Last weekend, I took my first trip to New York City. I’ve done quite a bit of traveling throughout my life, but NYC has always had a significant place on my bucket list. I finally had an opportunity to visit for an event with my friends, though there were many other things I wanted to do and see within the city. The most important thing for me was to carve out time to see a musical on Broadway. I have seen many musicals in my time, namely productions on London’s West End, but I have looked forward to seeing my first true Broadway performance for years. Considering how I’ve dreamed about this opportunity, it should come as no surprise that I knew exactly what show I wanted to watch—of course, it was Hadestown.
If you know me, you know how obsessed I am with this show. I’ve been a major fan of it since soon after it opened on Broadway, around late 2019. Having followed the show for so long, it was a no-brainer that I wanted to make it my first Broadway show in NYC. It’s worth mentioning that it wasn’t my first time actually seeing the show in person. This past winter, I was studying abroad in London, where I had the opportunity to see the show twice on the West End. I was lucky that the first time I saw Hadestown, it was when the original Broadway cast reprised their roles for a few weeks and filmed the proshot. I found fairly priced tickets for resale after searching for weeks, right as their residency was coming to an end, and to say the performance was life-changing would be a gross understatement. Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney truly embody the most authentic forms of Orpheus and Eurydice, which I have yet to see replicated in newer iterations of the cast.
After this, I was fortunate to receive free tickets to see the show again with my friend through the program we were studying abroad with. Both times, I cried my eyes out the entire time; the production is remarkable, even more moving than you expect in person. With these beautiful experiences preceding my trip to see the Broadway production, it might seem that I have set difficult expectations for the show to beat. That is, unless you are aware of how show-stopping the current cast is.
Here, I introduce you to Broadway’s next biggest star: Jack Wolfe.
Jack Wolfe took the world by storm shortly before he began his residency at the Walter Kerr this past September. In 2024, his roles as Moritz in the Spring Awakening 15th anniversary concert at Victoria Palace Theatre and as Gabe in the Next to Normal West End production at Wyndham’s Theatre skyrocketed him into fame. Prefacing this, his biggest role had been in Netflix’s adaptation of the Shadow and Bone series as Wylan, and though the series does have a niche cult following, it never quite put him on the general public’s radar. After his activities in 2024, he began steadily growing in popularity, especially with word that his rendition of Next to Normal gave the OBC a run for their money.
With incredible luck, I was also in London at the time of his performances in NTN, and I can confidently say that I left that show with an even greater appreciation for the talent that is so clearly bursting from him. When the NTN proshot and his Hadestown casting announcement dropped around the same time in early 2025, I knew it was only a matter of time before I heard everyone talking about him.
When I found out that the event my friends were going to would intersect with his time in Hadestown, I knew that I needed to get myself there by any means necessary. No matter the costs or the fact that it was in the middle of the semester, I was going to be seated at the Walter Kerr come 7 pm to see this show. Jack Wolfe’s talent truly cannot be overstated—as someone who has fixated on Hadestown for years and has a tendency to be fairly critical of certain interpretations of the characters, his iteration of Orpheus is unlike anything I have seen before in the most beautiful way. With bootlegged recordings of his performance, I went into it with some expectation of what was to come. Still, he transcended them with ease once I was there in person.
The sneaky recordings somehow don’t even do his performance a fraction of justice. Watching Jack’s mannerisms, facial expressions, and most importantly, vocal decisions is transformative in a way you can only comprehend if you see it for yourself. He has never missed a performance since he began in September, yet his voice is sweet and smooth like honey as he belts and slips into falsetto with unbelievable ease. Even more, the most noteworthy thing about Jack is how innocent he appears, with large doe eyes storing a myriad of emotions. I could have seen Hadestown dozens of times before, and still, I would have left the theatre feeling like I watched a brand-new show.
Jack Wolfe breathes new life into Orpheus, providing an interpretation of the character that has never been seen on stage before. The hottest topic regarding his performance is how many of his choices make him appear as if Orpheus knows that they have told this story before, and maybe even knows or suspects how it ends. Yet, he still chooses to sing it again. Jack embodies his character and the story as a whole in a way that no other Orpheus has attempted before.
So, if you have the chance within the next few months, I cannot recommend making the trip to see Jack Wolfe in Hadestown yourself. There is no confirmed end to his run yet, but with new projects already lined up for 2026, many predict that he will depart sometime in the first half of next year. However, he has thoroughly embedded himself in the magic and history of Hadestown; therefore, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is not the last we will see of his Orpheus. Still, it’s better to book the tickets now than regret it later. And seriously, do not forget tissues. It’s almost guaranteed that you will walk out of that theatre having shed at least one tear. Or, if you’re like me, you’ll have destroyed your makeup with your tears by the end of the night.