Reeve Carney Talks the 'Invisible Work' that Goes Into Hadestown & His Flying Days as Peter Parker

Reeve Carney is currently learning all about the underground as Orpheus in the Tony-winning Best Musical Hadestown. Having been with the show since its 2017 run at the Citadel Theatre in Alberta, Canada, Carney has seen the Anaïs Mitchell musical go through several changes before finding its final form on Broadway. "One of my favorite changes for me has been trading this street kid bravado thing that Orpheus had in the past versions with a sense of guilelessness," Carney told Paul Wontorek in a recent interview on Broadway.com's #LiveAtFive. " That's what started to make things connect in a different way. I really enjoyed that and I think it adds a lot more layers than what was happening in London, which was great, but I didn't feel it was finished. Now on Broadway, it is."

Hadestown has been playing to a sold-out theatre week after week and continues to break the box office months after taking home eight Tony wins. The pressure to please audiences who flock to the Walter Kerr is something that Carney not only feels, but takes seriously. "It's quite an honor. I didn't think I'd be part of a business in which someone would start waiting at maybe 10:00 at night the night before to get a rush ticket," he said. "It's wild that people are doing that. For that reason, we owe them quite a lot when we perform. We try our best every night."

Being the most Tony-winning musical of the season comes with a lot of hard work, a lot of which goes unnoticed. "There's so much that happens underneath the surface. I call it the invisible work," Carney said. "It is quite important because of the poetry in the show. There's so much metaphor, and so much figurative nature to the show and things that are non-literal that we impregnate the words. The story being told has to be full."

Before venturing way down and joining Hadestown, Carney starred on Broadway as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. "I do miss the flying," he said of his days as Peter Parker. "I miss it in the sense that it was something that was really enjoyable for me. It really felt like that Batman roller coaster at Six Flags, but with no rollercoaster. It was nice to be a part of something on stage like that. That's one reason I love acting. It feels to me almost like being a surgeon, because you have the job, but it's still a practice. You always have a chance to learn every night, especially in theater more than any other art form."

As if performing on Broadway eight times a week wasn't enough, Carney has been filling his night off with concerts at the intimate cabaret venue Green Room 42. "I plan everything around my week at Hadestown because I feel like it's my responsibility to do so," he said. "I have to pace myself doing the Green Room 42 shows. I just did a Queen night which was really fun, maybe I'll do an Elton John or Billy Joel night next. It has a nice intimate feel, it's a great listening room. I like to be able to talk to the audience in between songs. I feel fulfilled as an artist anytime I am stretching myself beyond my current capabilities. Which, I guess, is part of why I like doing an extra show or a concert when I can. I like to push myself in a healthy way and try do something new."

Catch Carney in Hadestown, now playing at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Watch the full #LiveAtFive interview below!