Tag Archives: Rachel Chavkin

Hadestown: The Musical — The Film

Drama, Live Capture, Musical, Theater Event July 23, 2026 Comments: 2

On July 24, Cross Walk (a division of Bleeker Street Films) and LD Entertainment will be releasing their much-anticipated live theater capture of the West End production of Hadestown: The Musical.  The filmed performances took place on February 28 and March 1 of 2025 during the reunion run of the cast that included five of the original principals of the Tony winning Broadway production.  

In the sung-through script, writer Anaïs Mitchell blends two traditional Greek myths — the love story of Orpheus and Eurydice and that of Hades, King of the Underworld, and his bride Persephone — to explore modern themes including class division and climate change.  Along the way she has drastically altered the two heroines and their control over their own fates.  Rather than dying tragically from a snake bite shortly after her marriage, Eurydice willingly chooses to follow Hades to the underworld and signs away her freedom.  And in place of being kidnapped by her uncle Hades and forced into marriage, Mitchell’s Persephone is a boisterous illicit saloon owner who loves her husband enough to feel jealousy towards the younger Eurydice when Hades develops a wandering eye.  

Filmed on location in London’s Lyric Theatre under director Brett Sullivan, there is little attempt to recreate the feeling of sitting in the best seat in the house.  Rather, Sullivan seems to draw from his experience on concert films, attempting to visually bridge the divide between onstage and off.  Opening with glimpses of backstage preparation, Sullivan employs swooping camera work that takes the viewer below, above and beyond the stage. Though the initial descent into hell is dramatic, it is more often quite hard to spot Rachel Chavkin’s Tony winning staging.  David Neumann’s choreography is even harder to detect.  

Eva Noblezada as Eurydice in Hadestown: The Musical; image courtesy of Crosswalk and LD Entertainment

The film’s creative team evidently had Hadestown’s rabid fan base firmly in mind.  Patrick Page tore his achilles tendon shortly before the show’s limited engagement.  In lieu of using Phillip Boykin who performed the role for most of the run in Page’s stead, for the capture, they chose to fit Page with a customized boot and rework the staging to minimize the strain on his injury.  While that choice will certainly thrill anyone who loves his signature combination of menace and seduction, the Lord of the Underworld should not limp.  So while I deeply respect Page as a performer, his inclusion here doesn’t serve the production as fully as a different talented actor with two fully functioning ankles.  

As for the rest of the cast, the legendary André De Shields is our host, sing-talking with emphatic articulation the role of narrator Hermes.  The often drunk and raunchy Persephone is played with verve by Amber Gray who has appeared in every iteration of Hadestown.  Reeve Carney was, by 2025, rather long in the tooth for the Orpheus role, creating an unlikely match for the radiant Eva Noblezada’s Eurydice (The pair are currently appearing on Broadway as Jay and Daisy in The Great Gatsby, so they apparently have great chemistry when experienced in person.)  The Three Fates — Bella Brown, Madeline Charlemagne and Allie Daniel — are full throated and lively.

Recognized by theater critics and ticket holders alike as an enterprising offering in a season of adaptation and revision, Hadestown became a certified hit, recently crossing 2,300 performances.  With its energetic cast and committed live audience, this release of Hadestown: The Musical on film is sure to be a treat for the devotees of the initial concept album through to those who were able to enjoy any one of the many live performances.  It will be in movie theaters for five nights only beginning on Friday, July 24.  Ticketing information available on https://www.amctheatres.com/movies/hadestown-the-musical-83319.  Running time is 141 minutes.  

Light Shining in Buckinghamshire

Off-Broadway, Play, Uncategorized May 8, 2018 Leave a comment

Caryl Churchill is a witty, often brilliant playwright who is sometimes ahead of the curve on intriguing issues.  Her plays delved into gender fluidity, female empowerment, and environmental crisis long before those themes made the covers of popular magazines.  It is therefore particularly frustrating that New York Theater Workshop reached into the back of Churchill’s vault to remount Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, a piece that examines the failures of both church and state during the English Civil War.

The scant story intertwines the lives of a variety of English citizens during the mid 1600.  Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians imprisoned King Charles I, who is still supported by Royalists.  Strict Puritanism has enveloped the Church, though there are whiffs of free consciousness and individualism in the air.  Most of the action takes place off-stage leaving the bulk of the dialogue as passive conversation and exposition.  A chunk of the play reenacts the Putney Debates: an attempt to rework the British constitution.  Some historical knowledge is helpful for following all the verbiage and a brief outline is provided in an addendum to the show’s program.

As staged by the often whimsical Rachel Chavkin and her creative team, this production is particularly rough going.  She employs what has become her trademark of having the actors in the aisles, but mostly keeps them arguing from chairs.  The lack of physical interaction keeps the pace maddeningly slow.  The first act is made almost literally airless by scenic designer Riccardo Hernandez’s decision to lower the ceiling.  Isabella Byrd’s lighting includes faux candlelight for the shadowy Act I and florescence for Act II when illumination seems more in reach.  The soundscape designed by Mikaal Sulaiman is thick and sometimes distorted.  The wardrobe designed by Toni-Leslie James starts off mildly period, then moves to jeans and T-shirts for Act II.  This section also includes anachronistic use of an iPhone, diet soda, and plastic bags.  These may all be nods to today’s struggles with class and power, but the metaphors aren’t clear enough and the props by Noah Mease feel more like empty gestures.

