MARIA-CHRISTINA OLIVERAS

Played by Maria-Christina Oliveras, the wife of Hades is complicated and delusional, but a rock star at the same time.

Most of the other characters, had directly flirty and fun relationships with the audience, especially Maria-Christina Oliveras’s endearing and outre Persephone.

Oliveras at first appears to be a fun-loving goddess of spring, but as she peels back her shell, she shows a struggling woman trying to cope. Her voice shines throughout, but her ability to emote and convey Persephone’s desire for love in the heavier emotional scenes of the second act is gripping.

Maria-Christina Oliveras as Persephone and Hannah Whitley as Eurydice, too, are lovely foils of each other, endlessly watchable and nuanced in their development of tortured, hopeful women.

The ride is still worth taking, especially with performers like the booming-voiced Quinn, the strutting, sultry Oliveras and the sweet, pure-toned Ihuoma (whose falsetto notes contrast with the low ones of his underworld counterpart) singing them.

Meanwhile, Oliveras’s Persephone, a classy lady in a verdant green gown, evokes such blues queens as Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith. As an embodiment of spring, Oliveras takes a little time to warm up, but by the second act she’s in full life-force mode, making a sympathetic plea on behalf of Orpheus to her callous husband.

The cast is brimming with vocal, dramatic, and comic talent. The beauty of Hades’ (Quinn) booming and resonant bass voice could convince anyone to relocate to the underworld, and Persephone (Oliveras) is particularly charming in “Our Lady of the Underground,” a number that sees her making the best of her time in Hades by pouring drinks at a speakeasy.

Maria–Christina Oliveras stars as Persephone, a force of nature, often with a drink in hand.

The heart and soul of this show is not Orpheus and Eurydice but the springtime deathly duo of Persephone and Hades. Their unlikely love affair has intrigued humans for eons. Oliveras and Quinn have a lot riding on their shoulders and like Graham are more than ready for it all. For her part, Oliveras is brash, gutsy, and frazzled. She nails the cheeky, drunken parts as well as the heartbreaking moments. The love Persephone has for Hades even after all these years is still very clear under the surface of the hurt she has experienced.

Oliveras’ Persephone is sultry and passionate, and the couple clash their egos and desires wonderfully.

Maria-Christina Oliveras is Persephone (taking over for Lana Gordon in the earlier production), a benevolent god who brings everyone in the speakeasy food and wine … lots of wine. She also gets to really cut up in the Act II opening number ‘Our Lady of the Underground’, and she brings a lot of layers to the character, torn between her love of Hades and her love for the people above ground.

Audiences are really in for a treat from Oliveras. I was obsessed with her charisma, iridescent vocals and layered emotive performance. I was elated every time she took the stage — and she’s hard to miss. Her initial lime green dress matches her sunny personality. Oliveras is truly a bright spot on stage and a near flawless foil to Hades.

Oliveras is straight-up fun to watch in her very party-girl take on the queen of the underworld. In brassy songs, she brings big personality to the stage, and in more-serious moments, the genuine beauty and strength of her voice shines.

Played by Maria-Christina Oliveras, the wife of Hades is complicated and delusional, but a rock star at the same time.

Oliveras' Persephone, the goddess of the seasons, is perhaps the number one person I'd like to invite to a house party. She brings levity to the show, first in her lime green dress and maybe a little bit drunk behavior in Act I then to her borderline raunchy yet funny performance of "Our Lady of the Underground" in Act II. She's clearly a pros-pro, evident in her heartfelt plea to Hades in songs like "How Long?" and brings big talent to a stage already filled with it.