“Hadestown” brings mythology and life lessons to the PPAC stage

It brings mythology to the stage – “Hadestown” is at the Providence Performing Arts Center now through Sunday.

It’s an eight Tony award-winning show, including Best Musical, and has won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

It combines two love stories, between Orpheus and Eurydice and King Hades and his wife Persephone; as the characters travel on a journey to the underworld and back.

While there are multiple themes the audience walks away with, there’s one in particular that stands out.

“I think the show wants the audience to look at the world around them, and see the flaws,” Chibueze Ihuoma, who plays Orpheus, said. “And then acknowledge, but also feel like this is the way things could be. Just because say this higher-up person says it’s a fantasy and stuff like that, that doesn’t necessarily mean it actually is impossible to achieve.”

Ihuoma said he was drawn to performing because it has a way of healing people.

He said it’s their (the audience’s) reactions, whether it be in person or on social media, that made him realize he was meant to do this.

“I can be my biggest critic and say, ‘this is horrible’ or something like that. And they say ‘Nah, this is exactly what I needed to see and I was transported, thank you and the rest of the cast for this night and for sharing your talents with us,'” Ihuoma said. “It’s reactions like that that keep me going.”

There are still tickets left for every show, with limited availability on Saturday afternoon. Tickets can be bought online, here.

There’s still one more show left this season at PPAC with “Beetlejuice” on April 25. We’re also in for a treat next season with shows like “Funny Girl,” “Moulin Rouge” and “Frozen.”