Allison Russell appears as Persephone on Broadway in “Hadestown”

Singer-songwriter Allison Russell's debut solo album features a song called “Persephone,” so it may be fate that she will soon take on a role of the same name in the Broadway production of “Hadestown,” which opens November 12.

Tuesday's announcement from the producer of the Tony-winning musical solves the mystery of why Russell recently postponed her fall tour to spring 2025 – a postponement she only hinted at at the time, assuring fans that it was a positive, not an unfortunate, development. Coinciding with the news that she will take over “Hadestown,” Russell's representatives simultaneously announced the postponement of the tour, which will now take place in April and May of next year.

Russell will replace another young American music great, Yola, as Persephone. Yola's last appearance on the show is October 20, after which she will begin her own series of postponed concerts to promote a new album project.

Before embarking on “Hadestown,” Russell will finish her month-long run opening for Hozier on his international tour, including a three-date run at LA's Kia Forum that begins tonight. The Hozier tour wraps up in Oklahoma City on Sept. 26, and then Russell has one final show at the Pilgrimage Music Festival in Tennessee on Sept. 28 before she begins preparing for Broadway.

She is also nominated for Female Artist of the Year at this week's Americana Honors & Awards, which will be presented at a ceremony in Nashville on Wednesday night.

Russell said in a statement: “I first heard Anaïs Mitchell sing 'Why We Build The Wall' in 2008 at the Lobero Theater in Santa Barbara, California. She was opening the show in a concert series called 'Sings Like Hell' (really) for my partner's band, JT & the Clouds. I was transfixed. When Anaïs told me later that night that she was working on a 'folk opera' based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, my hair stood on end – I had a premonition that it would be a work that would outlive us all.”

She continued, “It has been a great and enduring joy to have had a front row seat to the evolution of this magnificent opus—from the 2010 album, to Off Broadway and the Edmonton Theater, to the London Theater, and finally to Broadway and the Walter Kerr and Her-storic Tonys sweep in 2019. It is impossible for me to fully express how deeply meaningful, resonant, uplifting, and all-around amazing it is to make my Broadway debut and play the role of Persephone (a goddess and archetype I have explored myself in poems and songs since childhood) in this timeless, instant classic. I am proud to join the sisterhood of women artists who have embodied Persephone, proud to join this extraordinary ensemble, proud to become a part of this vibrant, growing legacy. This is a world I dreamed of and now get to live in. I am excited and immeasurably grateful to be a part of “Hadestown! See you way down underground!”

The role of Persephone is played by “Hadestown” alum Lana Gordon, who appeared on a national tour of the production between Yola’s departure on October 20 and Russell’s first show on November 12.

Below are Russell's spring US tour dates, mostly postponed from this fall, with the Ryman Auditorium added:

April 30 – Higher Ground Ballroom – South Burlington, Vermont
MAY 2 – Theater of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA
May 3 – Lincoln Theater – Washington, DC
MAY 4 – Royale – Boston, MA
MAY 6 – Webster Hall – New York, NY
MAY 8 – The Vic Theater – Chicago, IL
MAY 9 – First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN
May 12 – Gothic Theater – Englewood, CO
MAY 13 – Commonwealth Room – Salt Lake City, Utah
MAY 15 – The Egyptian Theater – Boise, ID
May 16 – The Showbox – Seattle, WA
May 17 – Wonder Ballroom – Portland, Oregon
May 19th – The Fillmore – San Francisco, California
May 20 – Belasco Theater – Los Angeles, California
May 23 – Scoot Inn – Austin, TX
MAY 24 – Tannahill's Tavern & Music Hall – Fort Worth, TX
May 25 – The Heights Theater – Houston, TX
May 28 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, Tennessee

Russell's latest album “The Returner” and her song “All Without Within” were on diversity's lists of the best albums and songs of 2023.