COMMENTARY by SHARON EBERSON
Ancient Greek mythology had a big weekend at the movies, and it wasn’t all about The Odyssey. A lot has been made about the debut pro shot of Hadestown: The Musical beating the box office of the cinematic release of Hamilton, which hit movie theaters in 2025, after it first streamed as an at-home treat during the pandemic shutdown. More to the point, Hadestown, on limited screens, without being wrapped in Disney or Universal studios publicity machines, finished in fourth place on its opening weekend, behind the juggernaut that is The Odyssey, and family films Moana and Toy Story 5.
Why this matters to the theater fan who can’t make it to or afford Broadway or national tours:
The recording of Hadestown for movie screens was made in the UK, with the original core Broadway cast of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical (it did not win an Olivier Award, btw). This renews my lament about pro shots that go to the UK to be made, many without the original Broadway stars (Kinky Boots, for example), because of London’s more flexible union rules, public subsidies, and lower overall production costs. Perhaps the success of Hadestown will move more U.S. filmmakers and distributors to keep pro shots of shows that originate here at home. Wouldn’t it be nice if Great Performances on PBS and exceptions such as Hamilton on Disney+ and Come From Away on Apple TV, were the norm? It doesn’t seem fair that the UK’s National Theatre Live dwarfs the content on the streamer BroadwayHD.
Of course, ot everyone can make it to Broadway or tours (Hadestown is coming to PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh in October), and the coming of the movie hasn’t hurt the musical’s New York City box office numbers: the long running Hadestown filled nearly 98% of seats for the week of July 17. I’d like to think that many of the people who filled seats at movie theaters this week included high school theater kids who may have performed in the Hadestown: Teen Edition, which was seen at several Western Pennsylvania schools last year.
What’s the big deal about Hadestown, anyway?
Hadestown is based on the concept album by the American songwriter Anaïs Mitchell — she wrote the book, lyrics and music of the show, too — as a retelling of the ancient Greek tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice. “It’s an old song and a sad song,” is a refrain of the musical. It is a story that has been told for around 2,500 years, because, in the retelling, there is a constant renewal of hope, perseverance and optimism. Mitchell’s retelling was shaped for the stage by director Rachel Chavkin, choreographed by David Neumann, with music orchestrated and arranged by Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose. The scenic design by Rachel Hauck is especially worth checking out in the movie if you have not seen it on Broadway or the West End, because of a feature that can’t be re-created, moving from city to city on tour: an up-and-down-and-around central cylinder, within a turntable. The lively orchestra onstage and the narrator, Hermes (the incomparable Tony Award-winner Andre De Shields), speaking into an old-fashioned microphone, make it easy to get swept up in the storyteller’s web of fantastical and all-to-human characters — gods who give and take, people who love and strive — wrapped in a steamy blend of Americana, New Orleans jazz, and blues, on a set with French Quarter vibes. Orpheus is played by the boyish, sweet-voiced tenor Reeve Carney, one half of a real-life love story. Carney met his now wife, two-time Tony nominee and co-star Eva Noblezada, as the ill-fated Eurydice. I love that most audiences will be getting a close-up introduction to the smoky-voiced Amber Gray as Persephone. They may know Pittsburgh’s one-time Scrooge, Patrick Page, from The Gilded Age, but with that impossibly deep baritone, he is a Hades for the ages. Page recorded the show with a huge boot protecting a ruptured Achilles tendon, and moves well while using a cane.
The pro shot was recorded with an enthusiastic live audience, with a short prologue of backstage happenings and no intermission, just a text prompt for Act II. There were closeups that added elements I hadn’t noticed before, and some quick-change shots when I would have preferred staying wide, especially the swinging lamps. The intricate use of lights (lanterns, candles) and overall lighting cues aren’t always as evident with the choice of camera shots, but the fine editing is mostly in service cinematic choices, as it should be.
I am lucky and pleased to have experienced Hadestown in the order of Broadway, then on tour, and now on a movie screen. I will watch it when it comes to Apple TV, as I have a subscription. I’m that kind of theater nerd. But for anyone who doesn’t have those options, I would highly recommend the movie theater experience, which has been extended because of the first-week success.
One caveat: I saw Hadestown: The Musical on an AMC Waterfront screen, with the pronounced starting time of 7:30 p.m. I made the assumption that the experience would be like a National Theatre Live movie screening, with perhaps a promotion or two, but then move quickly to the title on my ticket, so as not to wander too far from the feeling of attending a live show. I stopped counting the trailers, interspersed with commercials, at eight, and it was around 8 p.m. before Hadestown began. My friends attended a Cinemark screening, which started within 10 minutes of the starting time. That’s my old, sad song about movies. My first choice will always be to see it live.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
The National Tour of Hadestown returns to the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, October 27-November 1, 2026, at the Benedum Center. Tickets: https://trustarts.org/production/105580/hadestown.
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Feature Stories, Our Posts
I originally saw Hadestown in person and then by the proshot