ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The 2026 Broadway in Wichita season has gotten off to a great start so far and soon will be looking to extend that success.

The Broadway in Wichita season will be continuing with the Tony Award-winning "Hadestown," which will run March 20 (7:30 p.m.), March 21 (2 and 7:30 p.m.), and March 22 (1 p.m.), with all performances taking place at Century II Performing Arts Center at 225 W. Douglas Ave. in Wichita. The show tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice – Eurydice, a starving young girl, goes to work in a hellish industrial version of the Greek underworld to escape poverty and the cold, and her singer-songwriter lover Orpheus eventually comes to rescue her.

Cast member Rudy Foster, who portrays messenger god Hermes in the show, said he has wanted to be part of “Hadestown” for a long time.

“I'm from Chattanooga, Tenn., and I have been singing and acting for really as long as I can remember. I went to college at the University of Chicago, and I've been a working actor for about a decade. When the opportunity came around, I remember thinking ‘I feel like this is something I'm supposed to be a part of,’” Foster said. “I've been a fan of the show for many, many years, and so this is a Hermes is a is a dream role. And so I went for it and and luckily, here we are.”

Foster said he was a fan of the show even before he finally got the chance to see a production on a Broadway stage.

“It had been running for a couple of years before I got a chance to see it, and of course had won multiple Tony Awards and won a Grammy and had gotten all sorts of recognition,” Foster said. “However, it took a while before I was able to finally experience the show – I'd heard a couple of songs here or there and thought the music was really pretty, but it was something that was so unique, and literally, every person I knew who had seen it had absolutely loved it. Then, finally, a friend of mine got tickets, and we went, and I remember thinking ‘Okay, I totally get it now’ and I just fell in love with the show. And I feel like ‘Hadestown’ is a really universal story about the power of music and art and love and how it can change the world – that's relevant at any time, but I feel like it’s a lesson to keep in mind especially now in 2026 and it’s a message that has taken on somehow an even stronger resonance.”

Foster said he and the cast are excited to bring the show to Wichita.

“It's been a great privilege to bring the show to folks all over the country, and of course, there are also several productions of the show around the world, in addition to still running in New York,” Foster said. “It's a great privilege because the show has such a fervent fan base, and there are people who the show is very, very popular on TikTok and all over the Internet. It's been wonderful to get to connect with people in various parts of the country who may not otherwise get a chance to see the full production of this production in their own communities. I know there's also a ‘Hadestown’ teen edition, so a lot of high schools and community groups are doing their own productions, and it's really special to get to to connect with people who have done it, or who are in rehearsals – I have taken many a Hermes picture at the stage door already, and that’s been amazing. It's wonderful to to be able to share the story and to get to see how it resonates with people in all corners of of the country.”

Foster added he feels truly privileged to be part of the production.

“It feels incredible, and I truly pinch myself every day that I get to do this and do it in this way,” Foster said. I remember during the height of the pandemic, when a lot of theaters were shut down, we didn't know when they were coming back or what that would look like. I’d made a list of of roles that I wanted to do, and one of those roles was Hermes in ‘Hadestown,’ and I remember feeling ‘This is coming my way. I don't know when or how, but it's coming my way.’ It's just an incredible joy to get to do that every day. And also, we have such an incredible, incredible cast. Hermes is sort of the chief storyteller of the of the show, so in addition to my own stuff, I do a lot of observing and watching the story unfold along with the audience. And that’s such a treat, because I'm a huge fan of this cast. Everyone is so immensely talented, and so it's a real treat every day to get to watch it and to count myself a part of it all.”

With so much talent and good storytelling involved, Foster said he hopes to see big audiences when the show rolls into Wichita.

“‘Hadestown’ has something for everybody. The the music feel is this like New Orleans jazz, blues, Americana folk sort of thing. And it's based in Greek myth, and there's a reason a lot of these stories are still known now, because they can resonate with people of various ages and backgrounds and cultures,” Foster said. “We have a lot of teenage fans, but we also have a lot of people who are regular theatergoers, who may have been going to whatever their local theater is for multiple years, and they've never seen anything quite like it before. The way the set is designed is really interesting, because it is just sort of one set. But there's a lot of things that move and things that happen along the way, throughout it, and so it sort of transforms in and itself and on itself with the help of some incredible lighting design. We've also got an incredible seven-piece band playing all this music live, and they're all on stage the whole time, so you can see them creating this incredible soundscape.”

‘Hadestown’ will be touring many other cities throughout the U.S., and Foster said he and his fellow castmates are excited to keep telling the show’s story.

“All of us truly love this show, and we care so much about it,” Foster said. “Also, it means so much to get to talk to people – we have so many people reaching out to us on social media and and occasionally we get a chance to talk to people at the stage door after the show. And it's really inspiring and helpful to keep you going when you see how much your work directly affects people. People are moved by this and care about it and love the work we're doing. That's something that is not lost on me, and I don't take that for granted. I would just want to encourage people to come who maybe think musicals aren't for them, or maybe they aren't so sure about Greek mythology or familiar with the Orpheus and Eurydice story. I would really want to encourage and challenge those people to come, because I think that they will have their minds blown.”