i can’t sleep only thinking ab jack wolfeus so here are a collection of things i remember from opening night
before we start a bit of appreciation for kurt elling and rebecca naomi jones, both of whom i knew nothing about and they were both fucking insane
also apologies for how sporadic this is/that there is no order, it’s 4am and i desperately need to sleep but i simply Cannot
enjoy lol
overall jack played orpheus much younger than i think ive personally ever seen, same with morgan w/ eurydice. they both had so much optimism and youthful joy, especially in the beginning of act 1… it was crushingly beautiful
a big piece of hadestown is buying the instant love story, and never for a second did i doubt those two were in love. like the purest, most adorable, sweetest love <3
i saw someone on twitter say they think jack’s orpheus knows on some level that the story is repeating, and i think that’s very true- especially during act 2. as the story went on he gained such a haunting quality to him, a desperation to hang onto eurydice that i haven’t seen in other orpheus’… maybe it’s time-blindness (i haven’t seen the show in a few years) but he was holding onto her like he would literally never ever let her go
i mean we all knew he was going to absolutely eat vocally because like yeah. it’s jack wolfe. but he did so in such a surprising way???? he was singing dialogue that isn’t usually sung, belting parts that are usually more reserved/falsetto-ey… he made the role his own in more ways than just acting, which is crazy
particular standouts for me were:
-wait for me (obv… there was like a full minute long ovation)
-if it’s true (obv… another crazy ovation)
-epic ii… all the epics but specifically epic ii like holy shit
-the wedding song (HUH????? it was so joyous and fun and WOW they sounded amazing)
-livin’ it up on top (specifically The Quote… like god he ate with that line delivery)
-all i’ve ever known (this song never fails to bring a tear to my eye, and he was so heart-eyes in love just reassuring eurydice, absolutely no doubts)
-epic iii (yes i know i already said the epics but this is my favorite part in the whole show okay and they ATE IT UP)
there’s more probably but that’s it off the top of my head… i was dead from the first “la” tbh
yes, we did get his natural accent (thank fuck)
mans was ready to square up with hades in that one moment during “way down hadestown” (iykyk), chest puffed out and everything it killed me
ORPHEUS WITH LONG SLEEVES???? i didn’t realize in the promo pics/because they were rolled up at first, but when persephone left he started shivering and rolled them back down
at the beginning of epic i when orpheus is getting ready to play, eurydice made a really big show of sitting down and he got all nervous
jack played orpheus with so much soft love it was fucking insane. every chance he got he was all over eurydice- hugging her tight (as i already mentioned), burying his face in her, forehead kisses, shoulder kisses, fucking wiping away her goddamn tears… UGH GOD
(if you can’t tell the wiping away the tears really got me… followed by several forehead kisses… i’m such a sucker for forehead kisses)
orpheus kept covering his face and his eyes whenever things would get too overwhelming… like actually shut up
oh my god but potentially the cutest moment of the whole fucking show was post epic iii / the dance, orpheus covered his face for “orpheus” “yes” “you finished it” and then he fucking shouted “YES !!!!!!” like the giddiest, happiest boy in the whole fucking world and everyone clapped
there were so many moments where you just wanted to clap for him/cheer him on. endearing to the max. the peoples orpheus truly
wait for me reprise was everything… morgan ATE that shit up vocally and looked so unbelievably happy and hopeful… meanwhile wolfeus looked absolutely terrified. determined but so so so scared
to be honest there were a couple moments i thought he might turn before The moment. mans was battling demons through the entirety of doubt comes in, which like… yeah obviously, but it was such a drastic shift from the orpheus from act 1, even from the “come home with me (reprise)”. it was so well-acted god
and yes, he did reach down into the hole after eurydice… he also curled into a little ball and sobbed, gabe on the counter style
so essentially my conclusion is that the new hadestown cast is fucking phenomenal and that jack wolfe has (lowkey) reinvented another iconic theater role. also i need to go see it again immediately
edit: i did go again and i did another post with more notes in the reblogs!!!!!
