#Hadestown Lyric Theatre

[criedhearts]

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○⠀27.02.24 — Hadestown, Lyric Theatre, London.

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‟⠀Some flowers bloom

Where the green grass grows

Our praise is not for them

But the ones who bloom

In the bitter snow⠀„

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‟⠀We raise our cups

To them

We raise 'em high

And drink 'em dry

To Orpheus

And all of us⠀. . . ⠀„

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[causalityparadoxes]

Anyway if anyone knows where to find a slime tutorial of the Lyric Theatre version of Hadestown plz hit me up. I could watch that 100000000 times

[littleeliza-lotte]

Hadestown London Trailer (x)

[nomilkinmyteaplease]

Hadestown UK Behind The Scenes

[dandelionjack]

that was amazing. the three fates killed it (so did everybody else, but especially them), hades and persephone likewise. eurydice was suitably tragic and beautiful. orpheus was ok

i listened to this musical for the first time over a year ago and i’ve seen clips/specific songs from many performances of course but it’s really only seeing it live that makes you realise how genius the staging is in its simplicity. the three spinning concentric circles to emphasise the fact that this is a circular story, all about cycles and repetition, flowers wilting by winter and blossoming again in spring. it’s been going on since the seasons began to change. that’s why hermes recognises the leitmotif before orpheus knows where it came from, why hades reacts to it in the way that he does. orpheus always turns around for the same reason persephone always takes the train back to the underworld.

one example is, in several songs including the wait for me reprise, orpheus walks forwards in the direction counter to the turn of the stage, creating an effect that almost makes it feel as if the stage itself is dragging him backwards: he’s fighting against the river’s current, against the tide of time itself to bring his loved one back. it’s just so brilliant

i love hadestown forever and ever <3 it’s an old song it’s a sad song it’s a tragedy but we sing it anyway

[rhysdoesstuff]

Me driving home from theatre at 9 at night, my stomach growling cause it’s past dinner and I’m exhausted:

It's my gut I can’t ignore, Orpheus, I'm hungry. Oh, my heart it aches to stay, But the flesh will have its way Oh, the way is dark and long. I'm already gone-

[helenaredamancy]

the fact is, phaedrus, i myself am a lover of these divisions and collections

sources: orpheus, eurydice, hermes; on beauty; SDL; a lover's discourse; hadestown (NYTW); the descent; no.2

[homesweethellsite]

Finally saw Hadestown last night. It was the soundtrack to 2020 for me and i finally had the opportunity to buy tickets last year, AND THEN the agonizing wait for a wholeass year to pass before getting to actually go and see it. (wait for me - im coming!)

Totally worth the wait. i got goosebumps multiple times. All the songs in the underground with the industrial feel to them? - urg *chefs kiss*

[pageadaytale]

REVIEW: Four London Theatre Shows - Part 2

Part 2! Did you guess the shows I saw on the second day? Read on below to find out:

Show 3: Hadestown at the Lyric Theatre

Fear, artistry, and lost love. I stand by that. First because I didn't want to say anything about Greek Myth since that would be too obvious; second because that's what it's about. Oh sure, there are messages in there about environmentalism and climate change, but at it's heart it's about men who fear for the women they love, and their differing reactions to that which end up being very similar.

To cut to the quick: Hadestown is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, an ancient Greek musician who was so good even the Furies wept to hear him play, and his wife whom he lost too soon. It's a classic myth, and if you've not read it I implore you to do so, but in short: this is a tragedy.

Our main characters are as follows: Hermes is the narrator, telling us what's going on. Orpheus is a poor boy working in a bar, who dreams of writing a song that'll bring back the Spring. Eurydice is a wandering girl who's seen more heartbreak than she cares to say: she sees the world as it is, where Orpheus sees it as it could be. Together they fall in love, Orpheus helping Eurydice to see how things could be, while Eurydice acts as his muse to finish his song. But times are hard, and Eurydice is given a choice: to stay and starve, or to go to Hadestown with the man himself. Hades and Persephone are our background couple, and they're in a rocky place at the start; Persephone leaves Hell for six months at a time, but that time's getting shorter and shorter as Hades, insecure and controlling, comes up to bring her back early. When Eurydice chooses the security and drudgery of Hadestown over the uncertainty and hunger of the overworld, Orpheus is distraught. He journeys down into the underworld to rescue her, but can he save her from Hades' clutches?

