Hellish Pride
Nathan Lee Graham returned to the stage as Hermes in Hadestown For ‘Hadestown’ actor, Pride is about showing up RICH LOPEZ | Staff writerrich@dallasvoice.com The Tony-winning musical Hadestown returns to North Texas this month, coming to Bass Hall in Fort Worth.
This time around, Nathan Lee Graham has taken on the role of Hermes who acts as sort of narrator for the show. Graham is a queer actor following in the footsteps of André De Shields, the queer actor who originated the role and who won the Tony for Hermes, and queer actor Levi Kreiss, also a Tony winner, who was Hermes in the touring production when it appeared in Dallas last year in January.
Now, in his return to the stage, Graham brings his own sensibilities to the role. Graham’s career had veered into more television and film, but he longed to be back onstage.
And he got some advice on why he should do it from one famous friend: “I always wanted to be back [on stage]. I’m getting older, so I wanted to see if I could do it and where my stamina was,” he said by phone. “Judith Light said to me, ‘You have to be onstage once a year or you lose that muscle.’” Graham was last onstage for The View Upstairs in 2017-18, but he had to leave that show.
