Review: HADESTOWN at Ohio Theatre

HADESTOWN will always have a special place in the heart of Ohio Theatre patrons. On Nov. 16, 2021, the musical was the first production in the historic theatre after the COVID epidemic dimmed the lights there for nearly a year and a half. The theatre staff  laid roses on every seat to signal Broadway had returned to its stage.

There were no roses when it returned this time and its stop in Columbus (four shows between May 15-17) was far too brief. But the Anais Mitchell-penned musical still packs an emotional punch.

Hermes (the irrepressible Rudy Foster) guides the audience through this Grecian folk opera. (For those who have forgotten your mythology, you may want to take notes.)

Orpheus (played by Ty Shay for the May 15 performance for Jose Contreras), meets and falls hard for Eurydice (Hawa Kamara) in a train station to the Underworld. A full-time poet and dreamer, Orpheus can’t provide for Eurydice while he composes his masterpiece.

Hades (Nickolaus Colon) and Persephone (Namisa Mdlalose Bizana) are quite the opposite. Their marriage has grown so strained that Persephone can tolerate the Underworld for only half the year. Hades lures Eurydice to join him in hell with the promise of food. Once she’s there, she can’t come back.

For all its warmth and musical exuberance, HADESTOWN never stops warning the audience where the story is headed. Don’t let the cheery, upbeat soundtrack fool you. Even in the energetic opening number, “The Road to Hell,” Hermes warns the audience numerous times, “It's a sad tale, it’s a tragedy, it’s a sad song.” 

Yet because of its spirited performances, beautiful orchestration, and moving script, it’s easy to forget that.

One of the things that makes HADESTOWN work is the variation of voices. While Shay has a light, ethereal voice, Colon’s cavernous bass freezes souls. His gravelly delivery of “Why We Build the Wall” shook the walls of the Ohio Theatre. Foster adjusts his acting and vocals to match the mood.

Kamara gives Eurydice a true character arc, going from reluctance (“Come Away With Me”) to rapture (“All I’ve Ever Known”) to regret (“Flowers”). As Persephone, Bizana is the perfect complement to Hades, with a life of the party delivery of “Livin’ It Up On Top.”

As the Fates, Gia Keddy, Miriam Navarrete, and Jayna Wescoatt are ambiguous figures in the show. They are neither purely good nor darkly evil, but dwell somewhere in between.

HADESTOWN uses a jazz club atmosphere where the musicians are on the stage and interacting with the audience. Musical Contractor Keith Levenson puts together a seven-piece orchestra that rides the waves of the jazzy score. Haik Demirchian’s trombone often drives the action.

With its dramatic use of lights, the musical has the illusion of two separate sets. Brightly colored gels are used to illuminate the world above ground. The Underworld is painted in a shade of industrial gray as Hades workers toil away in dreary tasks.

Mitchell’s script weaves together memorable characters the audience wants to see succeed with darker ones without making them black-hat, wax-mustached villains. Some Broadway classics are carried by one or two memorable pieces. HADESTOWN includes songs that stick with you long after the curtain falls – “Road to Hell,” “Wait for Me,” “Why We Build the Wall,” and “Living It Up On Top” – and spreads them evenly among the primary players.

Despite Hermes’ repeated warnings, first-time viewers expect a happy ending but instead they are hit in the stomach with a gut-churning ending. In the AA section of the theatre, a patron released an anguished cry of “nooooooooooooo” when she saw it unfolding.

Those who had seen it before knew it was coming but still flinched. Perhaps if they didn’t have the thorns, roses wouldn’t smell as sweet.

Photo Courtesy Allied Global Marketing

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