Every day is opening night.

“HADESTOWN” ON BROADWAY TO STAR ACCLAIMED PRINCIPAL CAST FROM SOLD-OUT RUN AT LONDON’S NATIONAL THEATRE

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Rick Miramontez / Aaron Meier / Sammy Wolfin
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

“HADESTOWN”
ANNOUNCES PRINCIPAL CASTING
FOR ITS EAGERLY ANTICIPATED BROADWAY PREMIERE

REEVE CARNEY
ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS
AMBER GRAY
EVA NOBLEZADA
PATRICK PAGE

TO STAR IN NEW MUSICAL BY ANAÏS MITCHELL,
DIRECTED BY RACHEL CHAVKIN

New York, NY (January 28, 2019) – Producers Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy announced today that the eagerly anticipated Broadway premiere of Hadestown will star Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada, and Patrick Page. The acclaimed principals come to Broadway direct from Hadestown’s sold-out run at London’s National Theatre which ended this Saturday. The new musical by celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, developed with innovative director and Tony Award® nominee Rachel Chavkin, begins preview performances Friday, March 22 ahead of a Wednesday, April 17 official opening night at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street).

To download a photo of the actors that was taken at the stage door of the National Theatre immediately after Saturday evening’s final performance of Hadestown, please visit: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ls1neid4e6c9mof/AACiDT3GylLBt064mnOJk9TMa?dl=0
(photo credit: Bronwen Sharp for Hadestown)

The five actors have individually been hailed as “astonishing” (The Evening Standard), “magnificent” (Time Out), “heavenly” (The Daily Telegraph), “magnetic” (The Financial Times), and filled with “vocal bravura” (New York Times).

Rachel Chavkin, director of Hadestown, said, “I’m delighted to be continuing the journey with these artists, some of whom have been with the piece since the beginning. They bring a wild combination of experience, singular musicianship, and a shared joy in mining Anaïs’ poetry and politics.”

Hadestown marks the first time in over a decade that a woman has been the solo author of a musical: writing the music, lyrics, and book, and is the fourth time in Broadway history a woman has accomplished this creative feat.

Hadestown is a phenomenon! When the lights go out midway through, I’m already making a mental list of friends I must text after the show, telling them how much they’d love it. The chemistry between Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada screams desire. Hadestown is a dazzling party. You’ll struggle to find more joy in a musical this year.”
iNews

“A stunning new take on the brilliantly tragic love story. Hadestown is myth agelessly reincarnated in Rachel Chavkin’s rich and often stunning production. Hermes is sublimely played by André De Shields. He’s completely spellbinding, with hints of mischief and mystery.”
The Stage

Hadestown is a glorious, joyous, thrilling new musical that is brilliantly staged. David Neumann’s choreography gives everything a surging sense of perpetual motion. Amber Gray is boozily magnificent as sozzled party-girl Persephone while Patrick Page’s quakingly low voice is practically a special effect.”
Time Out

Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by calling (877) 250-2929. Additional casting for the Broadway production will be announced shortly.

Hadestown originated as Mitchell’s indie theater project that toured Vermont which she then turned into an acclaimed album. With Chavkin, her artistic collaborator, Hadestown has been transformed into a genre-defying new musical that blends modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz to reimagine a sweeping ancient tale.

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. Mitchell’s beguiling melodies and Chavkin’s poetic imagination pit nature against industry, faith against doubt, and love against fear. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers, and singers, Hadestown delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience.

Welcome to the intriguing and beautiful world of “your next musical theater obsession” (Vogue).

The creative team for Broadway features Drama Desk Award nominee Rachel Hauck (set design), three-time Tony Award nominee Michael Krass (costume design), Tony Award winner Bradley King (lighting design), Tony Award nominee Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz (sound design), three-time Bessie Award® winner David Neumann (choreography), Liam Robinson (music direction and vocal arrangements), Michael Chorney, Todd Sickafoose (arrangements and orchestrations), Ken Cerniglia (dramaturgy), and Stewart/Whitley (casting).

