‘Hadestown’ coming to Fort Lauderdale: Q&A with Miami actor who found her fate in Broadway show
The violin lessons paid off.
“They sure have,” says Hannah Schreer, a Miamian who appears in the Broadway national tour of “Hadestown.” “Miami Music Works, right off of U.S. 1 — I took lessons starting there and I played in elementary school. And now many, many years later, revisiting the instrument has been very fulfilling as well.”
Schreer plays one of the Fates in the jazzy folk musical, which runs Jan. 9 to 21 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale. “Hadestown” is a retelling of two love stories from the Greek myths of Orpheus and Eurydice and that of King Hades and wife Persephone, reset in Depression-era New Orleans … and in the Underworld, of course.
As the name suggests, The Fates are goddesses who design the destinies of mortals. In the show, they not only voice the inner thoughts of characters and bring complications, keeping the action moving, but they also play instruments, a fact that Schreer wants to make clear.
“Yes, and there is a microphone on that violin,” she says. “All of The Fates are truly playing the instruments. I know sometimes people aren’t totally sure. We are singing, we are dancing, we are acting and playing the instruments, all at the same time.
“And so, thankfully, I have those lessons from first grade to fourth grade … And so thank you to (instructor) Adrian Gordon. The lessons did, in fact, pay off and I am now playing violin in front of 2,000 people every night.”
“Hadestown” won eight 2019 Tony Awards, including Best New Musical. The sung-through musical also garnered four Drama Desk Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards (including Outstanding New Broadway Musical) and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical. The score by composer Anaïs Mitchell also picked up the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
Here is more about Schreer in excerpts — edited for brevity and clarity — from an interview.
Q: What would you like to tell future audiences about your character, Fate One?
A: My character is scary. My character is funny. My character is a god, and The Fates are just an energy that go around the stage. We put doubt into people’s minds. We are the wind. We are the storm. We are so many different elements throughout the show. And to follow along The Fates’ journey as they follow along the other characters in the show — in my unbiased opinion — is a very, very fulfilling and entertaining part of the show, and I enjoy doing it every single night.
Q: What’s the trickiest part of the show for you to pull off?
A: So in the song “Wait for Me,” towards the end of Act One, the Three Fates, we have lanterns and we’re on the turntable. We are lit just by that lantern light. And we have a moment with Orpheus downstage center, and the next thing you know, the three of us are up on the platforms, up on the balcony, singing down to Orpheus. And I would like the audience to know that from that moment downstage, I don’t stop sprinting. Backstage, I run. I run upstage and then there’s a flight of stairs that goes up to the balcony, then double doors. I open the doors, close it and immediately start singing. So I’m a little out of breath. I was sprinting up a flight of stairs in the dark by the light of a lantern. Yes.
Q: Why do you think this show, grounded as it is in ancient Greek legend, resonates with audiences today?
A: Oh my goodness, there are so many elements. The politics of the show; the discussion of climate change; the discussion of capitalism; the music, the folk-esque blues style that Anaïs Mitchell has created. It is an album that you can listen to on your morning walk, or the music that you can listen to watching the show front-row center … I believe that it really resonates with a lot of people, the tragic love story between Eurydice and Orpheus and the love between Hades and Persephone and that journey that they all experience throughout the show. I believe everyone can see a piece of themselves or relate to a piece of the show throughout the course of “Hadestown.”
Q: I know that you sang backup for Kristin Chenoweth in her performances in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. What do you recall about that?
A: We did two performances, one at the Broward Center and one at the Kravis Center, and that was my first and only time singing at the Broward Center. I remember stepping on that stage and being so overwhelmed with how many seats were in that audience. And so to revisit that now, I was 16 at the time, so to revisit it at the age of 24 is really exciting.
Q: What was your “Hadestown” debut like at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles on Oct. 3?
A: It was magical. My parents were there. They were able to fly in from Miami, and I spent the day with them. We went on a beautiful hike. We got lunch together. And I kind of tried to just distract myself. I didn’t want to let the nerves, the stage fright, get to me on my national tour debut. … I was so lucky that they were able to be there, and stepping out on that stage for the first time, oh, I have chills. Just like in that costume, looking out, knowing … all of that hard work finally paid off in that moment. … I absolutely sobbed, hugging my parents at the stage door after.
