Hadestown is one of the most anticipated musicals to hit Australia in recent years. After huge commercial success on Broadway and the West End, Opera Australia have brought the production to Australia with an absolutely stellar cast.  

With roses littered all around the city for Valentine’s Day, there couldn’t have been a more appropriate day for the premiere of the take of the tragic love story on Orpheus and Eurydice. Without knowledge of the original tale, the musical is somewhat hard to follow but the music is so strong that it doesn’t matter (and things become clearer as the storyline develops). 

The thing that stands out the most with this cast is the quality of their performances. Christine Anu is a very strong Hermes while Abigail Adriano is perfectly cast as Eurydice. Adriano has one of the best voices in Australian musical theatre and it was on full show here, with a level of technical skill displayed that took the role to a new level. Adrian Tamburini as Hades and Elenoa Rokobaro as Persephone were also superb, with Tamburini’s deep baritone voice being one of the defining features of this production. The fates, played by Sarah Murr, Jennifer Trijo, and Imani Williams, were also sublime and were stars in their own right. 

The set for this production was absolutely fantastic, with clear attention to every detail, and the costuming matched the energy with Hades’ sparkly suits a particular highlight. The storyline was also interesting, with a great score to match and the tension high right until the very end of the production. The second act was particularly high-quality with all the characters coming into their own and delivering a poignant, yet ultimately heart wrenching performance.  

While most of the musical was very strong, there were a few points which ultimately detracted from the strength of the rest of the production. Noah Mullins struggled as Orpheus, missing quite a few notes in both his chest voice and falsetto and lacking the quality of sound that the challenging vocal role demands. Some of the acting also felt a little stilted and disjointed, which was not helped by a technical failure in the first act, although this improved as the musical progressed towards its conclusion. 

The musical is quite complex, and the acting standard was commensurately high to deal with this complexity. The layers came through quite nicely, with love a central theme but tragedy, selfishness and trust also being dealt with in substantial terms. While the ending of the musical was probably antithesis to the message that Valentine’s Day seeks to uphold, this only added to its poignancy on this particular night. 

It was also striking how diverse this production was, following in the same vein as the Broadway and West End productions. Opera Australia has generally been ahead of the curve in this regard with their musicals and it is something that I hope will continue to be a priority for them as they increasingly tackle the realm of musical theatre. 

Overall, this was a good show, with something for everyone. The complexity of the musical was well-explored while the standard of the acting was very high throughout. With some minor exceptions, the singing was also of the highest quality and all the production elements were fantastic. This is going to be a production that sells out almost every night and deservedly so. One can only hope that it is the catalyst for many more hit musicals coming to Australia in future years. 

Rating: ★★★★

Hadestown plays at the Theatre Royal until 26^th April. For more information, click here.

All photo credits: Lisa Tomasetti