Jasmin Savoy Brown is about to step onto a Broadway stage for the first time, and the moment nearly brought her to tears.
The Yellowjackets and Scream actor will make her Broadway debut as Eurydice in Hadestown beginning Sept. 1 at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Brown joins a new principal cast that includes Norbert Leo Butz as Hermes, Amber Iman as Persephone, Kayko as Orpheus and Geno Segers as Hades.
Speaking with Tracy Gilchrist and Gayety at the premiere of Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Brown reflected on finally reaching a goal she has carried since childhood.
“I’m going to cry, and I have all this makeup on.”
Brown said seeing a touring production of The Music Man at 8 years old in Eugene, Oregon, inspired her to pursue acting.
“I have dreamed of Broadway since I was a little girl. That’s the whole reason I wanted to become an actor.”
The announcement also carries special significance because Brown’s alma mater staged Hadestown last year. She recalled how the local community raised money to build the school’s first revolving stage for the production before she called her former theater and choir teachers to share the news of her casting.
Brown also credited public school arts programs with shaping her career.
“Public schools’ arts programs are dying, and my public high school’s arts program is what made me who I am.”
A full-circle Broadway moment
Anaïs Mitchell’s Tony Award-winning musical follows two intertwined love stories: Orpheus and Eurydice, and Hades and Persephone. Since opening on Broadway in 2019, Hadestown has become one of the theater’s biggest success stories, earning eight Tony Awards, including best musical.
Brown follows a long list of actors who have played Eurydice on Broadway, including Eva Noblezada, Hailey Kilgore, Lola Tung, Maia Reficco, Myra Molloy and Morgan Dudley.
Brown on working with Jane Schoenbrun
Before making her Broadway debut, Brown will appear in Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, a coming-of-age horror film that reclaims classic slasher tropes through a queer and trans lens. The film follows a group of LGBTQ+ teens at a conversion camp who begin confronting desire, identity and survival as supernatural horrors emerge. Brown said collaborating with Schoenbrun has been deeply meaningful.
“It means everything to me.”
The pair have developed a friendship over the years after nearly working together on one of Schoenbrun’s previous projects, before eventually collaborating on Lucy Dacus’ music video.
“I have an understanding of the way that they work and their mind, and I’m just honored to be a part of any story that they want to tell.”
Between her Broadway debut and another collaboration with one of queer cinema’s most celebrated filmmakers, Brown’s next chapter is shaping up to be one of the biggest of her career.
Casting announcement sparks online debate
While Brown’s Broadway debut has been widely celebrated, the casting announcement has also prompted criticism surrounding Segers’ casting as Hades.
After the new cast was announced, some Broadway fans resurfaced past social media posts and public comments attributed to Segers that included anti-trans rhetoric and misogynistic views. Some questioned the decision to cast him in a production that has become especially popular with LGBTQ+ audiences.
Neither the production nor Segers has publicly addressed the criticism.