“Hadestown”: A Story for the Ages

Reeve Carney (Orpheus) and Eva Noblezada (Eurydice) embrace during a performance of “Hadestown”. Photo credit: London Theatre

Aspen Hickman, Junior Editor and News Desk Lead for the Powderhorn

“Once upon a time there was a railroad line / don’t ask where, brother, don’t ask when.” Thus begins “Hadestown,” a jazzy musical retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. “It was the road to Hell, it was hard times / it was the world of gods… And men!” 

Those will be the words that ring out through Watauga’s auditorium for three nights in April. “Hadestown: Teen Edition” is the high school’s spring musical for 2027, and the recent movie theater release of a professionally produced recording of the original Broadway cast is fueling excitement. 

Featuring Broadway legends like André De Shields (Hermes) and Amber Gray (Persephone), the proshot ran for 5 days, beginning July 24. Filmed over three performances in London in early 2025, the professional recording revealed details of the production even audience members wouldn’t see, such as the center-stage elevator platform used throughout the show to symbolize descent to and ascent from “Hadestown.” 

While nothing replaces a live stage performance, this proshot enhanced the sometimes dull experience of recorded stage shows. Some professional or bootleg recordings contain only a single, static shot of the stage, head on. These kinds of tapings often remove magic from the live performance and fail to re-introduce their own. 

“Hadestown: The Musical,” the film’s proper title, makes none of these mistakes. Through the use of a variety of camera angles and shots, director Brett Sullivan creates a dynamic and vibrant experience. Some shots follow actors to their entrances, others highlight the often overlooked role of the ensemble, made up of 5 actors in this production.

This creative use of film as a medium to emphasize all the facets of theatrical performance is especially apparent during the song “Doubt Comes In,” where Orpheus must lead Eurydice and the ensemble out of “Hadestown” without being allowed to turn to see if the love of his life is following him. The camera lingers close to Orpheus, played by Reeve Carney, as he remains the only actor lit on a dark stage, showing him, alone, wondering if their love for each other is enough to carry them through to the world above. If you know the original myth, you already know how this song ends. As Hermes tells us in the first number: “It’s a sad song / it’s a sad tale, it’s a tragedy / It’s a sad song / but we sing it anyway.”

Despite the audience’s knowledge of how the story ends, through either knowledge of the myth or Hermes’ warnings in the beginning, “Hadestown” remains a suspenseful experience. You begin to convince yourself that it might turn out differently this time, maybe, just maybe. No matter how many times you see this show, you sit on the edge of your seat, imagining that Orpheus will not turn. Each time he does. Each time you remind yourself that of course it could not have changed. 

That is the magic of “Hadestown.” It invites you to hope anyway, even in the face of obvious reality. As Orpheus says in “Livin’ It Up On Top”, “To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now.”