Broadway Baritone Paulo Szot Talks Ruling the Underworld in Hadestown and His Tony-Winning Turn in South Pacific

Tony winner Paulo Szot is ruling Broadway’s underworld as Hades in Hadestown at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek sat down with the dashing baritone to talk about his career and current role. "I think what interests me is to find his humanity, how he communicates and how to understand what's missing there," Szot says of inhabiting the character.

One of the most compelling threads of Hadestown is the fraught relationship between Hades and his entrapped wife Persephone, played by Rebecca Naomi Jones. “We see them at this point in their relationship, which is absolutely broken. That was the main challenge for me, to understand and to really dig into that,” he continues. “With the help of the text, which is brilliant, the language of the music is so rich and intense and leads you everywhere. I really try to study every scene and to know where he's coming from, where he is in the moment and where he's going.”

After a fruitful career in opera, Szot transitioned to Broadway, starring in the 2008 revival of South Pacific alongside Kelli O’Hara. “I didn't know that universe at all. It was my first musical. All I remember is that I really wanted to do a good job. Because these people, they trusted me with that role, that revival," he says. “I just remember praying on that first preview that please, please God, let me know if this is a good place for me right away. Otherwise, I'm going to suffer through the whole thing. And the response of the audience at the first one was so great and so warm. So I was like, OK. I can go from here.”

For his role as French expatriate Emile de Becque, Szot won a Tony. “It was incredible. I’d heard of the Tonys before, of course. But I didn't know about the other awards that were happening before. That was absolutely crazy for me, because we still have to run eight shows a week. It was absolutely another world. I remember not thinking too much about it, even about the Tonys when it happened and when I met Liza [Minnelli] and that magical day happened in my life. We only had one day to rest and then another week, coming back to the Vivian Beaumont to present. Now people are going to see a Tony Award-winning performance, which weighs so much on your shoulders.”

His foray into Broadway led him to more opportunities in theater around the world, before returning to the Great White Way in September. “It's just a blessing because I am completely in love, first of all, with musicals, with the community, with New York. So to be in one place and to go home and not to a strange apartment that you rent for a short period of time, it's just a blessing.”

Szot's passion for his craft remains intact as he continues his run in Hadestown. “I do it with love every night. Of course, we all get tired. It's eight shows a week. But there's no other place that I'd rather be. I'd rather not be home watching TV or doing something else than be on a stage. That's where I'm most happy. And I just hope I can do it as long as I can.”

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