In July, Hadestown: The Musical made box office history, earning more than $20 million in North American theaters to become the highest-grossing live stage capture of all time.
CalArts alum Dale Franzen (Music MFA 89), one of the lead producers of the award-winning Broadway production, also produced the film alongside Mara Isaacs, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy.
Directed for film by Brett Sullivan, the production was filmed live at London’s Lyric Theatre in 2025. It reunites the five original Broadway principal cast members: Reeve Carney as Orpheus, Eva Noblezada as Eurydice, Patrick Page as Hades, Amber Gray as Persephone, and André De Shields as Hermes.
With music, lyrics, and a book by Anaïs Mitchell, Hadestown reimagines the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice through a score drawing on American folk and New Orleans-inspired jazz. In 2019, the Broadway production won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score, followed by the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
The filmed production was also well received by critics. The New York Times wrote that it “underscores why Hadestown won eight Tony Awards, including best musical,” calling the film “its own kind of triumph.”
Franzen’s producing career spans Broadway, the West End, and documentary film. Her stage credits include Gypsy, Prima Facie, All the Devils Are Here, Left on Tenth, New York, New York, For Colored Girls…, and Caroline, or Change. She is also an executive producer of the PBS Independent Lens documentary One Person, One Vote?, which examines the history of the Electoral College. Her more than four-decade career in the arts also includes work as an opera singer, artistic director, educator, mentor, and creative consultant.
Extended by popular demand, Hadestown: The Musical is currently playing in select theaters.
