Recently I saw Hadestown live – a retelling of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, in musical form. It was so good! The songwriting, the aesthetic, the performances, they all came together to form an amazing experience that I’d highly recommend.

As I said before, this musical retells the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, starting from their first meeting all the way to Orpheus’ fated trip below. If you haven’t heard of the story yet, that’s completely fine! It makes your viewing experience perhaps even more dramatic, because you won’t know how it’ll end.

The show sets the Greek Underworld in a sort of industrial, Depression-era aesthetic, making for some really creative interpretations of the various features of Hell. It also does a great job of setting the contrast between the grungy, oppressive, sweltering Hadestown and the bright, airy, but freezing overworld.

The traveling cast that I saw was amazing (they performed in Segerstrom Center in late October) and the Broadway Official Recording is also spectacular. The emotion carries through even without the visuals!

Notably, the band is prominently displayed on stage along with the actors. Not only does this look insanely cool, but it gives the musical a different feel – something more personal. The songs of Hadestown are heavily inspired by different jazz genres, which is a breath of fresh air compared to other musicals.

Overall, I would highly recommend checking out Hadestown if you can!