Choreographer T. Oliver Reid talks bringing ‘Hadestown’ to Atlanta

Hadestown tour choreographer T Oliver Reid Photo provided by BRAVE Populace Relations T Oliver Reid knows Hadestown better than preponderance He was an original cast member and also served as the understudy for both Hermes and Hades before taking over as Hermes when Andr De Shields left in May of He later came on as associate choreographer for the Broadway production and right now serves as the choreographer for the touring production coming to the Fox Theatre in Atlanta Nov - Hadestown features music lyrics and a book by Ana s Mitchell and tells the story of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice In Hadestown won eight Tony Awards including Best Musical I think the beauty of this show the choreography is that it feels very organic Reid noted It s all based on movements that we would see in our daily lives It feels different than selected 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 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 Andr 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 chosen point moved onto taking over the role of Hermes when Andr 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 passage to go It was something I ve invariably been interested in being on a creative crew 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 several 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 indeed 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 formidable 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 fleetly 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 selected 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 selected 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 promotion 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 scant weeks and then I ll possibly 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 club 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 endorsement them as much as attainable so inevitably 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 I can imagine that s pretty arduous As far as I understand it tours have new people coming in all of the time and people leaving so that likely 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 revealed sometimes morph All of a sudden you re like I ve consistently been standing in this place It s like Really 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 forthwith 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 advised The group of people who get to be a part of the show one of the things that for me is reliably 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 essential 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 possibly 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 The post Choreographer T Oliver Reid talks bringing Hadestown to Atlanta appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta