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- On August 18, 2025
Hadestown London is quickly turning into a staple in the West End as they near their second anniversary. If you’ve considered taking the trip to the underworld before and haven’t yet. Maybe this blog post will change your mind. We will discuss the history of the show beyond the West End. And why it has captured London’s heart as well.
Hadestown Origin
The show was a conceptual album by Anaïs Mitchell and was staged in Vermont all the way back in 2006. The album then came out in 2010. The first larger scale production was Off-Broadway in 2016 where 15 additional songs were written. It then premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop. It then ran for a year at the National Theatre in London before making its official Broadway debut in 2019. Where it picked up 8 Tony’s including the Tony for Best Musical.
It continues to play successfully in the Walter Kerr Theatre and recently celebrated 2000 performances and is moving it’s way up the long-running Broadway show list. The show then returned to London, this time at the Lyric Theatre, in the West End spring of 2024. The show has been widely praised by critics and has grown a devoted fan base due it’s music, casts and meaning. Although the first song let’s you know the show ill be a tragedy it has a uplifting and positive message and theme.
Why is it a Phenomenon?
Although musicals based on ancient Greek myths isn’t uncommon with Disney’s Hercules just landing in the West End and Percy Jackson closing a few months ago. Hadestown stands out as being an original musical not based on a film/book about a lesser known myth. The show conceptualizes the Underworld as Hadestown a play on the corporate capitalist playground where Hades rules as the overbearing boss. The visuals are striking with the red carnation as a ever [resent symbol of love and grief. You don’t need to be familiar with Greek mythology or Orpheus’s story to understand and empathize with the show. If anything it can be even more impactful. The show cleverly uses lighting and a turntable to create show stopping moments such as Wait for Me the penultimate song of Act 1 and one we’ve seen staged at the Olivier’s, Tony’s and West End Live.
In the West End
The West End run featured a diverse talented cast led by Dónal Finn as Orpheus, Grace Hodgett-Young as Eurydice, Melanie La Barrie as Hermes, Zachary James as Hades and Gloria Ontiri (Saving Mozart) as Persephone. Other notable cast members include Bella Brown (EVITA) and Allie Daniels as Fate 1 and 3. The cast was very well-received with high priase for how the show allowed actors to use their natural accents. Which made each iteration of the character feel wholly original. This resulted in fans often going back multiple times to see different covers in the role. As well as creating nicknames such as “Corkeus” for Finn’s Irish Orpheus. The final performance of Hodgett-Young and Finn was recorded and a selection of songs were released in a live album.
Broadway OBC takeover
Earlier this year it was announced that the 5 principles of the original Broadway Cast would be returning for 1 month to the West End production in order to eventually film a pro shot. This included Eva Noblezada, Reeve Carney, Andre de Shields, Amber Gray and Patrick Page. The presale for the month began a few days after the announcement and every seat was sold in a matter of hours. Unfortunately when it was due to start Patrick Page was unable to perform due to a leg injury. Phillip Boykin from the Broadway show stepped up and reprise his Hades. Page did still perform on the days they filmed the pro-shot and changes were made to the show to fit his walking aid.
How to book tickets to Hadestown?
Although the OBC cast definitely sold out tickets faster than West End shows are used to. The current cast are also doing extremely well performing to packed theatres every night. The show often will only have a few seats left on the day so for the cheaper prices in the balcony and Upper Circle, booking in advance is your best bet. Hadestown will also have better availability on weekday evenings and the mid week matinee which is normally the Thursday.
Hadestown London is on at the Lyric Theatre which is one of the older theatres at a capacity of 915. As it’s quite a small theatre even the seats higher up offer a good view of the stage. There are some pillars towards the back of dress and upper circle so be sure to watch out for those when booking! Apparently for one of the seats the pillar is actually right in the leg room space so you have to watch the show completely leaning over!
At Theatre bookings we offer competitive prices and exclusive discounted seats for evening performances of Hadestown. These are available only in-person at our box office in Leicester Square. For normal tickets and to book in advance at good prices check out our website. The show is now booking until Feb 15th 2026.