Q: Where did you live in Miami-Dade County, and where did you go to school?
A: I grew up in The Falls area, Kendall. And I went to New World School of The Arts in downtown Miami.
Q: What’s the first thing you want to do when you get back to SoFlo?
A: Go to the beach. We just spent three weeks in Canada. We saw snow. I am ready to be in the sun and get my favorite acai bowl from Raw South Juice … I think it’s still open. I hope it is. It’s my favorite place. I’ve been going there since high school.
Q: I just gotta ask: Is it true that the first time you were on stage was in a production of “A Chorus Line” at the ripe ol’ age of 10? And please tell me that you didn’t sing “Dance: Ten, Looks: Three.”
A: It was! And no, they changed the lyrics — a lot more age-appropriate for … I think I was in fifth grade. I played Judy Turner in “A Chorus Line Jr.” And Judy has a line that says, “And why am I so tall?” Typically, that role is played by a taller, female-identifying person and I was very, very small. And so they changed the line to, “And why am I so small?” That was my first theatrical experience.
Q: Where was this?
A: This was at Actors’ Playhouse in Coral Gables. I did a musical theater kind of traveling troupe called Musical Miracles. Oh my gosh, I feel like I haven’t talked about this in forever. I did that for two years. We would go around the community doing a themed medley every year and then, at the end of that year, we would do a production.
Q: What was it like the first time you did “A Chorus Line Jr.” while in fifth grade? Was there some sort of chemical reaction in your brain, like an epiphany or an aha moment?
A: I remember being very nervous. I looked up to all of the professional actors working at Actors’ Playhouse. It’s a big regional theater in South Florida, and so I grew up watching shows there. And then stepping out on that stage for the first time, especially doing that finale (song), “One,” where everybody’s in the matching sparkly outfits with the hats in the chorus line doing the kickline. … And then continuing to perform on that stage, eventually doing a professional regional production at Actors’ Playhouse, was a nice kind of full circle moment there. And I never stopped doing theater from that very moment.
Q: Your whole trajectory changed, right?
A: From that moment on, I did a lot of shows at Miami Children’s Theater at the JCC in Kendall. It was so close to home, and they offered so many different productions throughout the year. Tim and Beth Fath are just two incredible mentors that really helped me shape my career, doing a lot of shows there. And then, how lucky are we that New World is in Miami? That people … age 15 to 18 get to experience this conservatory-style, collegiate-level training from professionals at Miami City Ballet and adjunct professors that work at New World School of the Arts for college. … It was a really cool opportunity to go to that school.
Q: You graduated from Florida State University in 2021, so then what happened?
A: Almost immediately following that, I went to Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts, which is in Warsaw, Ind. And I was able to do a lot of shows there. It was back to back to back, so performing one show at night, rehearsing a different show during the day. As soon as one closes, the next one opens, and (there’s a) continuous cycle, which is great. It’s a great opportunity to just keep up the training, and also more credits on your resume. … Then in July of 2021, I moved to New York, got a sublet, started auditioning, got a job that paid the bills in the city. And then a couple of months after that, I worked at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, Pa. Did a beautiful holiday production of “Cinderella,” which was magical, and then after that, I was able to do a production in San Diego at The Old Globe. That theater has so much history in beautiful Balboa Park of San Diego.
Q: Since this is your first national tour, what have you learned now that you would like to go back in time and tell Hannah at the beginning of the tour — what would Hannah of today say to Hannah of yesterday?
A: Wow. OK, I love this question. I think that I found that I was very, very nervous — a lot of imposter syndrome going into this. I grew up dancing a lot, and this is a very heavy singing role. And so I was just a little nervous stepping into that singing in different climates, different altitudes. Right now, we’re in Albuquerque. We’re 6,000 feet above sea level. I have never done that before. I would tell myself that the opportunity would not have presented itself if I was not ready for it. And I know that now, but I wish I knew that when I started on that first day of rehearsal, when I debuted in Los Angeles and was so nervous. I wish I could tell myself that I am exactly where I am meant to be.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Hadestown”
WHEN: Jan. 9-21, 2024
WHERE: Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW Fifth Ave., Fort Lauderdale
COST: $30-$141, with Spirit Club Level tickets available for $176
INFORMATION: 954-462-0222; browardcenter.org