The original Broadway cast recording of “Hadestown” has gone Gold. The album was recognized by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for having sold 500,000 copies since its 2019 release, a milestone celebrated by the current Broadway cast on May 27.
Original Broadway cast members Malcolm Armwood, Jewelle Blackman, Jessie Shelton and Kay Trinidad, as well as Tony Award winner Anaïs Mitchell, who wrote the book, music and lyrics for “Hadestown,” joined the current cast of the musical onstage. Grammy Award winner Ani DiFranco, who sang the role of Persephone on the concept album and made her Broadway debut in the same role in 2024, then made a surprise appearance, presenting Mitchell with the RIAA-certified Gold record.
RIAA certifies records as Gold when they have sold at least 500,000 copies. Digital downloads and on-demand streams through platforms like Spotify and Apple Music also count toward sales totals, at a ratio of 150 on-demand streams to one download sale.
Mitchell presented an early version of “Hadestown” in her native Vermont in 2006. A tour of Vermont and Massachusetts followed in 2007. Mitchell released a concept album version in 2010 under DiFranco’s record label Righteous Babe. After a series of readings and a developmental workshop, a revised version of “Hadestown” premiered Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in 2016, then it opened officially on Broadway three years later.
Now the longest-running show at the Walter Kerr Theatre, “Hadestown” won eight 2019 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score for Mitchell. A live capture of the musical, featuring a blend of the original Broadway and West End casts, is set to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this June.
