Photos: Go Behind-the-Scenes With Zachary James in West End's Hadestown

Last year was a busy time for actor Zachary James. He was doing an Off-Broadway play called Spain (by The Roommate's Jen Silverman) when he found out, from his London theatre agent, that he had booked a long-sought-after role: Hades. In Hadestown in the West End. "The toughest part was I had to leave [the play Spain], which I had been attached to for two years, one week before closing, to get to London to start rehearsals," he tells Playbill. "It was heartbreaking to leave that cast and team and incredible piece of theatre, but everyone was so supportive and understanding. I did a matinee of Spain in NYC, flew overnight to London, and started rehearsal the moment I landed."

Overnight, James (who is also an opera singer) had to uproot his entire life in New York and move to London. It's been an adjustment, and while the Grammy winner misses his friends in NYC, his fiancé (fashion designer) Manuel Tiscareno has been able to come and stay with him. And he's found some restaurants that he loves.

James, who is also a Grammy winner for his work in the Philip Glass opera Akhnaten, is about to wrap up his time in London. His final day in Hadestown is October 13 (James is currently directing a film that he wrote called This Time, which stars some familiar theatre faces such as Marin Ireland and Melanie La Barrie). Luckily, James work on the show will be preserved: The entire original West End cast (including departed leads Dónal Finn and Grace Hodgett) recorded an album. The release date has not been set but, as James says, "It was a thrilling experience and we cannot wait to share it with the world." There are currently no plans for James to play Hades on Broadway, though, he says, "I definitely hope to play Hades again in the future."

Before he departs the West End Underground, James takes Playbill readers backstage to his dressing room in Hadestown, where he shares his pre-show ritual, favorite spots in London, differences between West End and Broadway, and the valuable advice original Broadway Hades Patrick Page gave him. Scroll down for James' thoughts and exclusive photos (by Adrian Lourie and Lina Klimova) from backstage at the Lyric Theatre.

What he does backstage in his dressing room.

"I love my dressing room, the Hades Lair, and spend a lot of time in there vibing. I love my espresso backstage. It keeps me going. I spend a lot of time laying on the floor, which is my favorite way to check in with my body before and during a performance. Something no one knows is at intermission I take off my costume and I paint. I live above an art shop here and have taken up painting since moving to London, and I really enjoy the headspace it puts me in. I’m usually playing music, anything from Beyoncé to Muddy Waters to Dolly Parton to Charli XCX, depends on the mood."

The learning curve when you’re a Broadway actor performing in the West End.

"It’s similar in so many ways, but there are enough differences to make it feel like a totally new experience. I thought it would feel quite familiar, but it’s a very different culture. Many things have different names here than in the U.S. The easiest example is that intermission is called interval. An assistant stage manager is called a deputy stage manager, but then what we call a sub (a musician who plays in the place of an original member of the band or orchestra when they are out of the show) is called a dep. Instead of 'places,' they say 'beginner’s call' here, which I will never get used to. In a West End show, we have a company manager who is in the building at all times and oversees every detail, whereas a company manager on Broadway means something very different and you may only see them once a month if that.

"Broadway has a props crew; in the West End, stage managers are responsible for props. I had an issue with a prop once and told stage management, and they took the prop from my hands and altered it. I gasped because on Broadway, they would not be allowed to do that and someone from props crew would be responsible for handling it. The other big difference here in the West End is we are required to attend group warmup and 'parish notes' led by company management, 90 minutes before curtain. I’m so used to showing up 30 minutes before performances and doing my own warmups as is customary in the U.S., so after 20-plus years doing one thing, showing up an hour and a half before the show still feels strange. There are a lot of differences backstage, but from the audience perspective Broadway and West End are pretty much the same. The caliber of work onstage and the expectation of excellence is the same."

**What he's learned from playing Hades.**

"Hades is a very unique role, vocally. I sing my highest and lowest notes I have ever sung publicly just a couple minutes apart in 'Chant II.' Style wise, there are operatic moments, there’s jazz, there’s folk, there’s blues. It’s a rollercoaster. The challenge was to make everything feel like it is coming from the same voice. There are spoken moments, there’s falsetto, there’s vocal fry. I put every trick in the bag in this role. I am thankful to the team who let me explore and come up with my own interpretation of Hades. There are big shoes to fill…Patrick Page. Huge. I wrote Patrick as soon as I was cast, and he was very generous to tell me I needed to make Hades wholly my own. That was what I needed to hear, and he was right.

"I have played a lot of villains, and the more I play them the more I realize they’re all just wounded creatures who are doing what they think is best. Hades gets a bad rap. I really wanted to make him a sympathetic character. I felt if the audience was rooting for him, even just a little bit at times, it would be a successful interpretation. I am really proud of what we created and really touched by the audience response."

Finding a support network far from home.

"I’ve been lucky to have my fiancé with me here most of the time. He’s a fashion designer and travels a lot, so there have been some long stretches apart, but he’s been a tremendous support through this experience. My cast is my family here—it’s a very special group of people. It can also be quite lonely being away from all your close friends. I miss my people a ton. The biggest surprise for me was making friends with so many people who work in Soho where I’m based. There’s a restaurant called Bantof here which I go to a ton. When Manuel and I first went in for dinner in December, they took the time to get to know us and even brought out a cake with a candle to welcome us to the neighborhood. We’ve since become very close with everyone there, and I go in and hang out several times a week—it just feels like a home away from home—you can always expect a warm welcome and incredible hospitality."

**How Hadestown has changed him as an actor.**

"A big surprise for me in this experience was learning how meaningful the stage door interactions would be after the show. People travel to see this show, from all over the world. I find they want to tell us how long they’ve waited to see it, where they traveled from and then what it means to them to be in the audience. It’s important to me to look each person in the eye and listen to them, sometimes in the pouring rain, where they’ve been waiting for 30 minutes, and to receive what they are communicating. I think we all struggle with taking compliments sometimes, but the job is to receive that gift and express appreciation. The enthusiasm for this show has challenged me to grow in my comfort with interacting with an audience directly, and the result has been a feeling of being a part of a special community, and I am very grateful for that lesson."