“I can’t do anything today!” said Lilias White, somewhat flustered, as she emerged from the elevator outside the Tricorn Costume Store on the sixth floor of a Midtown Manhattan office building on a recent Tuesday morning. His face was hidden by white sunglasses and a navy and green star pattern mask.
“All you have to do is stand,” Michael Crass, the costume designer for the Broadway musical Hadestown, reassured her.
White, 71, is here for her second costume fitting as the next narrator for “Hadestown,” which she performs eight times a week starting Tuesday. A veteran stage actress who won a Tony Award in 1997 for playing a middle-aged prostitute in Cy Coleman’s musical The Life, she was the first to play the Hermès character now called Missus Hermès. become a woman.
“I’m looking forward to what I’m doing with Voice,” she said. “And I’ll probably get some notes on keeping it down.
Tricorne’s owners Krass and Katherine Marshall lead her down a hallway, past racks of costumes from the Broadway musical “Wicked” and the HBO series “The Gilded Age,” into a fitting room lined with semi-circular mirrors.
The first order of business was the shoes, and White, who is on stage for nearly the entire two-and-a-half-hour show, made specific requests for boot heels. Must be 2 inches or less.
“I had a pedicure last night,” she told the class, when Draper Pam Brick and the show’s associate costume designer Sienna Zoe Allen came to her aid, turning from sparkly white wedge sandals to hot pink. He glanced at his toenails.
Then came the time for the big announcement: Suits. The class went out into the hall to change.
Conceived as a vagabond, Hermes’ original look was a brown rumpled suit and muddy boots. De Shields asked:
That led to the now-iconic De Shields Dapper Silver suit, closely tailored to 1970s-style bellbottoms.
“But to Lilias,” Crass said with his arms outstretched. She needs something vast to match. “
White was replaced by a silver pantsuit made from the same English wool as De Shields’ costume, topped by a collared 1950s-style swing coat (short in the front, long in the back). . Black boots that are later painted silver.
And there was a surprise for her: after scrutinizing the V-neck of her jacket, which was closed with a single button, she opened it to reveal a shimmering black and silver vest.
“I feel pretty,” she sang, grinning at her own reflection.
Then her face became serious.
“It’s a Graveyard,” she sang — a line from the show’s opening number, “Road to Hell” — as she raised her legs and stamped her feet as she looked into the mirrors on either side. . she squatted. she straightened up. beam. She agreed with her class: her suit looked good on her.
How will Broadway rebound? Visit the theaters that are currently bustling to find out. Join us for a rehearsal of Tony Award-winning ‘Hadestown’, listen to songs from ‘Girl From the North Country’ and more.
As 11am approached and it was time to head to rehearsal, White got dressed. Gold and blue hang over a navy and white top from Coutura at Africana, an African clothing store in Los Angeles.silverware earrings, with blue jeans she Wedge with white sequins. (“They have great arch support,” she said.
On the drive, sitting in the backseat with a tumbler of coffee in hand, still humming the melody of “Road to Hell,” White tells us how she first came to the show. rice field. She discussed Shields’ departure with a friend of hers, who suggested she would be a good fit for the role. White immediately called her agent.
White recently returned to the role of prison lady Mama Morton in the long-running Broadway production of “Chicago,” her first role in 2006. My voice can handle it,” she says, referring to Hermes’ vocal range, whose lower register is usually lower than she sings on stage.
“Hadestown” director Rachel Chavkin was thrilled with the idea.
In a recent phone interview, Chavkin said, “I’ve always known that Hermès’ gender wasn’t directly relevant to the story.
The production team has been discussing comprehensive casting in Broadway, West End and touring productions, Chavkin said. Non-binary actor Yael “Yaya” Reich is currently researching the roles of Eurydice and Fate on Broadway. “Eurydice is synonymous with her,” said Chavkin.
White pointed to other recent examples of cross-gender casting that are having a bit of a moment on the New York stage. Amber Gray, who left production in the spring to play Banquo in ‘Macbeth’ on Broadway, is the original Persephone in ‘Hadestown’. The all-female, non-binary, and transgender cast of her upcoming Broadway revival of the musical ‘1776’.
Either way, following in the footsteps of De Shields, who stepped down in May after three years in preparation for this fall’s Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman,” is a daunting task. But White, as New York Times music critic Stephen Holden wrote, combines “classic blues mom sass with Broadway star skill.”
“She’s going to be softer in the show section and harder than the male Hermès in some parts,” White said warmly and personably as she prepared to take the stage. and I see Orpheus as my charge.I am very proud of him and protect him.”I don’t know yet, but she could be rougher. It could be protection.”
Another personal connection, she says, is that Hermès can be thought of as the organizer of labor in musicals. This is a role shared by White, a founding member of the non-profit Black Her Theater United, a coalition of black theater artists working to fight. Racism in theater.
“The main caveat I gave her is to remember that Hermes is not only the central host, but also the political backbone,” Chavkin said. Together, it’s a rich and understated tale of the role women play in the labor movement.”
Soon it was time for White to head to the stage for the afternoon run-through, with understudies and understudies playing other roles. White picked up De Shields’ familiar perch on the right side of the stage.
According to her, the role wasn’t vocally overly challenging. “You remember where you said it, not what you said,” she said. “There are many places that begin with ‘Orpheus was a poor boy’ or ‘Eurydice was her hungry girl.’ So you have to remember where each one goes in the story. .”
But as soon as Sean Mays, Associate Music Director of Hadestown, stood behind the piano, she was brimming with confidence. She stood up straight with her eyes wide open as she surveyed the scene on stage.
“Is that so?” she asked the other actors, paying tribute to De Shields’ signature opening phrase.
“Good!” they said.
“Is that so?” she asked the few observers in the audience.
“I see,” they replied.
She embarked on the show’s opening number, “Road to Hell” — “Chugga, chagga, chagga, chagga, chagga, chagga, chagga, chagga” She imitated a train but forgot the opening hum After that, I had to temporarily restart. .
“Once upon a time there was a railroad,” she sang.
“Hmm,” the other actors yelled.
She introduced Fate, Persephone and Hades.
“Are there other gods?” she asked. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot…”
“Missus Hermes,” she said, grinning. “That’s me!”