Hadestown is the rare Broadway hit whose music a tween will put on repeat for reasons of their own. Anaïs Mitchell built it from two Greek myths: Orpheus and Eurydice, the young lovers, and Hades and Persephone, the gods whose marriage has gone cold. Eurydice is broke and hungry, Hades offers her steady work in his underground company town, and Orpheus follows her down with a song.
The production runs on New Orleans jazz and folk, with Hermes narrating and a trombone in the band. It won eight Tony Awards in 2019, including Best Musical and Best Original Score, and it is still running at the Walter Kerr Theatre, with tours and a filmed version.
Know the ending before you go. It follows the myth, and Orpheus looks back. The show tells you that in the first number, and it plays the loss for meaning, not shock.