Light Shining in BuckinghamshireNYTW

The cast of LIGHT SHINING IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE at New York Theatre Workshop, Photo by Joan Marcus

The make up of the cast is as broad and eclectic as possible.  While this is fitting for the work, they are not equally strong performers.  Mikéah Ernest Jennings is the standout, blessed with the most compelling through-line from household servant to preacher serving mankind. It is easy enough to see Matthew Jeffers’ magnetism as well as his dwarfism, though in stretches he speaks too swiftly and softly.  Seasoned actress and activist Vinie Burrows really gets the play going, speaking up from the audience to interrupt a particularly paternalistic sermon.  Evelyn Spahr is also given occasions to show her range, with opportunities to sing as sweetly as a nightingale and mewl Eliza Doolittle style.   But performers Rob Campbell and Gregg Mozgala mostly get lost in waves of sameness. At several points the audience relies on the projected captions to tell them which of their characters is speaking.

Dour, preachy and repetitive, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire was an intriguing experiment written before Caryl Churchill found her true voice and rhythm.  While the challenges of the English Civil War may have been compelling in the mid 1970s with its parallel rise of disenfranchised young people, the lines to the relatable aren’t clearly drawn.  It is also difficult to become emotionally invested in any of these characters.  There is insufficient differentiation between their roles and there is no one we get to know well.  Though not completely lacking artistry, at 2 hours and 40 minutes this production is a test for even the loyalest of Churchill’s fans. The play continues through June 3 at New York Theater Workshop.  Visit https://www.nytw.org/show/light-shining-buckinghamshire/ for tickets and information.

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Broadway, Musical, Uncategorized December 17, 2016 Comments: 2

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photo by Chat Batka

When it comes to Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, I am of two minds. My first mind was captivated by the elaborate and imaginative stagecraft. The scenic design by Mimi Lien reaches all the way to the back row of the theater, with drapery-covered walls dotted by family portraits.  Throughout the mezzanine, golden end tables adorned with  artificial candlelight are placed every fourth seat. Down below, the stage is divided into several sections representing Pierre’s study as well as the salons and ballrooms of other aristocratic homes in Moscow.  Each area has audience and orchestra members interspersed. A maze of platforms and ramps allow dancers and singers to encircle viewers with ecstatic performance.  This has the added benefit of ensuring an immersive experience no matter where you sit. For Rachel Chavkin’s inspired undertaking of direction alone, I would recommend this upbeat event to some.

However, my second mind was numbed by Dave Malloy’s pedantic and instantly forgettable musical numbers. I have experience playing in a Renaissance orchestra and I’ve studied jazz piano, so I’m pretty good at picking up a tune. Yet there was not one number from this show that I could remember by the time I reached  7th Avenue. Using phrases from Russian folk tunes is clever, but it is simply irritating when long stretches of dialogue are set to the same five note pattern.

I attended on a night that Josh Groban was unavailable. His standby Scott Strangland, who sang the role of Pierre in Boston, is a more solid figure with a similar vocal style. (To those thinking perhaps this is why I am less praiseful than some, I quickly add that this is very much an ensemble piece.) Standouts in the cast include the expressive Amber Gray who purrs as Hélène a manipulative  adulteress and a delicious Lucas Steele as her rakish brother Anatole.  Both are holdovers from the Ars Nova production.  On the other end of the spectrum is Grace McLean who for her Broadway debut has been taught that a pitchy screech is a great way to communicate high emotion in her role as matron Marya D.

To the credit of the entire cast, I heard each and every line.  I would still recommend that anyone unfamiliar with War and Peace read the synopsis and study the family tree provided in the program.  The primary source for the libretto is a 1922 translation by Aylmer and Louise Maude.  Covering a mere 70 pages of the classic work, the plot stops at a major turning point for the lead characters, which isn’t a very satisfying place at which to end.  While I admire Malloy’s ambition, his lyrics are insipid with little clever turns of phrase beyond the opening number.  I don’t expect everyone to be Lin-Manuel, but I did anticipate shrewder storytelling.

There are times when Bradley King’s lighting and Nicholas Pope’s sound are so frantic their design feels like being on a date with someone who’s already won you over but keeps trying so hard that you start questioning your initial impressions.  Paloma Young’s costume topped off with Leah J. Loukas’s hair and wig design are as period-punk-playful as necessary to support Ms. Chavkin’s creative vision as well as the exuberant movement of the ensemble.

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812  is certainly a joyful one-of-a-kind experience though built around a sadly bland musical score.  It is playing at the newly curtailed and quite comfortable Imperial Theater.  A new block of tickets through September of 2017 is on sale at http://greatcometbroadway.com.