Chavkin & Mitchell's Starry HADESTOWN Begins Tonight at NYTW

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) presents HADESTOWN, written by celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and developed with and directed by the inventive two-time OBIE award-winning director Rachel Chavkin (Three Pianos; Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812).

Previews for HADESTOWN begin tonight, May 6, 2016, with an opening night set for Monday, May 23, 2016 at New York Theatre Workshop (79 E. 4th Street New York, NY 10003), playing through Sunday, July 3, 2016.

The cast of HADESTOWN will feature Nabiyah Be (Queen of the Night) as Eurydice, Damon Daunno (Brief Encounter) as Orpheus, Lulu Fall (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) as a Fate, Amber Gray (An Octoroon) as Persephone, Patrick Page (Spring Awakening) as Hades, Jessie Shelton (Futurity) as a Fate, Chris Sullivan ("The Knick") as Hermes, and Shaina Taub (Old Hats) as a Fate.

HADESTOWN follows Orpheus' mythical quest to overcome Hades and regain the favor of his one true love, Eurydice. Together we travel from wide open plains where love and music are not enough nourishment to survive the winter, down to HADESTOWN, an industrialized world of mindless labor and full stomachs. Inspired by traditions of classic American folk music and vintage New Orleans jazz, Mitchell's beguiling melodies and poetic imagination pit nature against industry, faith against doubt, and love against death.

The production features scenery by Rachel Hauck; costumes by Michael Krass; lighting by Bradley King; sound by Rob Kaplowitz; choreography by David Neumann; dramaturgy by Ken Cerniglia; music direction by Liam Robinson; arrangements & orchestrations by Michael Chorney; and co-arrangements & orchestrations and music supervision by Todd Sickafoose. HADESTOWN is co-conceived by Ben t. Matchstick.

HADESTOWN was originally developed with funding from the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center under the supervision of Dale Franzen and Mara Isaacs/Octopus Theatricals. The project was further developed in collaboration with The Broad Stage through NYTW's Artist Workshop programming, including the annual Usual Suspects Summer Residency at Dartmouth College and the Larson Lab Studio. HADESTOWN is a winner of a Richard Rodgers Production Award, administered by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Single tickets for HADESTOWN are $85, with $45 tickets available for performances from May 8 to May 12 and $70 tickets available for performances from May 13 to May 22. Season memberships are now on sale at www.nytw.org or 212-460-5475 and include HADESTOWN along with NYTW's current production, the New York premiere of RED SPEEDO written by Lucas Hnath (The Christians) and directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz (Hollow Roots), hailed by The New York Times as a "taut, incisive drama"; William Shakespeare's OTHELLO, directed by Tony Award winner Sam Gold and featuring Daniel Craig (Betrayal, Spectre) as 'Iago' and David Oyelowo (Royal Shakespeare Company's The Histories, Selma) in the title role; and three productions yet to be announced.

New York Theatre Workshop, now in its fourth decade of incubating important new works of theatre, continues to honor its mission to explore perspectives on our collective history and respond to the events and institutions that shape all our lives. Each season, from its home in New York's East Village, NYTW presents four new productions, over 80 readings and numerous workshop productions for over 45,000 audience members. NYTW supports artists in all stages of their careers by maintaining a series of workshop programs, including work-in-progress readings, summer residencies and artist fellowships. Since its founding, NYTW has produced over 100 new, fully staged works, including Jonathan Larson's Rent; Tony Kushner's Slavs! and Homebody/Kabul; Doug Wright's Quills; Claudia Shear's Blown Sideways Through Life and Dirty Blonde; Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and Valhalla; Martha Clarke's Vienna: Lusthaus; Caryl Churchill's Mad Forest, Far Away, A Number and Love and Information; Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's Aftermath; Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher; Enda Walsh's Once; and seven acclaimed productions directed by Ivo van Hove. NYTW's productions have received a Pulitzer Prize, seventeen Tony Awards and assorted Obie, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards.

ABOUT THE CAST:

NABIYAH BE (Eurydice) is a Brazilian-Jamaican actress and singer/songwriter. Her talents were first noticed on stage with her father, Grammy Award winner Jimmy Cliff, when she performed alongside the reggae singer throughout her childhood. By the age of fifteen, she had joined Brazilian theater company Os Bumburistas and with them, developed three theater projects: A Virada (winner of Braskem Theater Award for Best Play), O Pagador de Promessas and O Fantasma de Canterville (winner of Braskem Theater Award for Best Musical). This group of young actors-Nabiyah being the youngest-often wrote, developed and produced their own pieces. Before moving to New York in 2010 and obtaining her BFA degree in Acting from Pace University, Nabiyah worked as a back up vocalist for major Brazilian artists (Daniela Mercury, Carlinhos Brown) and conceived and performed Rebel in Me, a concert of re-arranged classic and contemporary songs. Some of her NYC credits include Queen of the Night (original cast), Spring Awakening, The Vagina Monologues and Queens Boulevard. Nabiyah is currently writing and developing her first record.