Right off the bat, this is different from the US version, with some stellar county-specific casting in the form of Irish Dónal Finn as Orpheus, and Midlander Grace Hodgett Young as Eurydice. It brings class to the fore of the story, as the one American casting is Hades, performed by Zachary James looking straight outta the Matrix. Gloria Onitiri shines as Persephone, partying hard and drinking away her troubles when she returns to the Underworld. She's the model of a woman trapped in a loveless marriage, determined to leave for good or break enough things that he gets rid of her anyway. The usual Hermes, Melanie La Barrie, was unavailable for this performance, but understudy Winny Herbert was charismatic and engaging - it's gotta be a difficult show to start, but audience interest has been good and it remains good to this day, and Herbert is helped by a lot of superfans coming back to be the response to his call.

After the overwhelm of the first day, it was nice to sit in a proper theatre and relax a little - although the Lyric has problems with seating sizes since its renovations. Suffice to say, if you love theatre but don't have a lot of money, get used to uncomfortable seats.

But the show! If you're into theatre you've heard of it, it's unconventional but it's taking the world by storm, it's the next Hamilton or whatever. Yes it's really that good, I honestly don't know what else I can say. I loved it - the messages it tells are beautiful, and I genuinely teared up at a couple of moments. Hadestown retells a classic story with a jazzy style, and in transferring it to the UK they've infused it with a class-conscious message thanks to a solid cast. It's a prescient musical which feels ever-more relevant, especially the ending which I shan't spoil. All in all, it's mainly a story about love, and what we'd do for it, and what we'd do to keep it - sometimes good, sometimes bad. In spite of the theatre, I loved it.

Show 4: The Mousetrap at St Martin's Theatre

It's the longest-running show in the world. A murder is committed at an old manor-turned-guesthouse, which of the newly-arrived guests is the murderer? And can they be caught, before they kill again?

The St Martin is like the Lyric - it's a classic theatre with slightly-too-small seats. So we're going to drift over that and focus on the show: the Ralstons, Mollie and Giles, have bought Monkswell Manor and turned it into a guesthouse. As the snow comes down their guests arrive: the childish and erratic Christopher Wren; the prim and arrogant Mrs Boyle; the old soldier, Major Metcalf; the mysterious and seductive Miss Casewell; and finally Mr Paravicini, an unexpected guest whose car has overturned in a snowdrift. They are snowed in and learning to live with each other, when a detective arrives with grim news: someone at the manor is linked with a murder in London, where the killer left a note with the words "Three Blind Mice" and the manor's address as the only clues.

Very little happens for most of the first act - it's a slow start, mainly because we're setting up items which will become relevant and implicate characters during the second act. We're introduced to each character and take time to get comfortable with them, before the murder at the end of the act. There's an emphasis on comedy in the first act, it's lighter and amusing the keep the audience interested, but once the second act begins and we're in the middle of a murder investigation the tension begins to ratchet up.

I'm sworn to secrecy regarding the identity of the murderer, so there's not a huge amount I can say. At the end of the play, the cast ask you to keep mum on spoilers, so I'll stick with the first act and discuss the cast. Lucy Doyle and Daniel Cech-Lucas played the Ralstons, with Doyle being given much more to do - one upside of Christie's being the author of this tale is that the women are much more active participants. The men are henpecked and reduced to manual labour for parts of it, but it works for a little comedy and sets up that one of the women could be the murderer. Ben Onwukwe is good as Major Metcalf, charming and straight-laced, but the standouts are Lynton Appleton and Elyssia Roe as Christopher Wren and Miss Casewell, respectively; both were making their West End debut with The Mousetrap and they were my favourite characters. Jules Melvin is good, but suffers perhaps from short shrift within the part of Mrs Boyle itself, and whilst I enjoyed Sam Stafford's Detective Sergeant Trotter as the play progressed, he feels a little stilted in the beginning. I wonder if that's partly due to the part itself - until a murder is committed there's little for him to do except to move people about.

I've not yet talked about Lorenzo Martelli, who played Mr Paravicini. He was perhaps the best character, the most fleshed-out; he arrives an unexpected guest, his car snowed under in the blizzard, and he spends most of the play stirring things up and sneaking about. It's a bit of a mixed bag: the sneaky foreigner causing trouble, but he is by far the most interesting thing about the second half until the big reveal. People end up having little to do in the story, save for being questioned by the detective, and it's good to have this comparative outsider there to add to the tension. He's mischievous and meddling, and where he brings some lightness in the first half Martelli has the chops to feel sinister in the second half.

The Mousetrap is perhaps not the best show of all time, it's a little let down by the story giving the characters little to do, but there are some stand-out cast members at present, and to Christie's credit when it ramps up the tension keeps you engaged right up until the end. There's a reason it's been running for 72 years in a row.

