A song like “Road to Hell” doesn’t seem like the most optimistic way to start a stage musical.
But rest assured that “Hadestown” is, in fact, a heavenly theater experience.
Singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell’s Tony Award-winning production, running through Dec. 5 at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre, adapts the ancient tale of Orpheus and Eurdyice and their doomed love (not a spoiler alert if you’re up on your Greek mythology) into a contemporary parable. Intricately and cleverly staged, “Hadestown” goes to Hell and back quite literally, commenting on timeless social issues in a direct but gentle manner and, importantly, never loses sight of the fact it is first and foremost a piece of entertainment.
It’s one of those relatively simple tales that’s almost as old as time. Amidst crippling poverty, a boy (golden-voiced, lyre-playing Orpheus) and girl (the tree nymph Eurydice) fall in love and plan to marry. That is until, hoping for a better life, she signs away her soul to Hades, only to find out that Hadestown — a factory that’s not exactly run under union rules — is not what she expected.
Along the way “Hadestown” reflects on issues such as class struggles and labor-management conflict. At its core, meanwhile, is rumination on enduring hope.
“It’s a sad song, but we sing it anyway, and then it might turn out this time,” messenger god Hermes tells the audience toward the end of the show. Orpheus, he adds, embodies the ability to “make you see how the world can be in spite of the way it is.”
But there’s pointedly no guarantee that things WILL get better, which is what makes “Hadestown” refreshingly ambivalent and provocative — not the usual terrain of a hit musical.
Successfully presenting that complexity requires some deft execution from all aspects of the production, which the touring edition of “Hadestown” boasts in abundance. The compact first national tour cast of 13 actors plus seven on-stage musicians is nimble and dynamic, and the staging equally efficient as we move from the New Orleans-styled speakeasy that represents the world above to the dingey pallor of the underworld. The seams never show, and Mitchell’s songs — a blend of ragtime, pop, jazz, folk, Americana and blues — smoothly maintain the narrative flow. The opening number, “Road to Hell,” alone boasts more energy than a month’s worth of Baptist Sunday morning services, and with “Wait For Me” “Hadestown” has a bona fide signature piece that holds up outside the context of the show.
Levi Kreis as Hermes gets things off to a strong start, looking like a young Harry Connick Jr. in a shiny silver suit and breaking the fourth wall as he leads the audience through a show-opening salutation. Kreis and his character are “Hadestown’s” guides, but the task is made easier by the likes of Kimberly Marable, whose powerhouse Persephone (goddess of the spring season, and Hade’s wife) is the show’s conscience and provides a musical high point with Act Two’s opening number “Our Lady of the Underground.” Nicholas Barasch’s clean falsetto is a fine fit for Orpheus, while Kevyn Morrow’s soulful rumble and authoritative presence fit Hades as smartly as his three-piece suit.
The three Fates, including Bloomfield Hills native Shea Renne, move and sing like a girl group that’s been together for years, not weeks, and the five-member Workers Chorus provides a strong, constant presence that’s felt as well as seen. Trombonist Audrey Ochoa joins the fray several times during her solo spots, while acoustic guitarist Michiko Egger and pianist/conductor Cody Owen Stine also have standout moments from their side of the stage.
All of that makes “Hadestown” as enjoyable and uplifting as a musical about lost (and only partially found) souls can be. Best of all, it’s a fresh idea in a landscape of remakes and adaptations that manages to inject just enough of the real world into its mythology.
It seems, as AC/DC pointed out a few decades ago, Hell is not such a bad place to be.
“Hadestown” runs through Dec. 5 at the Fisher Theatre, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit. Tickets are $59 and up. 313-872-1000 or broadwayindetroit.com.
