Stephanie Mills is back on Broadway.
Just as the “Wiz” ends its run on the Great White Way, (Aug. 18) the teenager who portrayed Dorothy in the original production returned to the stage to claim the role of Hermes in “Hadestown.”
It’s been 50 years since she charmed audiences singing “Home” and an amalgam of memorable songs however, the petite star still provides endearingly lyrical appeal to the character.
In a hellish role traveling to the Greek underworld the Grammy-winning singer has returned to the stage 50 years after journeying an adventurous Yellow Brick road to Kansas.
“Someone has to sing the song, someone has to tell the tale, it’s a sad song…its a tragedy,” she sings in a rendition of “Road To Hell” in the Greek myth.
“I’ll sing it anyway.”
And she does early in Act one to narrate the musically appealing opera about a doomed romance between Orpheus and Eurydice.
Mills is reputed for nabbing the number one Billboard charted hit song when she recorded “Home” in 1975 therefore the Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn native is as endearingly lyrical singing “The Road To Hell,” “Come Home To Me,” “Wait For Me,” and “Way Down HadesTown.”
Re-energized by the music, book and lyrics of Anais Mitchell, production notes list Phillip Boykin as the demon, ruler Hades.
Jordan Fisher is Orpheus, Maia Reficco, Eurydice, and Yola snags a husband in Hades and the lovable personality, known as Persephone.
A chorus engages worker bees down under but it’s the orchestral accompaniment that wins cheers and stares from their vantage onstage positioning.
Conceived by Ben t. Matchstick, “Hadestown” is directed by Rachel Chavkin who also developed the timeless tale surrounding the inevitable tragedy.
Mills claimed the coveted role which won Andre DeShields accolades and a Tony Award in 2019, a Drama Desk and Outer Critics honor for his narration and alluring characterization earlier this summer.
With a record eight Tony Awards, the musical continues to win raves and new audiences eager to see Mills as she revives the role often dominated by male thespians.
Actress Lilias White changed all that when she took over the role in the Greek myth — which ended in March at the Walter Kerr Theatre.