EXO's Xiumin Has A Complicated Relationship With Orpheus' Mythical Guitar In "Hadestown"

After their incredibly fun comeback earlier this year, “Don’t Fight The Feeling”, the members of EXO have been taking on their own passion projects. In the case of Xiumin, he has begun his turn as the leading man in the Korean language production of the show Hadestown.

Hadestown is a massively successful Broadway musical, having won the Tony award for “Best Musical” as well as 6 other awards at the 2019 ceremony. The musical is an imaginative retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice where Orpheus journeys to the underworld (Hadestown itself) to rescue his lover.

Reeve Carney as Orpheus in the original Broadway production of *Hadestown*. | *broadway.com*

In the myth, Orpheus is a legendary musician who offers to play a song for the Gods of the underworld, Hades and Persephone, to convince them to return Eurydice to him. In the musical adaptation, this manifests itself into Orpheus playing his own guitar during the show.

“Orpheus and Eurydice” | *historytoday.com*

Xiumin as Orpheus is completely prepared to sing the role, having proven his vocal prowess for years. However, when it comes to the guitar, the story is a bit different.

When doing an interview with Singles Korea, Xiumin was asked “Is there any difficulty with guitar?”

He admitted there had been a bit of struggle but he wasn’t alone in his difficulty with the instrument. He happens to share the role with two other actors who both feel his pain.

All Orpheus will be under a lot of stress the moment we hold the guitar. Everyone’s in pain when they hold the guitar.

-Xiumin

Through all the pain, Xiumin was able to keep an optimistic attitude towards his six stringed co-star.

I’m trying to get a little closer to the guitar. I’ll be friends until the day of the show.

-Xiumin

With his time in the role of Orpheus approaching, we hope for both Xiumin and his guitar to “break a leg”. To see his full interview alongside his fellow Orpheuses, check out the video below: