Ani DiFranco will make her Broadway debut as âPersephoneâ in the TonyÂź and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical, Hadestown.
Producers Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy announced today that Grammy AwardÂź-winning music icon Ani DiFranco will make her Broadway debut as âPersephoneâ in the TonyÂź and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical, Hadestown, at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 W 48th Street) beginning February 9, 2024.
DiFrancoâs history with Hadestown began in 2010 when she invited AnaĂŻs Mitchell to release the original studio album of Hadestown on DiFranco’s label, Righteous Babe Records. DiFranco originated the role of âPersephoneâ on the album, leaving an indelible imprint on the character as the show evolved over the course of several years
DiFranco commented, âI could not be more thrilled to be joining the cast of Hadestown. Itâs like I get to rewind to my New York youth and follow the road not taken.â
Mitchell added, âI canât really overstate the influence of Aniâs music and example on me as a young songwriter. Poetic, bold, radically emotive and FUN, she simply has been a mythic figure in my life, and I canât think of anything more beautifully full circle than Ani playing the role of âPersephoneâ on Broadway. Grateful and awestruck.”
Widely considered a feminist icon, Grammy winner Ani DiFranco is the mother of the DIY movement, being one of the first artists to create her own record label in 1990. While she has been known as the âLittle Folksinger,â her music has embraced punk, funk, hip hop, jazz, soul, electronica and even more distant sounds. She has shared stages with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson, Bon Iver, Brandi Carlile, Billy Bragg, Michael Franti, Chuck D., and many more. Her most recent albums include 2021âs Revolutionary Love and the June 2023 25th Anniversary Edition reissue of her seminal album Little Plastic Castle, both on her own label Righteous Babe Records. Her memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream was released in May 2019 by Viking Books and was a New York Times Top 10 best seller. Her debut childrenâs book The Knowing is out now.Â
Hadestown currently stars Betty Who as Persephone (through February 4), Jordan Fisher as Orpheus, Tony Award winner Lillias White as Hermes, Phillip Boykin as Hades, and Solea Pfeiffer as Eurydice. They are joined by Lindsey Hailes, BelĂ©n Moyano, and Brit West as the Fates. The chorus of Workers is played by Emily Afton, Malcolm Armwood, Chibueze Ihumoa, Alex Puette and Grace Yoo. The cast includes swings Sojourner Brown, Brandon Cameron, Tara Jackson, Max Kumangai, Alex Lugo, and Tanner Ray Wilson.Â
Hadestown originated as AnaĂŻs Mitchellâs indie theater project that toured Vermont which she then turned into an acclaimed album. With Rachel Chavkin, her artistic collaborator, Hadestown has been transformed into a genre-defying new musical that blends modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz to reimagine a sweeping ancient tale.
Tickets for Hadestown are available at www.seatgeek.com/hadestown-tickets or by visiting the Walter Kerr Theatre box office (219 West 48th Street).
Following two intertwining love stories â that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone â Hadestown invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back. Mitchellâs beguiling melodies and Chavkinâs poetic imagination pit industry against nature, doubt against faith, and fear against love. Performed by a vibrant ensemble of actors, dancers, and singers, Hadestown delivers a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience.