HADESTOWN Becomes First Musical Of 2018-2019 Season To Recoup Investment

Hadestown, the Tony Award-winning Best New Musical has become the first musical of the 2018-2019 Broadway season to recoup its initial investment of $11.5M.

The musical continues to set box office records at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street). For the week ending Sunday, October 13, the production grossed an all-time best of $1,523,311 and is the highest-grossing musical in the theater's history and has been playing to standing room only audiences since it started performances on Friday, March 22.

Lead producer Mara Isaacs said, "Hadestown is a testament to the power of live theater to connect us all. It started in 2006 as an indie theater project, traveling around New England in a silver-painted school bus and has grown to something that has touched millions of people. As this show has developed, we have welcomed a wonderful group of artists, friends, collaborators, fans, and fellow co-producers to join Anaïs Mitchell and Rachel Chavkin on this journey. And as we look forward to the upcoming national tour and beyond, I can't help but reflect on Anaïs, jammed into that tiny silver bus with a group of friends, all simply believing in the power of art to change the world."

Hadestown is the acclaimed new musical by celebrated singer-songwriter and Tony Award winner Anaïs Mitchell and developed with innovative director and Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin. The cast is led by Outer Critics Circle Award nominee Reeve Carney, Tony Award winner André De Shields, Tony Award nominee Amber Gray, two-time Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada, and Tony Award nominee Patrick Page. They are joined by Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Kay Trinidad as the Fates. The chorus of Workers is played by Anthony Chatmon II, Afra Hines, Timothy Hughes, John Krause, and Kimberly Marable. The full cast also includes swings Malcolm Armwood, T. Oliver Reid, Jessie Shelton, and Khaila Wilcoxon.

Hadestown is the most honored show of the 2018-2019 season having received eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, four Drama Desk Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding New Broadway Musical, and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical.

The show will launch a National Tour beginning in the Fall of 2020. In its first year, the tour will visit more than 30 cities coast to coast, including (alphabetically) Denver; Houston; Los Angeles; Minneapolis; New Orleans; Philadelphia; Tempe; and Washington, DC; with more to be announced shortly.

Hadestown marks the first time in over a decade that a woman has been the solo author of a musical: writing the music, lyrics, and book, and is the fourth time in Broadway history a woman has accomplished this creative feat. The show originated as Mitchell's indie theater project that toured Vermont which she then turned into an acclaimed album. With Chavkin, her artistic collaborator, Hadestown has been transformed into a genre-defying new musical that blends modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz to reimagine a sweeping ancient tale.

Following two intertwining love stories - that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone - Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchell's beguiling melodies and Chavkin's poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers, and singers, Hadestown delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience.

The creative team for Broadway features Tony Award winner Rachel Hauck (set design); four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Krass (costume design); two-time Tony Award winner Bradley King (lighting design); Tony Award winners Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz (sound design); Chita Rivera Award winner and three-time Bessie Award winner David Neumann (choreography); Liam Robinson (music direction and vocal arrangements); Tony Award winners Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose (arrangements and orchestrations); Ken Cerniglia (dramaturgy); and Stewart/Whitley (casting).

The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hadestown from Sing It Again Records was released digitally this summer, and topped Billboard's Broadway Cast Recording chart, and debuted at #8 on the Top Album chart. To date, the album has been streamed over 47 million times.

On Friday, November 1, the two-disc CD set featuring a 64-page booklet was released and the upcoming triple-vinyl edition will be available starting Friday, November 29. Both editions include complete song lyrics and never-before-seen photos of the Hadestown cast and creative team in the studio, and other exclusive content.

Hadestown electrified audiences with its 2016 world premiere at New York Theatre Workshop, which is the longest-running show in that celebrated theater's 40-year history. The production then received its Canadian premiere at Edmonton's Citadel Theatre in 2017 and then a 2018 sold-out engagement at the London's National Theatre prior to Broadway. Hadestown was developed with funding from the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center and was further developed by The Ground Floor at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Hadestown was co-conceived by Ben t. Matchstick.