Hadestown is good enough to see at least once. The cast is good, but no one jumped out at me. The music is good, if mostly unmemorable (at least to me), except for the catchy Way Down Hadestown. (Loved the band, however, and agree with reviews that have singled out the trombone player.) Also, I’m not a big fan of recitative shows.

Seeing Hadestown completed a musical triple play of sorts for me, having previously seen Wonderful Town and Urinetown. (I’ve never seen a theatrical version of On the Town, which is a pity, as in a town without.)

As far as Hades, the character, goes, I preferred the devil in Damn Yankees and the devil disguised as the snake in The Diary of Adam and Eve (in the Apple Tree), though the devil in Randy Newman’s Faust, which was so good that I left at intermission, left much to be desired. (The Devil Wears Prada doesn’t count, and is best forgotten.)

At the point in Hadestown when Orpheus is asked by Hades to play a song, I hoped he would break into The Devil Went Down to Georgia, but no such luck, just a lot of la la las.

The show can definitely make you think about serious things going on in the world today, but don’t I go to musicals to get away from that? I thought the song When the Chips Are Down was particularly relevant – “Now that the chips are down, Help yourself, to hell with the rest, Even the one who loves you best”.

The ending of the show differs from the classic versions and is a total sellout. Virgil or Ovid or whoever (other than Tony voters) is turning over in his grave, though, spoiler alert, Orpheus and Eurydice aren’t.