At first, Stephanie Mills didn’t know if she could do it or not. It had been nearly 50 years since she was last on Broadway and the opportunity presented to her, she felt, was “a beast to do.”
But after seeing Hadestown in person at the Walter Kerr Theatre, where the Tony Award winner for Best Musical has been playing for five years, she decided she was up to the challenge of playing Hermes and is not afraid to admit it.
“They sent me the script and I saw all those words. And I was like, ‘Oh, my God – at 67 – I’m not going to remember all of this,’” she tells Broadway Direct by phone from her New York City apartment, where she’s residing during her time in the show since she lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. It took two months to memorize all her lines.
On the day of her first performance, Mills says she was “petrified” because she didn’t know how she’d be received. Her first night in the show was actually delayed by a few days because she had COVID and then the flu. “I didn’t know if I was going to remember all my lines. It was a scary moment,” she recalls, grateful for the extra time to practice them.
Mills’ character of Hermes never leaves the stage. “It’s really the most difficult role that I’ve ever played because I’ve never done an opera before. It’s very precise,” she says of the sung-through score by Anaïs Mitchell with direction by Rachel Chavkin. “It looks like we’re just talking. But we’re really actually following the music beats. We’re not saying anything on our own.”
Hadestown follows Greek mythological lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, currently played by Jordan Fisher and Maia Reficco respectively, to the underworld. “I really love Orpheus and Euridyce. I want him to make it through this time. That’s my whole thing from the minute I walk on stage and we start the story,” she says of her portrayal of Hermes. “Because I look at him like he’s my son. I smile at them and their love and it’s so innocent.”
On a recent Thursday night, the energy inside the theatre was electric for Mills. As she took her place amongst the cast at the top of the show, the cheers from the audience went up a decibel or two.
“It’s really very, very heartwarming for me to get such a warm welcome,” the Grammy Award winner says.
Mills famously made her Broadway debut at 17 years old starring as Dorothy in The Wiz back in 1975. The first Broadway revival of The Wiz is currently playing a few blocks over from Hadestown at the Marquis Theatre through August 18.
The timing is purely coincidental.
“You couldn’t have planned anything that is so crazy. It’s just kind of surreal,” she says, having no idea that when she agreed to do the show, that The Wiz would also be on Broadway. She also played Aunt Em in NBC’s The Wiz Live! in 2015.
Here’s where it gets even more mind-blowing: Mills has stepped into the same role of which André De Shields originated and earned a Tony Award for his portrayal. De Shields played the Wiz opposite Mills’ Dorothy. “He’s as grand as he is now, that’s how he was then. Nothing has changed,” she says of her former co-star.
The two recently reunited with several other Wiz cast members for opening night of the revival back in April. When the role of Hermes was presented to Mills, she called up De Shields for his blessing. His advice? “Stay engaged in the story that’s being presented on stage and always be watching the action,” she says he told her.
“To come after André De Shields, who’s just absolutely brilliant, it’s very challenging and very nerve-wracking.”
She says she’s been told it’s a different show than what it was with De Shields. “I am more like a mom [to Orpheus].”
Perhaps that warmth on stage comes from spending a lot of time with 23-year-old son who has been living with her in New York City as well. “I take my son with me everywhere. I do not leave him,” she says. On her days off from an eight-show-week, she wants to sleep. Rest also serves as her warm-up for her voice. She stretches and gets her makeup done before heading to the theatre.
While Broadway is like riding a bike, she admits “I get nervous every night.”
And in between the jitters, she’s livin’ it up on top being back home.