The London return of the Tony-winning musical Hadestown began previews at the Lyric Theatre February 10 and will officially open at the West End venue February 21.
Anaïs Mitchell's underworld-set folk opera, which premiered Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in 2016, made its London premiere at the National Theatre in November 2018. The production subsequently opened on Broadway, where it continues at the Walter Kerr, in April 2019.
The London company is led by Dónal Finn (The Wheel of Time) as Orpheus, Grace Hodgett Young (Betty Schaefer in the Broadway-bound London revival of Sunset Boulevard) as Eurydice, Grammy winner Zachary James (Lurch in The Addams Family on Broadway) as Hades, Melanie La Barrie (Mary Poppins, & Juliet) as Hermes, and Gloria Onitiri (Cinderella, Hadestown at the National) as Persephone.
Bella Brown, Madeline Charlemagne, and Allie Daniel play the Fates, and Lauren Azania, Tiago Dhondt Bamberger, Beth Hinton-Lever, Waylon Jacobs, and Christopher Short play the Workers, with Lucinda Buckley, Ryesha Higgs, Miriam Nyarko, and Simon Oskarsson as Swings.
Get a first look at the new London production in the gallery below:
Donal Finn and Grace Hodgett Young in Hadestown
Grace Hodgett Young and Donal Finn in Hadestown
Gloria Onitiri in Hadestown
Grace Hodgett Young and Zachary James in Hadestown
Donal Finn and Grace Hodgett Young in Hadestown
Grace Hodgett Young, Melanie La Barrie, and Donal Finn in Hadestown
Zachary James and company of Hadestown
Donal Finn in Hadestown
Grace Hodgett Young in Hadestown
Company of Hadestown
Company of Hadestown
Company of Hadestown
Bella Brown, Allie Daniel, and Madeline Charlemagne in Hadestown
Company of Hadestown
Allie Daniel, Bella Brown, and Madeline Charlemagne in Hadestown
Allie Daniel, Bella Brown, and Madeline Charlemagne in Hadestown
Company of Hadestown
Donal Finn and company of Hadestown
Melanie La Barrie and company of Hadestown
Donal Finn and company of Hadestown
The creative team features set designer Rachel Hauck, costume
designer Michael Krass, lighting designer Bradley King, sound
designers Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, choreographer David Neumann,
music supervisor and vocal arranger Liam Robinson, arrangers and
orchestrators Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose, and dramaturg Ken
Cerniglia. Casting for the London production is by Jacob Sparrow.
Mitchell said in an earlier statement, “We’re all thrilled to be bringing Hadestown back to London! We truly loved our time at the National Theatre in 2018 and felt so welcomed by your city that it feels like a homecoming to be returning (to the West End)! I’m excited to work in and with the fantastic theatre community of London, and to share the newest version of our show, as there was a great deal of development pre-Broadway based on things we learned at the National! And it’s always a curious gift to witness how this epic myth vibrates differently in different places and times. That is, West End Hadestown will be its own world—born of London and the now—and we can’t wait to discover it.”
Following two intertwining love stories—that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone—Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back.
The show, featuring a book and score by Mitchell, won eight 2019 Tony Awards: Best Director of a Musical (Rachel Chavkin), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (André De Shields), Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Bradley King), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Rachel Hauck), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Jessica Paz and Nevin Steinberg), Best Orchestrations (Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose), Best Original Score (Mitchell), and Best Musical.
Hadestown is produced in London by Mara Isaacs, Dale
Franzen, Hunter Arnold, Tom Kirdahy, and the National Theatre in
association with JAS Theatricals.
Visit UK.Hadestown.com.
