor of this Greek myth is that they always retell the story and everybody listening always hopes that the ending will change but it never does.

I wish I had known the part about them always hoping the ending will change before going in

Updated On: 5/6/19 at 11:48 AM

[Rainah]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 12:31pm

I recommend people know the myth of Hades Persephone as that explanation comes pretty fast in the show (and is not a plot spoiler as it's already happened when the show starts)

Knowing bits and pieces of greek myths deepens your understanding of the show and how stuff is translated (the train 'ticket' to the underworld is two coins because in the original myths two coins were placed on the eyes of the dead to pay the ferryman to take you to the underworld, or how the river styx that the ferryman crossed is now the wall that they are building) but if you don't know you don't miss much.

The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is the main plot. If you go in blind you'll be surprised, but if you know ahead of time the story is not lesser for this. The tradition of Greek theatre is for everyone to already know the story going in. It's about the journey, not the destination. (Compare to Hamilton's opening song including the line "And I'm the damn fool that shot him"

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 4:42pm

I would say reading the myth of Hades and Persephone would be fine as well as not really contain spoilers. Their myth is really all backstory here as we come into their love story later in their marriage. However, I would recommend skipping the Orpheus and Eurydice myth because that IS the plot and if you read to far into it, you'll ruin the ending. Just listen well to Heroes narration and you'll follow it just fine.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/6/19 at 9:02pm

Someone in a Tree2 said: "Do you want to know how each episode of GAME OF THRONES will end before you view it?"

If I were really into Games of Thrones, then yes, I would have read the books before I watched someone else's interpretation of the material. Just like I read To Kill A Mockingbird, since I figure Harper Lee deserves first crack at telling me her story?

[HunterK]

Posted: 5/7/19 at 10:39pm

There was an article a few weeks back here on broadway world that explained the plot perfectly! It was featured about 2-3 weeks ago. I have searched all day for it. Does anyone know where I can find it? Or even know what I am talking about?
Taking my mom to see it next week and I know she won’t easily Follow it, this article was perfect.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Robbie2]

Posted: 5/8/19 at 12:55am

HunterK said: "There was an article a few weeks back here on broadway world that explained the plot perfectly! It was featured about 2-3 weeks ago. I have searched all day for it. Does anyone know where I can find it? Or even know what I am talking about?
Taking my mom to see it next week and I know she won’t easily Follow it, this article was perfect.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hadestown follows two intertwining love stories - that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone - as it invites audiences on an epic journey to the underworld and back. Anaïs Mitchell's beguiling melodies and Rachel Chavkin's poetic imagination pit nature against industry, faith against doubt, and love against fear. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers and singers, Hadestown delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience.

"In the warmth of summertime, songwriter Orpheus and his muse Eurydice are living it up and falling in love. But as winter approaches, reality sets in: these young dreamers can't survive on songs alone. Tempted by the promise of plenty, Eurydice is lured to the depths of industrial Hadestown. On a quest to save her, Orpheus journeys to the underworld where their trust in each other is put to a final test.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Broadway-Mythbusters-Your-Guide-To-The-Greek-Mythology-of-HADESTOWN-20190427

Updated On: 5/8/19 at 12:55 AM

[HunterK]

Posted: 5/8/19 at 2:28am

Thank you so much Robbie!!!