The national tour of the Tony Award-winning musical “Hadestown” took the stage at the Rozsa Center this past Sunday. For a venue as remote to the rest of the country as the Rozsa, booking shows and performers as famous as “Hadestown” can be a logistical ordeal, but the large crowds they pull in justify the effort required.
For the Rozsa staff, events like these are aimed at expanding the accessibility of the arts in the UP. Major tours like “Hadestown” require complex logistical coordination and can typically take over a year of planning. The Rozsa Center had spent over three years trying to bring “Hadestown” to the UP.
“We’re the only theater in our region for maybe 200 miles that can bring this show,” said Kiersten Birondo, executive director of the Rozsa Center. “For students and for the community, especially when it’s so cold… getting to Chicago or getting to Detroit to see a show is incredibly difficult. Being able to have that here is really incredible.”
A large-scale event like “Hadestown” requires local support along with meticulous preparation, according to Birondo. “There’s gonna be 56 local people, both students and professionals, working backstage… and they’re going to be here from 7:30 a.m. until the trucks leave [at 2:00 a.m.].” Isaac Pontier, a third-year student, spoke about the impact of having these events available locally. “It’s super exciting that I get to go to that now, here,” Pontier said before the show. “I probably would never have that opportunity to see it live elsewhere in life, so that’s really cool.”
In the future, Birondo hopes to bring at least three large, highly anticipated events every year in the Rozsa Presenting Series. To maximize the impact the Rozsa Center has on the entire UP, they have partnered with tourism groups like Visit Keweenaw to attract a larger audience. Birondo said, “It’s pretty cool to get to be part of making that happen for our community.”
The 2026-27 Rozsa Presenting Series still has many more performances to come following the “Hadestown” musical. Some of the upcoming events include “Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience” in November, Winter Carnival comedian Ashley Gavin in February, and acrobatic performance “Cirque Kalabanté” in March. More information on these events can be found on the Rozsa Center website.