Hadestown electrified audiences with its 2016 world premiere at New York Theatre Workshop before receiving its Canadian premiere at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre in 2017. This winter’s sold-out engagement at the National Theatre in London recently ended its run at the Olivier Theatre. Hadestown was developed with funding from the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center and was further developed by The Ground Floor at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Hadestown was co-conceived by Ben t. Matchstick.

The Hadestown live original cast recording is available in stores and digitally. For more information on where to get the album and to sign up for email updates for Hadestown, please visit http://www.hadestown.com/.

BIOGRAPHIES

ANAÏS MITCHELL (Music, Lyrics, & Book) is a Vermont and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter who comes from the world of narrative folksong, poetry, and balladry. She recorded for Righteous Babe Records for several years before starting her own label (Wilderland) in 2012. Among her recorded works are six full-length albums, including 2010’s album of Hadestown which featured guest singers including Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Ani DiFranco; 2012’s Young Man in America; and 2013’s Child Ballads. Mitchell has headlined shows worldwide as well as supporting tours for Bon Iver, Richard Thompson, Josh Ritter, and Punch Brothers. Her awards include a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award and the Folk Alliance International Spirit of Folk Award. She has featured in year-end best lists including The Guardian, NPR, American Songwriter, The Sunday Times, and Wall Street Journal.

RACHEL CHAVKIN(Director) is a director, writer, and dramaturg, as well as the founding Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based company The TEAM (theteamplays.org) whose work has been seen all over London and the U.K. including the National Theatre, the Royal Court, and multiple collaborations with the National Theatre of Scotland and the Battersea Arts Centre. Selected freelance work includes Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 (Ars Nova, A.R.T., Broadway), Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown (New York Theatre Workshop, Edmonton’s Citadel, London’s National Theatre, upcoming: Broadway), Matt Gould and Carson Kreitzer’s Lempicka (Williamstown), Caryl Churchill’s Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (New York Theatre Workshop), Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (Old Globe, Lincoln Center), Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova, Off-Broadway, national tour), Sarah Gancher’s I’ll Get You Back Again (Round House), and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac including The Lily’s Revenge, Act 2 (HERE); and Chris Thorpe, including Confirmation and Status. Chavkin is a recipient of a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical, three Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, multiple Lortel Award nominations, two Doris Duke Impact Award nominations, and the 2017 Smithsonian Award for Ingenuity along with Dave Malloy.

DAVID NEUMANN (Choreography). Neumann’s work with Advanced Beginner Group has been presented in New York at PS 122, New York Live Arts, The Kitchen, Central Park Summerstage (in collaboration with John Giorno), and Symphony Space (in collaboration with Laurie Anderson), Abrons Arts Center, The Chocolate Factory, and The Whitney. Advanced Beginner Group has also performed at the Walker Art Center, Jacob’s Pillow, MASS MoCA, American Dance Institute, and Carolina Performing Arts, among others. Neumann has performed with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Big Dance Theater, Doug Elkins, Doug Varone, and Sally Silvers. His work in theater includes An Octoroon at Soho Rep, Underground Railroad Game at Ars Nova, directing Geoff Sobelle in The Object Lesson at BAM Fischer and New York Theater Workshop. He was choreographer on both Hagoromo with Wendy Whelan and Jock Soto and Home at BAM Harvey, Sibyl Kempson’s Let Us Now Praise Susan Sontag, and The Antipodes at Signature Theatre. He was choreographer on Hadestown at NYTW; The Citadel in Edmonton, Canada; and The National Theatre in London. He is the recipient of three New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Awards (including Best Production in 2015 for I Understand Everything Better.

REEVE CARNEY(Orpheus) is best known for the role of Dorian Gray in Showtime’s hit series “Penny Dreadful” and for originating the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the smash Broadway production Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, a role that he was handpicked for by Julie Taymor and U2’s Bono and The Edge. Carney was last seen in Fox’s “The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do The Time Warp Again.” His film credits include GeminiThe Tempest, and Snow Falling on Cedars. Recordings include his debut solo album, Youth is Wasted (five Independent Music Awards including Best Album) and Mr. Green Vol. 1, with the band, Carney.

ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS (Hermes). In a career spanning 50 years, De Shields has distinguished himself as an unparalleled actor, director, and educator. He has intermittently portrayed Hermes in Hadestown since 2012, including the recent critically acclaimed production at London’s National Theatre. In 2018, De Shields was the recipient of the 8th Annual Off-Broadway Alliance Legend Award and the 33rd Annual Bob Harrington Life Achievement Bistro Award. Among his other accolades are the 2009 National Black Theatre Festival’s Living Legend Award, and the 2007 Village Voice Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance. A multiple Tony Award nominee, he is best known for his show-stopping performances in four legendary Broadway productions: The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Emmy Award), Play On!, and The Full Monty. De Shields is a proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC. www.andredeshields.com.

AMBER GRAY (Persephone). Theatre includes Hadestown (London’s National Theatre, Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre: Sterling Award, New York Theatre Workshop: Lucille Lortel Award nomination); Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 (Broadway: Theatre World Award, Kazino, Ars Nova); Daniel Fish’s production of Oklahoma! (Bard SummerScape); An Octoroon (Theatre for a New Audience, Soho Rep, P.S.122); Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: 1900’s-1950’s (New York Live Arts with Under the Radar); Iphigenia in Aulis (Classic Stage Company); We Play for the Gods (Women’s Project); Eager to Lose (Ars Nova); and Banished Children of Eve (Irish Rep). Gray is a member of, the Brooklyn-based theatre company, The TEAM and has codeveloped and performed in their Mission Drift (London’s Royal National, P.S.122’s Coil, Edinburgh’s Traverse, Lisbon, Salzburg, Perth, and Hong Kong); Primer for a Failed Superpower (Roulette); and the upcoming Reconstruction (still working but the devil might be inside).  Gray can always be found, and has performed for the past 14 years, with the political activist group Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping. Television and film credits includes “Escape at Dannemora,” Walden: Life in the Woods, What Would Jesus Buy?, and The Weekend. MFA: NYU Graduate Acting

EVA NOBLEZADA (Eurydice) previously starred in Hadestown at the National Theatre in London. City AM called her “brilliant” and The Arts Desk said she is “blazingly good.” Last fall, she shot a lead role in the upcoming indie film, Yellow Rose. In 2017, Noblezada starred on Broadway in the title role of Cameron Mackintosh’s epic revival of Miss Saigon, receiving a Tony nomination at age 21. Variety called her Broadway debut performance “entrancing” and The Hollywood Reporter said “her vocals have an expressive range and sweetness that cuts through all that surrounds her. She’s a legitimate discovery.” She previously starred in the long-running London revival of Miss Saigon, for which she received the WhatsOnStage award for Best Actress in a Musical. She also played Eponine in the West End revival of the legendary musical, Les Miserables. Noblezada was a high school student in Charlotte, NC, when she was discovered by casting director Tara Rubin at the 2013 Jimmy Awards in New York City. Rubin introduced her to Mackintosh and director Laurence Connor, who chose her to star for two years in their long-awaited hit 2014 West End revival of Miss Saigon.

PATRICK PAGE (Hades) starred as Hades in the Off-Broadway, Citadel Theatre, and National Theatre productions of Hadestown. He was last seen on Broadway as The Inquisitor in Saint Joan. Other Broadway: Valentina in Casa Valentina, Buckley in Time to Kill, Adult Men in Spring Awakening, DeGuiche in Cyrano de Bergerac, Green Goblin in Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons, Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar, Scar in The Lion King, The Grinch in Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, and Mackie in The Kentucky Cycle. Other New York: Cymbeline in Cymbeline (New York Shakespeare Festival/Delacort), Max in The Sound of Music (Carnegie Hall). Regional: Page recently created the roles of Dom Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame at La Jolla Playhouse and Papermill Playhouse, and Captain Dragutin Dimitrijevic in Rajiiv Joseph’s Archduke at the Mark Taper Forum. He is an Associate Artist of The Old Globe in San Diego (Cyrano, Malvolio), and the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington, D.C. (Coriolanus, Prospero, Macbeth, Iago, Claudius). Television: recurring roles on “Elementary,” “Madam Secretary,” “Flesh and Bone” and guest starring roles on “NCIS: New Orleans,” “The Good Wife,” “The Blacklist,” “Chicago P.D.,” and “Law and Order: S.V.U.”

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