BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Hadestown, the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards including Best New Musical and the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, comes to Bloomington to make its IU Auditorium debut for two performances on February 4 and 5.

 

Hadestown is the most honored show of the 2018-2019 Broadway season. In addition to the show’s eight Tony Awards, it has been honored with 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.

 

“Winner of multiple Tony Awards, Hadestown is a stunning reimagining of a timeless myth,” said IU Auditorium Executive Director, Maria Talbert. “This powerful production weaves together haunting melodies and poetic storytelling to transport audiences into a world both fantastical and deeply human. We are delighted to bring this Broadway masterpiece to our stage for the very first time.”

 

The acclaimed new musical is by celebrated singer-songwriter and Tony Award winner Anaïs Mitchell and developed with original director and Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin. 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 opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway in April 2019, where it played to sold out houses nightly before performances were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hadestown resumed performances in September 2021 as one of the first musicals to reopen on Broadway where it continues to play today.

 

The show originated as Mitchell’s indie theatre 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.

 

Hadestown and IU Auditorium’s 2024–2025 season is presented by B97, Cook Medical, Curry Auto Center, The Herald Times, Upland Brewing Company, and World Arts Inc.