Hell May Be Hot, But "Hadestown" Is Not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     I really cannot say what I expected from this show, which we saw last Saturday night, but whatever it was I did not get.

                                     This show swept the 2019 TONY Awards, and has been running for seven years, and I cannot figure out why.  To be fair, none of the performers in the current cast can be accused of walking through the show; their passion in performing the material was palpable.  Yet the end result was unsatisfying.  

                                        The plot blends two Greek myths--that of Hades and Persephone, and the other of Orpheus and Eurydice.  For starters, I did not like the idea of Jordan Tyson, playing Eurydice as a 21st century schoolgirl.  Tawdry and cheap!  I also was not bowled over by the score, written by Anais Mitchell, who also did the Book and Lyrics.  Those who like gospel, spiritual, Black culture centric music should go for it, and while I respect those forms, they did not work for me here.  Maybe the Book was just a little too long, and the show in the second act dragged.  I did love the trio of actresses playing the Three Fates; their numbers were always well staged and fun.  Plus, the set design, by Rachel Hauk, establishes a sort of smoky 'Streetcar Named Desire,' or "Porgy And Bess" atmosphere that works.

                                          Dark lighting may be apt for the subject, but it is rough on an audience.  I have not seen a show so darkly lit since the original "CATS" over forty years ago.  Though we sat fairly close to the stage, some things were not as visible as I might have wished.

                                           I looked at the show as an interesting, if not quite successful, experiment.  It started downtown at the New York Theatre Workshop, then moved uptown to Broadway.  Maybe it should not have.  Or maybe the Book should have been trimmed, and the show kept off-Broadway.

                                              Nevertheless, I am glad I saw "Hadestown."  I wish it seven more years of success, and joy to all the theatergoers who see and embrace it.

                                                 Simply not my cup of tea, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!