A new man sings a sad song on the road to hell. Last month, original Broadway cast member T. Oliver Reid officially reprized the role of Hermes in Hadestown on Broadway. On the show, Reid understudied the roles of Hermes, Hades, and the members of the Workers Chorus. In March of this year, when a surge of COVID impacted Broadway, Reid rose to fame at the last minute as one of the Fates, the trio normally played by female actors.
“I feel like I’ve been in rehearsal [for this role] for three years! I’ve been on the show and watched Andre [De Shields] and I continued. But in the two weeks between André’s departure and the official start of my duties, I said to myself: ‘Okay, you don’t have to do this. It’s an andre-ism!” he explained to Richard Ridge of BroadwayWorld. “There is such relief at the end of the show when I come out for the bow and the audience is screaming for me at this time.”
Reid is also co-founder and co-artistic director of Black Theater Coalition, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a sustainable ethical roadmap that will increase employment opportunities for black theater professionals.
Below, watch him check in straight from his dressing room in Hadestown to discuss everything from his rise to the role to what’s new with BTC and more.
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