T. Oliver Reid knows “Hadestown” better than most.
He was an original cast member, and also served as the understudy for both Hermes and Hades before taking over as Hermes when André De Shields left in May of 2022. He later came on as associate choreographer for the Broadway production, and currently serves as the choreographer for the touring production coming to the Fox Theatre in Atlanta Nov. 14-16.
“Hadestown” features music, lyrics, and a book by Anaïs Mitchell, and tells the story of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. In 2019, “Hadestown” won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical.
“I think the beauty of this show, the choreography, is that it feels very organic,” Reid said. “It’s all based on movements that we would see in our daily lives. It feels different than some of the bigger, flashier Broadway musicals.
Taking on the role of choreographer for this tour came with plenty of challenges – namely, the fact that the turntable that served as such an integral part of the original production’s choreography would not be making the trip. Ahead of the show, Rough Draft Atlanta spoke with Reid about his work on the tour and his relationship with the show as a whole. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I was reading a little bit about your journey with “Hadestown.” I believe you started as an original cast member, and an understudy for Hermes and Hades. I’d love it if you could discuss how your role has evolved, and your relationship with the show, from then to now.
T. Oliver Reid: I was an original company member when the show first opened on Broadway in 2019, as swing, dance captain, and covering both Hades and Hermes. Honestly, one of the reasons I took the job was to be able to watch the process for both André De Shields and Patrick Page. They’re both really consummate actors, so that was a huge part of my saying, “Yes, I want to be a part of the show.”
I went from there, and then at some point moved onto taking over the role of Hermes when André left the show … I teach full time at Rider University in New Jersey, [I was] so trying to figure out schedules that I could do both things, and attempt to do both things well. [What] made sense for me [was] a shorter stint as Hermes, and then to continue with work as faculty. When I did that, I also then moved to associate choreographer on Broadway. So, it was associate choreographer for Broadway, first national tour, as well as for London.
Was that something that you expected, as far as moving into that associate choreographer position? How did that come about?
Reid: No, it wasn’t something that I expected, but I have a really good relationship with David Neumann, the choreographer. So it made sense for, I think, everyone that this was the route to go. It was something I’ve always been interested in, being on a creative team, so it felt like a part of the journey for me. I’m still associate choreographer on companies of “Hadestown,” setting a lot of the new international companies, as well as being choreographer for the second national tour.
What’s the difference? How do you differentiate those jobs in practice?
Reid: With the tour that will be coming to Atlanta soon, a lot of it was reconfiguring and some reconceptualizing a lot of the numbers, because this tour is traveling without the elevator in the center of the stage, which is on Broadway, without the turntables that are on Broadway and had been on on the previous tour. It really was rechoreographing, redesigning movement so that it actually still made sense for the show, [and] for audiences who’ve never seen the show, so that they don’t feel like they’re missing out on anything, and audiences who have seen the show to be able to say, oh my gosh, this is a new version of the show. I didn’t miss this turntable. I didn’t miss this moment. The story makes sense and reads truly for this production.
I’ve never seen the show on Broadway, but I understand that’s a pretty big part of the stage design. What was the hardest number to change, in light of that?
Reid: There are a couple of numbers that were difficult. But, honestly, once we got into the movement and started seeing what we could do, what I could do, without the turntables, it really started to click and move quickly. I’ll say that the first number that was the hardest was “Chant,” which is the first time we’re underground with the workers and Hades and Persephone. But once we started working on it, and started realizing what some patterns could be and what we could do utilizing a lot of the choreography that was built for Broadway, it all began to make a lot of sense. I think after that number, and a couple of weeks of head scratching and trying to figure out how to make it all work, once it clicked, everything else began to make sense in how we were going to tell the story.
You’re not on tour, I assume – you mentioned you’re teaching, and you’ve got some other stuff going on.
Reid: I go to cities depending on show schedule and my schedule. So I do try and get out quite a bit to see the show, as well as Keenan [Tyler Oliphant], the director, so that we can continue to support the cast and stage management, and the crew that’s on the road. Because traveling on, sometimes planes, but also on buses, is a lot on the spirit. I traveled a lot and toured a lot earlier on in my career. It can sometimes be a lot of fun, and you get to see so much of a country, which is fantastic. But it’s also a lot of time in hotel rooms and figuring out where you’re going to wash clothes, you know.
How has your job evolved from the beginning of this tour, from being there day to day and teaching the choreography, getting all of that movement right, to how you insert yourself into the production now?
Reid: I think a lot of it now is when I go, it’s about maintaining and maintenance. I’ll go and I’ll take notes. I’ll see the show this weekend, I’ll see it again in a few weeks, and then I’ll probably see it again at the beginning of December, just to continue to check in and make sure that everybody is feeling okay.
It’s a lot about maintenance, and checking in with the dance captains and stage management. Once I get there, I’ll watch the show a couple times, take a lot of notes, give a note to stage management and dance captains, because they really are the core team who are there day in, day out. My goal is to not go in and throw a wrench into what they’re doing, but to be able to support them as much as possible – so always having those conversations with stage management about what’s going on, if things have shifted, why they have, and to do everything we can to make sure that the show maintains and is the show that we teched and originally set, so that the audience, as they see it on night one, they see the same show on night 365.
I can imagine that’s pretty difficult. As far as I understand it, tours have new people coming in all of the time, and people leaving, so that probably shifts things quite a bit.
Reid: They do, and also, when you’re in a rehearsal room, and we’re all in the same place, people can ask questions. When you are moving from city to city, things that you think were said sometimes morph. All of a sudden, you’re like, “I’ve always been standing in this place.” It’s like, “Actually, you’re not standing in the right place. And I know that, because you have no light on your face, and the light has not moved.”
It’s those little things, and they’re not necessarily changes that people are making consciously. But you know, you shift your body. You shift and sit in one hip one day, and then you continue to do that, and before you know it, you’re three numbers off of where you’re supposed to be. So a lot of it is just reminding people, and that maintenance.
Since you’ve been with the show for so long, I’m curious what your relationship to it is as a whole. How has that evolved from performing in it to now doing choreography?
Reid: Honestly, I don’t know that it’s changed that much. When I first listened to the music of the show, I think I fell in love with it immediately. That love has not changed. It’s one of the things with all the companies of the show that I’ve been a part of – New York, the first national tour, this tour, the London company, we just finished setting a company in Amsterdam – there is a love for the material and the stories that are being told. The group of people who get to be a part of the show, one of the things that for me is always a reminder to thank them for telling the story as truthfully as they can. Because it is so special, and we want those humans who are on stage, who are backstage, who are working on it, to understand how important this show is to us and how much gratitude we have for them for being a part of it.
Do you have a favorite moment dancewise in the show, or otherwise?
Reid: Favorite moment dancewise is probably “Livin’ it Up [on Top].” It’s just this big dance party with Persephone, and it’s one of my favorite numbers. I think the duet between Persephone and Hades is also so special and another one of my favorites.
