Theater review: 'Hadestown' gets down with Dixieland delights

The Broadway hit "Hadestown" can be taken in two ways: It's either a mystifying boutique musical of ethereal romance and transcending jazz/folk ballads, or it's a stupefying pileup of metaphors and musical mashups. But that depends on the audience's willingness to mentally invest in the show. Clearly, there was a lot of investment in this 2019 Tony-winning show (14 nominations and eight wins) — and not just the financial kind. With obvious intellectual sweat, developer and director Rachel Chavkin has spent years in workshops, tryouts and pre-productions to mold the music, lyrics and book/script by Anais Mitchell from concept album into an ingenious concept Broadway musical that frames a virtual Greek God soap opera as a night in New Orleans. Brilliantly designed by Rachel Hauk (sets), Bradley King (lights) and Michael Krass (costumes), the multifunctional stage flows from Bourbon Street to the industrial bowels of Hades. Reflecting the timelessness of setting, the aesthetics touches everything from "Ain't Misbehavin'" to "Rent." Likewise, the ensemble is a strange mix of millennials and hepcats. The omnipresent narrator Hermes (Nathan Lee Graham, ably filling the dazzling theatrical legacy left by Broadway original Andre De Shields) always brings the show back to its Broadway-showbiz countenance even when it seems to be slipping back into message-laden murkiness. Dominique Kempf, Belen Moyano and Nyla Watson add a little Pointer Sisters punctuation to the proceedings as the ominous Fates trio, while jean-clad chorus members, who seem to be reviving the Seattle grunge movement of the 1990s as they toil away in the hellish factories or sing and dance above in street-level jubilation, counterbalance the 1940s adornment. But what's all this for? During the rather telling opening number, "Road to Hell," the vague but impassioned story is set into motion as tragically smitten Orpheus (Chibueze Ihuoma) follows his soulmate Eurydice (Hannah Whitley) from a sidewalk cafe to the underworld to rescue her from eternal damnation and the lightly lustful intentions of Hades (Mathew Patrick Quinn as the ultimate rock 'n' roll silver fox). Hades' wife, Persephone (Brit West), decides to cut short her seasonal sojourn to the Big Easy and head back down to coax philandering hubby Hades back into her wifely embrace. For all the Dixieland delights, this is still Greek tragedy, so we can always guess the ending, but, as the show adroitly and pointedly reminds us through tossed-off ditties and soulful ballads, we always have hope — even if it's just hoping to appreciate the many niceties of the production, if not its damning complexities. Contact Howard Gollop at howieeg@hotmail.com. IF YOU GO WHAT: KeyBank Broadway Series presents "Hadestown" WHEN: Through Feb. 19 (times vary) WHERE: Connor Palace, 1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland TICKETS: $25 to $120 INFO: (216) 241-6000 or PlayhouseSquare.org