Stars of ‘Hadestown’ tour, stopping in Wichita, find their dreams come true

Before Hawa Kamara and Jose Contreras were the lead performers in the touring production of “Hadestown” – a Broadway in Wichita tour coming to Century II next week – they were fans of the musical.

The eight-time 2019 Tony Award winner – including best musical, score, direction, scenic design, lighting design and sound design – is a retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Eurydice, who goes to work in an industrial underworld and her poor singer-songwriter love Orpheus, who rescues her.

“Even if you don’t know the myths, you will love the story,” said Kamara, a Bronx native.

In separate interviews from a tour stop in University Park, Pa., Kamara and Contreras talk about the show they became superfans of, and how that plays into their performances.

What was your first exposure to “Hadestown?”

Kamara: “Someone I used to know a while ago told me to listen to the soundtrack, and I was like, ‘OK.’ I listened to it and I was stuck … I started watching the bootlegs, I was watching everything I could, and I knew this was something I would love to be in if I could.

Contreras: “A friend of mine was doing senior recitals and part of that was a 25-minute character study, and she had chosen to do it off of ‘Hadestown.’ I went to see her character study and thought it was the most incredible music I had ever heard. I’m a huge folk music guy, and I was like, ‘Who, this is incredible,’ and I listened to the entire concept album, and a year later they announced they were doing an entire Broadway tour transfer. I was 19, and I spent all the money I had in my savings account, like $420, to get a ticket to previews to see ‘Hadestown’ on Broadway. I thought it was the most incredible thing ever. I was obsessed with it for a month … I was on the bandwagon and now I’m on the inside.”

Would you have taken any role in the show, just to be cast?

Kamara: “Eurydice was the dream, but I would have wanted anything. I could see myself in any part of the show, which I think is really telling for what kind of a show ‘Hadestown’ is. There aren’t a lot of shows I can say that about. … It’s so human.”

Contreras: “I just wanted to play Orpheus. It was the first time that I saw a show – and this has happened to me many times since then – and rather just seeing what was being fed to me, I was thinking how I would have done that part differently. That’s a weird feeling to have. I was itching to put my character out on stage.

“I thought I wasn’t the Orpheus type because I wasn’t a tall, skinny white guy. (Contreras is Puerto Rican.) I’ve got a good falsetto, and I didn’t have the range to bridge it. I literally graduated college and had been working regionally for two years, and I called up my voice teacher, and my first voice lesson he (says), ‘You’ve made incredible progress … You know what role you’d be great for? Orpheus.’ … Literally a week later, after that one voice lesson, I get an email that says, ‘Immediate “Hadestown” national tour replacement: Orpheus.’ That’s crazy. This feels like one of those stars-aligning moment. But I didn’t play guitar, so I called up my buddy Zack who plays guitar … and he sent me a video of him playing it. For three days, I numbed my fingers in ice water, and I glued super tips on the end of my fingers and practiced eight hours a day until I could play it with my eyes open. I was so obsessed that I had to do it again and do it again. I heard back the day after I sent (my video) in and they called me to an audition.”

What got you hooked?

Kamara: “Just the vulnerability of it all. That gets me every time. As I’m doing the show now and playing to the different layers of humanity, and Eurydice specifically – playing with her toughness and how that comes off as in my body. Playing with her layers being broken down and built back up and who she chooses to be vulnerable with, who she chooses to be soft with. To me, that’s extremely relatable. I do that a lot in my personal life.”

As a performer, what’s the appeal of the show?

Contreras: “As a performer, it’s a timely, timeless story. There are things happening in the world right now that weren’t happening when I got the show that make me recontextualize the show and teach me something about the show and myself. There’s a song in Act II called ‘If It’s True,’ and it wasn’t until the ICE deportation happening, and I was singing, ‘If it’s true what they say, if there’s nothing to be done, to be beaten and betrayed and told that nothing changes, it’ll always be like this.’ I think of that Hispanic kid, and what are we doing? I found myself really having connected moments with myself.”

It seems like the fan base for “Hadestown” is the hugest for any recent show not named “Hamilton.” Why do you think it’s got that broader appeal?

Kamara: “It is a huge fan base, and it’s awesome. First of all, the music is beautiful – absolutely stunning. I feel honored to be able to sing it every night, again and again and again. The storytelling isn’t like those we’ve seen recently on Broadway. It was based on Anais Mitchell’s concept album she made 15, 20 years back. From that concept album came this musical, which doesn’t happen often on Broadway. These Greek myths, the tales of Orpheus and Eurydice and the tales of Hades and Prometheus, has survived this long for a reason. People really relate to it, so to have that along with the concept album set to the musical. … It doesn’t need a spectacle; it doesn’t need huge things to tell a story. The music in and of itself is the storytelling. Honestly, you could strip the set and strip a lot of things, and it would be the same story and that’s what makes it so beautiful and so rare in the field of musical theater today.”

Contreras: “I started out as a fan of the show, and every day I do the show I’m still a fan of what it is. That’s what people tell me at the stage door – ‘Thank you for telling this story with a very important message, especially now.’ That quote gets said to me hundreds of times a week by people who don’t know each other, but they’re saying the same thing. It is just timeless. If you’re not in there for the important messages about the state of the world, and why can’t we love each other more? People across nationality, across economic class, states, countries. It’s done all around the world, and people love it.

What’s your high point for the show?

Kamara: “Honestly, most of Act II is pretty emotional, but in the best way. Without spoiling it, it gets to a point where everything seems lost and there’s no hope. That’s where I dig deep into myself and try to find that. Bring a box of tissues, I can tell you that.”

‘HADESTOWN’ BY BROADWAY IN WICHITA

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, March 20-21; 2 p.m. Saturday, March 21; 1 p.m. Sunday, March 22

Where: Century II concert hall, 225 W. Douglas

Tickets: $62-$160, from selectaseat.com/hadestown, the Century II box office or 316-755-7328