Take a trip to heaven with Hadestown

Hadestown is in town and Chicagoans are in for a taste of heaven. Hadestown is a musical about the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus takes a trip to hell to rescue his love and has a devil of a time in the process. The production itself also went through the fire before eventually becoming a success. 

After opening in Barre, Vermont in 2006, Hadestown was workshopped before the Off-Broadway stint in 2016. The Broadway production came in 2019 garnering 14 Tony nominations and won eight of them. 

The show was once again cursed with problems as the pandemic halted production and the tour for more than a year. Things are now finally heating up for Hadestown though as the national tour has arrived with local critical acclaim at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe Street, in Chicago. 

Out actor Levi Kreis is a showstopper as the narrator Hermes. He can milk an audience like no other and brings a Tony Award-winning background from Million Dollar Quartet after playing the role of Jerry Lee Lewis. Kreis continues to sing notes that will simply astound audiences and has a southern-fried style that has obviously made him feel right at home with Hermes. 

Placing the ancient storyline in a speakeasy club with heaps of attitude works well for the play and its text. It gives Hadestown room to breathe and come to life in a sassy setting. The cast is strong and has made several new choices in the touring version as compared to the New York run. 

Nicholas Barasch struggles with some of the notes required to play Orpheus though. He has the tough job of balancing falsetto and castrato ideas vocally in this piece of mythology.

The dancing segments are a strength that compensates this minor quibble though with powerful staged movements that add to the character development. The pace is another highlight in what could have been a two-and-a-half-hour drag. Hadestown is also surprisingly suitable for a wide range of ages and can be used as a learning tool for school, just like the upcoming musical tour of Six about the six wives of Henry VIII.

Don't miss Hadestown as the show leaves our town on March 12. Visit BroadwayInChicago.com for tickets and information before hell freezes over!