Five years (and eight Tony Awards) after its Broadway premiere, Hadestown, Anaïs Mitchell’s arresting musical retelling of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, has never sounded better. This is thanks not only to Jordan Fisher (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Sweeney Todd) and Maia Reficco (Max’s Pretty Little Liars: Summer School), who star as the searching, hopeful, ultimately doomed young lovers from Greek mythology, but also to the resounding talents of Stephanie Mills, who joined the cast this summer as Hermes.
In a role originated by André De Shields—the Wizard to her Dorothy in the original Broadway production of The Wiz, the show that launched her career—Mills lights up the Walter Kerr Theatre like a bottle rocket, endowing the story’s de facto narrator with both a moving maternal empathy and the warmly soulful timbre that fans of her work as a recording artist know so well.
Here, Mills, 67, talks to Vogue about returning to Broadway for the first time in 40 years, her show-day wellness routine, and why it may not be long before we see her on the New York stage again. The conversation has been edited and condensed.
Vogue: I understand that you’re usually based in Charlotte. How has it been, settling down in New York again this year?
Stephanie Mills: I like it. I’ve made my home in Charlotte for the last 30 years, but I was born and raised in Brooklyn. I don’t spend a whole lot of time in New York, but when I come, I enjoy it. I don’t like walking the streets of New York, but I love doing theater, so I’m having a great time.
Can you tell me how you came to join this production?
My agent called me and she said, “The people at Hadestown are really interested in you coming to do the show.” I remembered André De Shields—who was my Wiz—doing it a few years ago, and he won the Tony for it. I didn’t know that much about it, so I went to see it and I liked it. And then I saw André and he really, really encouraged me to do it. So I said, “I believe I could do it”—until I got to the rehearsals. Then it was hard. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
Were you actively seeking out theater roles at the time?
Well, not really, no. I don’t even know how they came about my name. I had just signed with CAA and I had a group of people that were going to be my team at that agency, and my theater agent was the one who called and said, “They really are interested in you, if you want to pursue it.” And I said, “Let’s see! Let’s pursue it.”
And once you saw the show, what struck you about it?
I had never read about Greek mythology, and I loved that it was something different that I had never done. I’m always up for new challenges.
A few people have played Hermes since André De Shields departed the show, including Jon Jon Briones and Lillias White. How was the part tailored to your particular tools as a performer?
I spoke to André De Shields and he was like, “You have to stay present. I can’t tell you how to interpret it as a woman, of course, but Hermes always has to stay present in the story because you are telling the story.” Keenan [Tyler Oliphant], who’s the assistant director, he asked me, “Who is Orpheus to you?” And I said, “Orpheus is my son.” So that’s how I look at it: I want the best for him and really want him to finish the story and succeed. I’m a god, but I’m more of a mother than a god.
What did it mean for you to start at around the same time as Maia Reficco and Yola (who plays Persephone)? And how has it been, seeing them make their Broadway debuts at the same time that you’re making this grand return?
They opened before me because I got sick with COVID and then I got the flu, but it was wonderful—we rehearsed all at the same time. They’re younger than me, so they learned their parts quicker, but I had a good time doing it. Yola’s absolutely wonderful, and Maia is just so sweet and nice. They’re doing a great job, for it to be their first time being on Broadway.
Have you learned anything about yourself as a performer during this run?
I’m learning that I can stand on my feet for two and a half hours. [Laughs.] Also, I never considered myself an actress, but doing this show, I really feel like an actress now. Well, when I did the Lifetime story Pride [2023’s Pride: A Seven Deadly Sins Story], I felt like I was an actress. The older I get, the more confident I get in my acting.
Before, did you more consider yourself a singer who acts?
Yes, I felt like a singer who acts. Now, I feel like I’m an actress who just happens to have a recording career.
Has this run dredged up any memories for you from your earlier career on Broadway? Or does this experience feel quite distinct from what you were doing 40 years ago?
It’s a distinct experience. I mean, I was 17 when I did The Wiz, but it’s like riding a bike. I love theater. I love the smell of a theater. I love being in the theater. I really do. And I feel like if you can do Broadway in New York, you can do anything. I’ve always felt that way. Because the discipline, and having to know your craft, and knowing that the audience is not always going to respond to certain things the way you do, it taught me to be a better performer for my records.
Can you tell me about your show-day routine? How are you taking care of yourself?
I’m pretty healthy anyway, and I’m sort of a pamper puss. I’m a girly girl. I like to really take care of myself—in fact, I just came from getting a pedicure and a massage. But I soak my feet every day in Epsom salt because, I’m telling you, my feet have a symphony all by themselves when I come off that stage, girl. And I’m not even in heels, I’m just in little wedge boots. It’s just the standing that gets to you. And I’m not complaining about it, it comes with the territory. But I just soak my feet, that’s all. That’s the only thing extra that I’m doing.
I know that you released a fun single recently, but my mom—whose first Broadway show was The Wiz—would particularly like to know if you’d ever record a Broadway album.
I would love to release a Broadway album. I love the music in Hadestown. It is absolutely beautiful. I think Rachel [Chavkin] did a magnificent job directing it, and everyone has really been very kind and accepting of me. And even when I was taking a little bit more time to learn all those words, they were very patient.
And would you want to do more theater after this? Will we see you treading the boards again soon?
Oh, absolutely. I’m already asking my agent. I’m definitely going to come to Broadway with my own concert, with touches of Broadway in it, which will be directed by Charles Randolph-Wright, so I’m absolutely looking forward to that. He and I have been working on this project for about two years now, so we’re just at the point where we want to do it. But I would definitely come back to Broadway.