So that's my two days in London! We saw some great shows, had a great time, and now I want to watch Hadestown a million times (I won't tell you how many times I re-read Much Ado after coming back home). What do you think of the shows? Are there any you would've watched instead? Let me know!

[munebat]

You didn’t know how

you didn’t know why

you just knew you wanted to take her home

[potatotalksculture]

Potato Tweet: Oh. My.

Hadestown is one of my favorite musicals. So when I’ve seen on their IG that it’s gonna play on West End, I went crazy.

You see, living in Germany makes it not so easy to stay up to date with the international musical world. Even though a trip to London costs less than a trip to New York, it still costs money. Additionally I’ve become increasingly worried about the CO2 footprint flying makes on our planet.

But Hadestown? Oh maaan! There is no chance I’m missing it!

The dream came to a halt as I found out, once again, cuz I keep forgetting, that Londoner theatres only take credit cards. Why oh why won’t they accept PayPal? Or send me an invoice? Why?

Since I don’t have a credit card, the world began to crumble. Then my very good friend came to save the day and helped me out using his credit card. What a lovely human being. And he’s coming to see the show, too!

So yes, oh yes, oh yes! I am going to see Hadestown in London!

Oh, and the also cool thing is: We might be taking a train if we manage to book early enough and won’t have to see a kidney to pay for the tickets. (Those cost at least twice the price of a flight.)

[moo-the-monster]

underrated hadestown moment: “Have a drink, why don’t you?” “No, I’ve had enough.”

like shes had enough. shes done pretending everything is fine. idk i just- everytime i hear it im so happy

[littleeliza-lotte]

Grace and Dónal’s final show

Please do not share outside of Tumblr

[these-are-the-things-think-of]

I knew you before we met

And I don't even know you yet

All I know's you're someone I have always known

[zeilenkrieg]

Hadestown London next year 🥰

[emptymasks]

i got to see hadestown on the west end and all i have to say is AAAA. i liked the original broadway cast so much i didn't think anything else could compare to me, but omg they were all amazing and maybe it's a bias from seeing it live vs seeing broadway through recordings, but i actually enjoyed them so much more. i think what helped is i felt a lot more for donal's orpheus, whereas reeve's never managed to really put at my heartstrings.

okayokay what i have to list out loved (going to try and go through the show chronologically):

la barrie's hermes using no titles and they/them pronouns. the lyrics were changed to reflect this eg "excuse me, hermes" instead of "mister hermes" at the beginning of 'wait for me', and "feathers on their feet" instead of "feathers on his feet" in 'road to hell'.

the cast keeping their own accents. it's not often in uk theatre to hear british regional accents, even if the actor has or had that accent. so hearing a nothern accent from eurydice was aaaa. as a northerner it made me really happy. i'm not sure if that's grace's real accent or not but aa it just made .

donál keeping his irish accent too. and the chemistry between his orpheus and grace's eurydice was adorable.

hermes slowly kissing persephone hand during 'our lady of the underground'.

PERSEPHONE didn't think I could love anyone more than grey but omg. i've never loved "our lady of the underground" but I do now, the way gloria performed it and this one long belting note she did while bending over crazy far backwards aaa. and at one point while dancing she acted like she'd gone too hard and pulled her back and got stuck, but then very smoothly went into leaning down towards the audience and singing directly at people in the front rows.

wasn't 100% sold on hades at first since his voice isn't as deep as what I'm used too (used to listening to page as hades), but after "i conduct the electric city" and the lights went out and when they came back on there was a single silly spotlight on hades was stood leaning against the door checking his nails all sultry like. his acting was so different from what I'm used too, more energetic and more... playful? i'm not sure if that's the right word but i can't think of anything else. and less cold and stern than page but I ended up really enjoying him. i've got two very different versions of hades i love now.

new lyrics in epic three, "what has become of the heart of that man" has been replaced with new lyrics. i think "man with his arms outreached" has reverted back to pre-broadway "man with his hat in his hands" but i'll be honest me memory of what the new lyrics are is not great.

i cried when hades and persephone danced. both of them were crying. and when they finished dancing he sobbed and crumpled into her arms and she stroked his head and back and held him the whole time orpheus and eurydice sang "promises"

hades breaking it down during the dance, doing silly dance moves and making persphone laugh, and then she joins in and does his silly dance moves with him 10/10 people supporting their partners silly dance moves.

hades "i don't know" answer to if orpheus and eurydice can go... i'm used to patrick page's grave, defeated "i don't know" and here instead you could really see the inner conflict and he was holding hands with persephone and when he said it she angrily let go of his hand and he had his little "his kiss the riot" freak out.

orpheus and hades handshake during the wait for me reprise aaaa