DAMON DAUNNO (Orpheus) is an actor and musician from New Jersey. He received a B.F.A. in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Broadway: Kneehigh Theater Co.'s Brief Encounter. Off-Broadway: Kneehigh Theater Co.'s Wild Bride (St. Ann's Warehouse), Tristan and Yseult (St. Ann's Warehouse). Regional: Oklahoma! (Bard), These Paper Bullets! (Geffen Playhouse), The Last Goodbye (Williamstown), Fly By Night (Dallas Theater Center), Jesus in India (Magic). Film & TV: "The Following" (Fox). He is also a composer and multi-instrumentalist and has produced scores for short and feature length films. He is represented by Abrams Artist Agency and Authentic Management.

LULU FALL (Fate) Broadway, National Tour: Hair (ensemble). Off-Broadway: Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (ensemble); Pretty Filthy (Brown Sugar). Regional: Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (ensemble, ART, Cambridge); August Rush (ensemble, Developmental Lab, NY); 15 Minutes (ensemble, Workshop, NYSAF); Annie Golden Bounty Hunter (Janessa, Workshop, NY); Smokey Joe's Café (Brenda, Capital Repertory Theatre, Albany); Crowns (Swing, Arena Stage, Washington, DC); Passing Strange (ensemble, Studio Theatre, Washington, DC). Featured music performances: Jazz Re:freshed (Performer, London); American Songbook Program, (Performer, Smithsonian); Langnau Jazz Nights Festival (Performer, Switzerland). www.lulufall.com

AMBER GRAY (Persephone) Theatre: Iphigenia in Aulis (Classic Stage Company), Oklahoma! (Bard SummerScape), An Octoroon (Theatre for a New Audience, Soho Rep and P.S. 122), Taylor Mac's A 24 Decade History of Popular Music: 1900's-1950's (New York Live Arts with Under the Radar), Natasha Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 (Kazino and Ars Nova), The TEAM's Mission Drift (London's National Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Perth International Arts Festival, New York COIL, Williams College, Salzburger Festspiele, Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre, Universide de Coimbra, Lisbon's Culturgest, and ArtsEmerson), The World is Round (Ripe Time), We Play for the Gods (Women's Project), All Hands (Hoi Polloi), Eager to Lose (Ars Nova), Banished Children of Eve (Irish Rep), and ongoing shows with Reverend Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping. Regional: Williamstown, Huntington, Connecticut Rep, and Aspen Theatre Masters. TV/Film: "Ms. Guidance", "The Impossibilities", Roger the Chicken, "The Burg", "Law and Order: SVU", Herkimer Dufrayne, Sissypants, The Weekend, and What Would Jesus Buy? Training: M.F.A. NYU Graduate Acting.

PATRICK PAGE (Hades) Broadway credits include Valentina in Casa Valentina, Buckley in Time to Kill, Adult Men in Spring Awakening, De Guiche in Cyrano De Bergerac, Green Goblin in Spider-Man, Henry VIII in Man for All Seasons, The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Decius Brutus in Julius Caesar, Scar in the Lion King, Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, and The Kentucky Cycle. Other New York credits include Cymbeline in Cymbeline in Central Park, Max in Sound of Music at Carnegie Hall, Marley in Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden, Cardinal in The Duchess of Malfi at Red Bull, Aumerle in Richard II at The Public, and the title role in Rex at the York Theatre. Patrick's regional credits span 25 years, including Associate Artist of The Old Globe Theater where roles include Cyrano in Cyrano De Bergerac (Craig Noel Award), Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Jeffrey Cordova in Dancing in the Dark (Craig Noel Award) etc. He is an Affiliated Artist with The Shakespeare Theater in DC, where roles include Coriolanus in Coriolanus (Emery Battis Award), Iago in Othello (Helen Hayes Award), Macbeth in Macbeth, etc. Television credits include "The Good Wife", "Elementary", "Flesh and Bone", "Law and Order: SVU", etc.

