I haven’t gotten to talk enough about Amber Gray as Persephone after actually seeing Hadestown! There has been a lot of chatter about how amazing she is and SHE REALLY WAS, but I feel like even the best reviews didn’t give her the true credit she deserved. Persephone isn’t just the life of the party, Persephone is a woman falling apart because of how Hades treats her and all the trouble with the seasons as he takes her back to Hadestown earlier and earlier. She comes in during “Living it Up on Top” with wine and fun and she’s hilarious there, but shortly after that there was this moment, this quiet, almost silent moment, where she walked around the stage looking at Orpheus and Eurydice with this terribly sad face, like she KNEW. And she steps up and touches Orpheus’ face with the back of her hand, and I almost lost it. So, a few stray thoughts about Persephone:
When Hades shows up her little “you’re EARLY” wasn’t so much funny as truly alarmed? It was very different seeing it as opposed to hearing it
From the very start it’s clear she is terribly fond of Orpheus, and he of her. When she comes in he grins like a kid and runs to take her coat. When he says “she will always fill our cups” during his toast, she smiles really big and says “I will.” All of this sets up her trying to help Orpheus when he gets to Hadestown, and it was lovely. Seeing their relationship before If It’s True when she hears him singing, is really nice
Persephone does fight with Hades, but she is also constantly trying to bridge the gap. In the new “How Long” they keep circling each other and she keeps reaching out her hands to him, and he won’t!Take!Them!
When Orpheus shows up to Hadestown, instead of trying to shout Hades down, Persephone very softly is like “Hades, I know this boy” and trying so hard to get him to let Orpheus go, but Hades has Orpheus beaten up instead, and Persephone stands on the side of the stage clearly wanting to stop it, but she can’t. I think this is a big part of her going to talk to Hades after If It’s True, it definitely leads into it
She’s also clearly worried for and fond of Eurydice throughout, even if Hades is trying to pretend he’s going to replace Persephone with her
Our Lady of the Underground was a damn good number!! I thought it was going to just be a fun speakeasy thing, but it was a lot more about Persephone projecting her grief
Also, Persephone has to stand there and sing during Why We Build the Wall, and she looked like she was about to Commit A Crime, she hated it so much
In Wait For Me II she was trying to offer Orpheus that red carnation and OH MAN when she comes back up in Road to Hell II, she looks both so happy to have spring back, and also incredibly aggrieved for Orpheus, it was So Much
The little dance she and Hades do after Epic III was so sweet, but it’s clear she realizes their relationship isn’t going to be completely healed that fast, and it’s really clear she struggles when Hades doesn’t just let Orpheus and Eurydice go outright, but she’s going to give it a chance, anyway, the relationship has been given new life, just like the world getting spring back
In short, if Amber Gray doesn’t win her Tony, we riot.
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