Jack Wolfe reflects on his Broadway debut in 'Hadestown'

The Olivier Award-nominated young star of Next to Normal in London's West End stars as Orpheus in Anaïs Mitchell's Greek mythology-inspired musical.

Jack Wolfe is right at home on Broadway. How can you tell? We spoke on September 4, two days after his debut performance in Hadestown, when he began to say, "I'm only four years" — before trailing off and giving a small, self-conscious laugh. "Four weeks into my time in New York. I wish it was four years!"

No doubt it will be eventually. The fast-rising British actor makes his Broadway debut on the heels of an Olivier Award-nominated, critic- and audience-acclaimed performance as Gabe in Next to Normal in London's West End, which reached U.S. audiences by way of a filmed performance on PBS. So by the time he joined Anaïs Mitchell's musical retelling of Greek mythology, he'd already amassed scores of Broadway fans eager to see him, while rumors of a Next to Normal transfer remain unconfirmed, as the sensitive songwriter Orpheus, who takes a dangerous journey to the underworld in pursuit of his beloved Eurydice.

If it's any indication of what his career holds, many of his predecessors in the Hadestown role are Broadway regulars: Reeve Carney, Jordan Fisher, and Ali Louis Bourzgui, all of whom Wolfe has met, to name a few.

"I was really nicely reminded, I'm part of a community of people who've played this role before," Wolfe said, adding that he's longtime friends with Dónal Finn, who led Hadestown in London. "When I wasn't supposed to tell anyone I was playing Orpheus, I did tell him. He and I had this amazing chat about it in a really crowded pub for all of five minutes, but it was incredibly special."

It has yet to be announced how long the current Hadestown Broadway cast — which also includes Morgan Dudley, Kurt Elling, Rebecca Naomi Jones, and Paulo Szot — will perform, but Wolfe hopes to stick around even after the inevitable end date comes around. "I'm just very, very glad to be here. So if you'll have me, I'll stay."

On this initial step of his Broadway journey, Wolfe reflected on all the firsts of Hadestown and more: his first performance, his first encounter with the show, and his own first Broadway memory.

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What was your first performance like? Walk me through the day.

Honestly, I maybe slept three hours. I woke up; I had lots of texts from my family and my partner and my friends in London, who are all five hours ahead. I had supportive messages from friends of mine in New York who are coming to the show, which is very cool.

I couldn't stop trembling. I had two electrolyte drinks, three bottles of water, and then I came in. We had a put-in rehearsal, which is where we did a run of the show with automations and costumes and smoke and the band for the first time, and then we did the show in the evening.

By the time the show happened, I was able to control myself, mostly through looking into the eyes of [...] the entire company here who really made us feel okay. We had great talks with [director] Rachel Chavkin, and then we did the show, and it was an out-of-body experience, and also so exciting. It was a very special day.

Besides the fact that this myth is thousands of years old, what makes Hadestown stand up to time in its own right?

As well as it being just a really beautiful piece of work, what is so wonderful about Hadestown is, even now, after six years, you can really feel the authenticity of what Anaïs was writing. And Rachel's direction is so beautiful and careful and powerful. As a piece, it really stands up. And I've always really loved it, and it has appealed to me ever since the concept album.

A huge part of the show is humanity and community and the hope and ideal of something better than where we are right now, which, unfortunately, has always been pertinent since the show's opened, never more so than right now. People do feel moved by that. And now the show itself has become a family, has become a community. I meet people at the stage door who've known this show and seen this show since its time at New York Theatre Workshop, and have experiences, have met people through the show, have tattoos of the show.

Why is Hadestown a good show for first-time theatregoers?

I really, really hope Hadestown can be somebody's first Broadway show. Like I mentioned, it is a community of people inside this building who really, really care about it. What I love about this show and what I've experienced backstage are, the whole building seems really moved, and it feels like it's very important for everybody to tell the story and to respect and to maintain the integrity of the piece. So if it was your first show, you'd be entering a building that is basically like a family.

I'm only four weeks into my time in New York, and I feel so welcomed by everyone in this building. So I can only hope and imagine that anybody else coming to Broadway for the first time would feel the same at the Walter Kerr. It's a magical building.

What was the first Broadway show you saw?

My first time in New York at all, actually, was only two years ago. I came to visit my friends from Next to Normal. As a sort of pilgrimage, I felt like it was important to see my first Broadway show at the Booth. I would have loved to see Next to Normal there when it was first there, but, of course, I couldn't.

So I went to go and see Kimberly Akimbo, which was my first Broadway show, and so special. I could only really afford the seats right at the back of the top of the theatre, but it was the most special thing. I got my cup at intermission that had Kimberly Akimbo on it, which I still have.

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This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.

Photo credit: Jack Wolfe. (Photo courtesy of production)