JESSIE SHELTON (Fate) is a multi-disciplinary performer and artist based in NYC. Her work has been seen at Dixon Place, Abrons Art Center, JACK, the Cell, La MaMa, and now NYTW! Some favorite performing credits include Futurity (Soho Rep/Ars Nova), Patrick Barlow's A Christmas Carol (Dir. Joe Calarco), Bone Hill: In Concert (Joe's Pub), Salome (Jack/Dir. Lileana Blain-Cruz), and Lady Han (Incubator Arts Project/Dir. Katherine Brook). Jessie splits her time between workshopping everything she can get her hands on, writing music, playing violin, dancing, reading, singing, making funny voices, and asking lots. of. questions. Education: Carnegie Mellon BFA, Moscow Art Theatre/Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, Rhodopi International Theatre Lab.

CHRIS SULLIVAN (Hermes) is best known for playing Irish ambulance driver 'Tom Cleary' in Stephen Soderbergh's series "The Knick." Sullivan recently filmed Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Live by Night, Morgan and Impernium. He will also be seen in the new Netlfix series Strange Things. Additional film/television credits include Ryan Murphy's The Normal Heart, The Drop and "The Americans." Sullivan's Broadway credits include Lombardi, Chicago and George Gershwin's Nice Work if You Can Get It. Before moving to New York, Sullivan worked in theatre in Chicago including The Mystery of Irma Vep (Jefferson Award nomination) and Tony Kushner's The Illusion, and productions at the Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare, Royal George and the Court. When he is not acting, he writes music and plays with his band "Sully and the Benevolent Folk."

SHAINA TAUB (Fate) is a Vermont-raised, New York-based songwriter and performer. Winner of a Jonathan Larson Grant and Ars Nova's 2012 Composer-in-Residence, she made her Lincoln Center solo concert debut in their 2015 American Songbook series. Her musical adaptation of Twelfth Night, commissioned by the Public Theater, directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, will be presented this summer at the Delacorte Theater as part of their Public Works program. She wrote songs for and co-starred in Bill Irwin and David Shiner's Old Hats, directed by Tina Landau at the Signature Theatre and A.CT. She earned a Lucille Lortel Award nomination as Princess Mary in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, performed and arranged the songs of Tom Waits in A.R.T.'s production of The Tempest, directed by Teller of Penn & Teller, and sang with Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in her psycho-opera, Stop The Virgens, at St. Ann's Warehouse and the Sydney Opera House. Audra McDonald currently performs Taub's song, "Bear & Otter", in concert. She has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Yaddo Colony, and the Sundance Institute. Her TV songwriting credits include "Sesame Street" and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend". Her new album Visitors is available now.

RACHEL CHAVKIN (Director) is an Obie Award-winning, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominated director, writer, dramaturg, and Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based experimental ensemble, the TEAM (www.theteamplays.org), now in its 11th year. Selected projects: multiple collaborations with composer Dave Malloy including Preludes (World Premiere - LCT3) and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (World Premiere - Ars Nova; Kazino; A.R.T.; upcoming: Broadway transfer); Marco Ramirez's The Royale (Lincoln Center, Old Globe); The TEAM's RoosevElvis (PS122's COIL Festival, the Royal Court, Walker Art Center, A.R.T.); Bess Wohl's Small Mouth Sounds (World Premiere - Ars Nova); British artist Chris Thorpe's Confirmation (World Premiere - 2014 Edinburgh Fringe, Invisible Dog w/ PS122 COIL Festival, UK and international tours); Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (Northern Stage, UK national tour); Meg Miroshnik's The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls (Yale Rep); and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac, including his extravaganza The Lily's Revenge (World Premiere, Act II - HERE). NYTW Usual Suspect, Artistic Associate at London's Gate Theatre, alum Soho Rep's Writer/Director Lab, Drama League Directors Project, Women's Project Director's Lab, and New Georges Affiliate Artist. Proud member SDC.

ANAÏS MITCHELL (Music) is a Vermont & Brooklyn-based songwriter who recorded for Ani Difranco's Righteous Babe Records for several years before founding her own Wilderland label in 2012. Recent albums include Hadestown (a folk opera based on the Orpheus myth), Young Man in America (described by the UK's Independent as 'an epic tale of American becoming') and Child Ballads (a BBC award-winning collection of traditional English and Scottish folksongs). Collectively, these records have appeared on 'Year End Best Of' lists including NPR, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian and Sunday Times. Mitchell headlines concerts worldwide as well as supporting tours for artists such as Bon Iver and Ani Difranco (who appear as guest singers on the Hadestown album), Richard Thompson, Patty Griffin and the Punch Brothers. Mitchell comes from the world of narrative folksong, poetry and balladry; Hadestown is her first foray into the theater.

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