How T. Oliver Reid Found His Wings as Hermes in Hadestown
T. Oliver Reid began his journey to hell in Hadestown as an original cast member understudying the roles of Hermes and Hades. He then became the first actor to take on the role of Hermes full-time following Tony winner André De Shields. Now, after over three years with the musical, Reid is preparing for his upcoming departure from the show. (Tony winner Lillias White will play the role of the Hermes next.) Reid recently sat down with Broadway.com correspondent Charlie Cooper at the Civilian Hotel forThe Broadway Show to chat about stepping into the role of Hermes, his history-making bow as a Fate, Black Theatre Coalition and more.
Reid knows exactly what made him want to be a part of Hadestown. "It was absolutely the music that drew me in—once you put it on, you can't not listen to it," he said. "I was working with [Hadestown director] Rachel Chavkin on a workshop of Lempicka, and they mentioned there would be auditions because Hadestown was coming back from the West End to Broadway. I knew there was no choice—I had to do this show. At the very beginning, it's what [composer] Anaïs Mitchell put down on paper that struck me and has kept me all this time."
(Photo: c/o DKC/O&M)
"I knew that I wanted to be able to cover both the roles of Hades and Hermes because, for me, it's always been about being able to play all these things," Reid said of his time as an understudy. "Watching André [De Shields] and Patrick Page seemed like the best of all possible worlds. The biggest thing has been just trying to get [André] out of my head [in order to play Hermes]. It's about being able to strip away as much as I need to and keep the Andréisms, as I like to call them, that actually are just amazing storytelling as a part of the show. I've been finding my own voice within the text that I know so well. I'm making sure that what I'm saying actually feels the way that I say it."
The saying "the show must go on" is the foundation for understudies and swings who often step into a role last-minute. In March Reid took the saying to a new level when he went on for a Fate, a role that he had not reheared and was traditionally played by a female-presenting actor. "Walking out that first night, for me, it felt like I was a man in a dress with makeup on because I identify as him/he/his, and that's how I walked through this world as male, cisgender person," Reid said. "There were people in the audience that night that when I walked out, I saw their mouths fall open. There were people who were seeing that there is an opportunity for them in theater that they didn't think was there before. If I was on as an understudy or a cover, it shouldn't be any different than the shows they see any other night with the normal cast on stage. But more and more because of COVID and lack of coverage, we're seeing more moments of exciting things happening on stage that maybe we wouldn't have seen before."
In addition to his work in Hadestown, Reid is also a co-founder of Black Theatre Coalition, an organization dedicated to eradicating racial inequities in the theater industry. "It really has been about making sure there are opportunities for Black professionals in this industry, he said. "There are plenty of Black and Brown bodies on stages, but when you look in general management offices, producers and creative design areas, there's so few. We wanted to make sure that these first years were really about opening those doors as much as possible. So many of the people that we reached out said 'We've been waiting for this. We know that it needs to happen, but there was no one to lead the charge.' For us, it's partially leading the charge and partially supporting our accomplices and partners so they can continue to do the work."
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T. Oliver Reid as Hermes in Broadway's "Hadestown" (Photo: c/o DKC/O&M)
