A touring production of “Hadestown” recently came to the Hobby Center in Houston from Feb. 10-15. The award-winning musical tells an interpretation of the tragic love story from the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Opening night at the Hobby Center saw a nearly full house, with several audience members dressed in themed attire. Many patrons carried “Hadestown” hand fans and vinyl albums bought from the merchandise table outside the hall. Several groups of students joined the audience from local high schools.

The show emphasizes lighting as a storytelling tool. The hostile, orange tones of Hadestown contrast with the bleak, grey atmosphere of the surface. Flashes of light into the audience turned up the heat on crucial story beats. In more emotional moments, beams of light swept over the audience to pull them into the world.

After the show, members of the cast and crew shared some of the technical considerations for the musical’s current tour.

Crew described the one of the most significant constraints that touring across different theaters pose as how their various stages affect set design. Most notably, the musical’s touring production lacks the famous turntable platform seen in the Broadway show’s home stage at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Some set pieces are specially built so that items can be adjusted to deal with varying stage sizes and set up time.

The audience was enthusiastic in their response to the show. “Wait for Me,” the show’s most popular musical number, was met with hollering and applause. Despite the story’s famously tragic ending, a collective gasp still erupted from the audience at the show’s climax.

Minor microphone issues arose at the start of the show but did not affect the rest of the performance. In act two, the moving backdrop was accompanied by an unpleasant grating noise during its descent.

The Broadway production of “Hadestown” won eight Tony awards in 2019 and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2020. Hadestown’s tour continues across the U.S, with performances scheduled through June 2026.