The last big new show to make waves on Broadway prior to the pandemic was, by its own admission, “an old song.” Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown is a folk-music adaptation of the Orpheus and Eurydice story from Greek and Roman mythology, transplanted to a setting that suggests Depression-Era America. Though its road to Broadway was a long and circuitous one, its impact once it got there was immediate, and it won eight of the 13 Tonys for which it was nominated in 2019.
In its outline, Hadestown more or less follows the traditional arc of the tale. Orpheus is a poet and musician who sings and plays the lyre (“a liar and a player,” Mitchell’s version of Eurydice notes wryly). He and Eurydice fall in love and marry, but their happiness is short-lived. Alienation between Hades, god of the underworld, and his wife, the vibrant Persephone, has caused spring’s arrival to be delayed, and Orpheus wanders from Eurydice while attempting to write a song that will heal the hurt. The…
