Ever since the Hadestown pro-shot was announced last year, the buzz surrounding its release has been consistent. As with other pro-shots of beloved stage musicals, fans wondered if the taped rendition would hold up to the live experience. And when Hadestown: The Musical hit North American theaters for a limited engagement in July—which was quickly extended due to demand—reviews poured in, with many calling it the best pro-shot of all time.
The assessment is entirely accurate.
Directed by Brett Sullivan and featuring the five principal cast members of the original Hadestown Broadway production, with the rest of the cast hailing from its West End production, Hadestown: The Musical was shot across three live performances at London’s Lyric Theatre on February 28 and March 1, 2025.
Not only does the film capture the musical’s heat-slicked jazz and high-intensity ballads, but the small, easy-to-miss moments between characters that make the story so impactful. Cameras capture close-up footage, zoomed-out tableaus, and top-down (and bottom-up) frames that anchor the production’s mythological sprawl to convey just how intertwined this world of gods and mortals truly is.
Hadestown blends American folk music, New Orleans jazz, and two ancient Greek myths to tell an intertwined story of Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone that examines contemporary themes of poverty, capitalism, greed, and class solidarity. Singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell penned the music, lyrics, and book, originally releasing a sung-through version of the musical in Vermont in 2006 before turning it into a concept album.
In 2012, Mitchell met and worked with director Rachel Chavkin to rework the stage version with additional songs and dialogue. This version of the show debuted off-Broadway in 2016, then made its way to Edmonton and London before premiering on Broadway in 2019. The show has since toured North America and premiered on the West End.
Having seen Hadestown on Broadway in 2019, just before the show took home eight Tony Awards that summer, my anticipation for the pro-shot was incredibly high. And from André De Shields’s (Hermes) opening, “Aight?” to the stage and audience, it was clear the film would surpass my wildest expectations.
Perhaps most surprising about this pro-shot is how immersive and raw it feels to witness as an audience member. De Shields sinks easily into Hermes’s winged shoes, vigorously narrating the story as he moves around stage with style and heart, interacting with characters and speaking directly to the audience. He presents the mercurial messenger god as a bit of a jokester, yes, but one who feels things deeply, and whose emotions sway the “sad song” of Orpheus and Eurydice toward something hopeful, even if we all know how it ends.
De Shields’s energy is matched by the rest of the cast, and all five of the principal performers have lived in these roles to such a degree that as they move across the stage, the stakes feel real. The emotions are visceral.
This is particularly true of Eva Noblezada as Eurydice and Amber Gray as Persephone. Noblezada’s voice, which is clear as a bell on the Hadestown Original Broadway Cast Recording album, has a little dirt in it here (for lack of better phrasing). Like Hermes says, Eurydice is “a hungry young girl” who’s seen the way the world can be, and Noblezada reveals that in her performance. She screams and cries out and even outright wails at some points, an almost rock n’ roll flavor coloring her performance that strengthens the entire show.
Gray, meanwhile, leans into both Persephone’s humor—which she clearly uses to cope with her increasingly estranged marriage to Hades, along with a secret speakeasy she runs behind his back and plenty of booze—and her deep, deep love for Hades and the Earth above. One of the most captivating scenes in Hadestown: The Musical, the Act 2 opening number “Our Lady of the Underground,” features Gray dancing around stage, her signature rasp belting commentary on what’s been happening in the Underworld while the mortals struggle to survive above ground.
Just as captivating are the moments the camera captures Persephone and Eurydice locking eyes—often times while scenes between other characters take center stage—and conveying a million thoughts through just their expressions and body language. These two women occupy similar roles in this version of their stories, and to see them feed off of each other even when not directly interacting is just one of the elements that makes Hadestown: The Musical so damn good.
Opposite Noblezada, Reeve Carney steels the air from the room as Orpheus, a muse’s son whose work-in-progress song will reset the world balance and save everyone from imminent starvation. Carney’s high, clear voice is at odds with the rest of the cast, purposefully contrasting to demonstrate how much more naïve he is to the ways of the world.
One of the most famous scenes from the stage musical, “Wait for Me,” follows Orpheus on the beginning of his journey down the long road to Hell as the chorus swings big, industrial-style ceiling lamps around him to help demonstrate the danger of his quest. It’s an epic, sweeping moment that seems like it would be nearly impossible to capture on film, but director Sullivan and the Hadestown: The Musical cameramen and editors successfully convey the scene’s beauty through alternating angles, tight edits, and obvious esteem for the choreography.
Last, but not least, Patrick Page brings Hades to sinister, seductive life with his deep baritone and playful energy. Prior to filming, Page ruptured his Achilles tendon, and production worked with him to determine how he could still perform safely for the three pro-shot recordings. He struts around stage in a massive boot (which at most points is hardly noticeable for how well Page carries it off) and with a cane, which if anything just gives Hades more style.
The rest of the ensemble, all hailing from the West End Hadestown production, shares incredible chemistry with each other and with the five principal actors. The Fates are especially dynamic, with trans icon Allie Daniel leaning into the trio’s cruelty in her facial expressions and body language; Madeline Charlemagne seductively twining every double-tongued statement from the trio into something irresistible; and Bella Brown coyly smiling around even the most hateful whispers. Daniel and Brown both rock instruments, as well, the former playing the accordion and the latter the violin.
Every element of Hadestown: The Musical hits with the same jubilation and aplomb as the live stage production, truly committing a near-perfect version of the show to film or current fans and future ones alike. There’s reverence in every camera angle, every cut, every sound edit. It’s obvious everyone involved in its creation is as invested in the story, characters, music, and jaw-dropping staging—which honestly makes the set feel like a character unto itself—as the fandom that’s grown around this show over the last two decades.
Thank the gods for that.
Hadestown: The Musical is currently available for digital pre-order for $24.99 on Amazon Prime Video and is listed on other streaming services including Apple TV+ as “Coming Soon.”
