It was my second anniversary with my girlfriend, Brena, at the end of February; and to celebrate, we took a weekend trip up to New York City. Our activities will be filling quite a few of my blog posts, but for this first one, our flagship activity was seeing Hadestown! 

I’ve listened to the soundtrack and been wanting to see it for a few years, and it was finally time to make it happen. After taking Amtrak to Penn Station and checking into our hotel on Friday evening (the Arlo Midtown — look out for my upcoming GT Tested review), we ventured out to get dinner and then headed to the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Almost every time I see a Broadway show I’m blown away, and this time was no exception. From the lighting to the set design to the performances, Hadestown was top-notch, and we had a great time seeing the show. Knowing how it ends doesn’t make that ending any less devastating.

We were disappointed when there were some scattered laughs in the audience during a dead-silent moment of tragedy, as that ruined the vibes a bit. We suspect it was from a group of teenagers, but who can say for sure? Besides that, Hadestown was an all-in-all great theater experience. The performer who played Hermes particularly stood out to me as really excellent. Other favorite elements include some mesmerizing lamp-based choreography and the rotating and descending concentric circles on the stage floor. And the live band that remained on stage the entire show was a very cool production choice!

Overall, I’d definitely recommend Hadestown as a show not to miss on Broadway.

— Hannah Gruen, advertising & events coordinator