Brilliant, Haunting ‘HADESTOWN’ “an old tale…”
PicksInSix® | Ed Tracy

Anaïs Mitchell’s arresting, soul-captivating Tony Award-winning Best Musical “Hadestown”—the theatrical equivalent of Hell on earth—opened Wednesday night to a stunning and sustained ovation at Broadway in Chicago’s CIBC Theatre. It’s “an old song” and “a hard road” according to the mesmerizing portrayal by Levi Kreis of Hermes, the high-spirited, all-knowing messenger of the gods. It’s an old tale of love between Orpheus (Nicolas Barasch) and Eurydice (Morgan Siobhan Green) in the domain of King Hades (Kevyn Morrow) and his wife, Persephone (Kimberly Marable)—a vibrant, youthful company performing on a majestic scale that erupts at a rhythmic, urgent and often blinding pace that never stops. No small feat for a show that is scenically and technically complex while transporting the audience along its two hour and thirty minute road to Hell and back.