History Theatre / Hadestown

* EverybodyHatesHades: Hades is the king of the Underworld, and acts as the antagonist for much of the play. In mythology, the Underworld was where everyone was supposed to go when they died, and it wasn't really a terrible place, but here, it's a NightmarishFactory and an affront to the natural order. At the same time, though, it's not taken to the same extent as other portrayals of Hades, as he genuinely loves his wife even if it's misguided and agrees to give Orpheus a fair chance to leave when he proves his worth.

* EverybodyHatesHades: Hades is the king of the Underworld, and acts as the antagonist for much of the play. At the same time, though, it's not taken to the same extent as other portrayals of Hades, as he genuinely loves his wife even if it's misguided and agrees to give Orpheus a fair chance to leave when he proves his worth.

-->--'''Hermes''', "Road to Hell"

** "Chant" is also, itself, a DarkReprise of "Wedding Song", with Persephone and Hades' verses a dark reflection of Orpheus and Eurydice's innocent flirting aboveground — instead of young lovers jokingly extracting extravagant promises from each other about the future, it's an old married couple flinging barbs at each other about what they've done for each other in the past and how they now feel owed and taken for granted.

* RayOfHopeEnding: Like in the myth, Orpheus fails the test and Eurydice is trapped in Hadestown forever; as Hermes reminds us, it's a tragedy. But he also reminds the audience of the importance of telling sad and inspirational stories, and the characters pledge to sing the story again and again, in the hope that ''this'' time it will turn out right (and at the end, Persephone brings ''spring'' rather than ''summer'', hinting that things might change for the better).

* ActionizedAdaptation: A mild example compared to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Orpheus entered and left the Underworld without much issue aside from the whole turning-back thing. In ''Hadestown'', it's a long, dangerous trek there, and he's already battered before Hades has his workers beat him up and attempt to force him out. Hades additionally threatens to kill him once he's done singing, though he doesn't follow through.

* AdaptationalConsent: Hades and Persephone's relationship and marriage in the show was consensual from the start, unlike in the original myths where it was initially based on abduction. Indeed, in the NYTW version, Persephone sings to Eurydice that she was entranced by this mysterious man and followed him to the Underground, much in the same way that Orpheus came underground to rescue Eurydice.

* CirclingMonologue: In the Broadway (and tour) staging, Hades' rant to Orpheus in "Chant (Reprise)" becomes ''several layers'' of this. Hades circles menacingly around Orpheus, who's circling in the opposite direction around Eurydice and the workers as, one by one, with each ArmorPiercingQuestion in their chorus, they break formation to join Orpheus. Meanwhile, Persephone circles Hades, and they even reach out toward each other, [[OfferingAHand almost touching hands]] [[HandshakeRefusal before tearing away from each other]] in opposite directions.[[note]]This is a CallBack to the staging in "Chant," where they break away from each other on the line "The gods have forgotten the song of their love."

* LivingForeverSucks: The workers in Hadestown are doomed to an eternal life of hard labor and no rest, and worse, they forget all their memories.
-->''"Down in the river of oblivion,\\
You kissed your little life goodbye.\\
And Hades laid his hands on you,\\
And gave you ever-lasting life\\
And ever-lasting overtime\\
In the mine, in the mill, in the machinery.\\
Your place on the assembly line,\\
Replaces all your memories."''

* PhraseCatcher: Orpheus and Eurydice both catch one from Hermes: "Orpheus was a poor boy," and "Eurydice was a hungry girl."

-->'''Hades:''' Young man, you can sing your ditty/I CONDUCT THE ELECTRIC CITY!

* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: In the Broadway production, all the gods — and ''only'' the gods — have a bit of glitter to their costumes to indicate their divinity.[[note]] Persephone has sequins on her bodice, Hermes has silver shoes and a shiny brocade waistcoat, the Fates have sections of shiny fabric in their scarves, and Hades' suit has mylar pinstripes.[[/note]]

-->'' 'Cause here’s the thing \\

Music/AnaisMitchell's ''Hadestown'' began life as a small-scale 2006-2007 theatrical production in Vermont before it was turned into [[Music/{{Hadestown}} a concept album]] in 2010. In 2016, ''Hadestown'' returned to the stage with an expanded story and revised tracklist. This version of the show premiered Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop, followed by a reading at New 42nd Street Studios in 2017, a production at the Citadel Theatre in Alberta Canada in 2017, and a run at the UK's National Theatre from November 2018 to January 2019. It then transferred to Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre, where it premiered on April 17, 2019.

** Persephone in "How Long," about both Orpheus (who just wants to see his lover Eurydice again) and Hades (who is tormented by their failed marriage as much as she is).

** Probably not surprisingly, this line got some great applause from the audience when the US tour came to [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkState Schenectady]].

* CirclingMonologue: In the Broadway (and tour) staging, Hades' rant to Orpheus in Chant II becomes ''several layers'' of this. Hades circles menacingly around Orpheus, who's circling in the opposite direction around Eurydice and the workers as, one by one, with each ArmorPiercingQuestion in their chorus, they break formation to join Orpheus. Meanwhile, Persephone circles Hades, and they even reach out toward each other, [[OfferingAHand almost touching hands]] [[HandshakeRefusal before tearing away from each other]] in opposite directions.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: In mythology, Hades and Persephone had one of the happiest, healthiest relationships in the entire pantheon, while in ''Hadestown'', their marriage is on the rocks and has been for some time. [[spoiler:By the end, they're both working on trying again.]]

* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: In both versions of "Wait for Me", Hermes ends each verse on a word that doesn't rhyme with the rest of the verse, and ''almost'' rhymes with the last word of the other verses. The first version has "Bottom-land", "Got 'em", and "Cotton"; the lack of rhyme is clearly deliberate with the unnecessary addition at the end of "Bottom-'''''land'''''". Likewise, the reprise has "Undoing" and "Ruin", which normally ''would'' rhyme in Andre de Shields' typical dialect (where he would likely say "Undoin'"), but he goes out of his way to pronounce the G in "Undoing".

** "Road to Hell (Reprise)" at first begins with nothing but a few tinkling piano notes as Hermes returns to the stage. After he says, "It's a sad song… and that is how it ends," the music stops entirely.