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| Khori Michelle Petinaud |
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| Kelly Belarmino (Courtesy Photo) |
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| KC Dela Cruz (Courtesy Photo) |
Broadway’s underworld gets three new fates as Hadestown keeps the fire burning
Broadway’s favorite trip to the underworld is changing voices, not temperature.
Producers Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy announced today that the Tony Award-winning for Best Musical “Hadestown” will welcome three new Fates to Broadway this summer, with Kelly Belarmino, KC Dela Cruz, and Khori Michelle Petinaud stepping in as the all-seeing, all-knowing trio beginning Tuesday, July 21.
The three performers succeed Jewelle Blackman, Jessie Shelton, and Kay Trinidad, who will take their final bow on Sunday, July 19.
In the world of “Hadestown,” the Fates are not just background voices with good harmonies and better cheekbones; they are the whisper in the ear, the storm cloud in the room, the ancient Greek girl group that knows exactly where the story is going and still makes you hope, foolishly and beautifully, that love might outsmart doom this time.
The incoming trio brings a serious résumé to the road down below. Kelly Belarmino arrives after Broadway’s “Pirates! The Penzance Musical,” Off-Broadway’s 'The Seat of Our Pants'” at the Public Theater, and regional credits including “Jersey Boys” at the Paper Mill Playhouse and “Great Comet” at ZACH Theatre. KC Dela Cruz is already part of the “Hadestown” universe from the national tour, with additional credits including “Kiss My Aztec!,” “The Prince of Egypt,” “In the Heights,” “West Side Story,” “Miss Saigon,” and television appearances on “I Can See Your Voice” and “The Voice Philippines.” Khori Michelle Petinaud, meanwhile, comes armed with a Broadway dance card that includes “Just in Time,” “Lempicka,” “Chicago,” and “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” Aladdin,” and Bob Fosse’s “Dancin’,” where she earned a Chita Rivera Award nomination and shared in an Outstanding Ensemble win.
They join a current cast that already has the underworld looking unusually starry: Gary Dourdan as Hades, J. Harrison Ghee as Hermes, John-Michael Lyles as Orpheus, Gaby Moreno as Persephone, and Jordan Tyson as Eurydice. The chorus of Workers is played by Malcolm Armwood, Sojourner Brown, Jeffrey Cornelius, Sydney Parra, and Alex Puette, with Brandon Cameron, Tara Jackson, Alex Lugo, and Max Kumangai serving as swings.
Now in its seventh hit year on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre, “Hadestown” has become one of those rare modern musicals that feels both ancient and plugged into the wall. It began not as a Broadway machine, but as Anaïs Mitchell’s indie theater project touring Vermont, before becoming an acclaimed album and eventually, with director Rachel Chavkin, a full-throttle stage event that fused American folk, New Orleans jazz, myth, politics, labor, longing, and a very dangerous set of instructions about not looking back.
The story reaches back to the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, one of the great heartbreakers of Greek mythology: A musician descends into the underworld to bring back the woman he loves, and all he has to do is trust that she is behind him. Naturally, because human beings are ridiculous and doubt is a monster with excellent timing, that simple task becomes impossible. “Hadestown” doubles the stakes by setting that love story next to the marriage of Hades and Persephone, turning the myth into a fever dream about power, poverty, climate, industry, faith, and the old question that keeps getting asked in every generation: Can a song change anything before the world eats itself?
Broadway answered with a yes. Since opening in 2019, “Hadestown” has become a Tony- and Grammy-winning phenomenon, while productions have played across the globe, including the West End, South Korea, Sydney, Melbourne, and Amsterdam. Its record-breaking North American tour completed a coast-to-coast three-year run in 2024, and the show continues to lure audiences down to the Walter Kerr with the promise of one more ride to hell and back.
Tickets for “Hadestown” are available at www.walterkerrbroadway.com/events/hadestown/calendar or by visiting the Walter Kerr Theatre box office at 219 W. 48th Street.
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