Joshua Colley Returns to Broadway as Orpheus in Hadestown

Broadway performer Joshua Colley has come full circle, returning to New York’s theatre scene to take on the leading role of Orpheus in the hit musical Hadestown.

The 24 year old actor began performances in the role on March 3, marking a significant milestone in a career that began on Broadway more than a decade ago.

A Broadway journey that began in childhood

Colley’s relationship with Broadway began at a remarkably young age. At just 10 years old he served as an alternate for Gavroche on the 25th anniversary tour of Les Misérables. Soon after, he made his Broadway debut at 11 as an alternate for Les in Newsies.

He later returned to Les Misérables on Broadway in 2014, continuing to build experience on some of the biggest stages in musical theatre.

Originally from Florida, Colley moved to New York with his parents and his twin brother Cameron in order to pursue his growing career. Now, years later, the family has reunited in the city as Colley steps into one of Broadway’s most coveted roles.

“We’re always a unit,” Colley said in a recent interview. “It’s really cool to be kind of reliving my childhood with them. Going to all the places we used to go to when I was younger, it really feels full circle and honestly just like I remembered.”

Stepping into the world of Hadestown

In Hadestown, Colley takes on the role of Orpheus, the idealistic musician at the centre of the show’s retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

The Tony Award winning musical, with music, lyrics and book by Anaïs Mitchell, has been a Broadway favourite since its 2019 opening. Its folk and jazz influenced score, atmospheric staging and poetic storytelling have made it one of the most distinctive contemporary musicals on the New York stage.

For Colley, joining the production represents both a new chapter and a return to familiar ground.

While preparing for his first performances, the actor reflected on the unique experience of returning to Broadway not as a child performer, but as a leading man.

A new chapter on Broadway

Now 24, Colley has already built a diverse career that spans stage, film and television, including projects with Disney. Offstage he is also working on original music with his twin brother Cameron, a voiceover artist and music producer.

As rehearsals began for his run in Hadestown, Colley described the process of developing his interpretation of Orpheus as something that requires patience and trust.

For a performer who first stepped onto a Broadway stage at age 11, returning as the leading man in one of the city’s most celebrated musicals represents a powerful moment of symmetry.

More than a decade after his Broadway debut, Colley says the experience feels like coming home.

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