Broadway musical “Hadestown” and actor Geno Segers have mutually agreed to part ways after online comments and videos resurfaced concerning transgender athletes and pronoun usage. Segers was originally set to take over the central role of Hades on September 1, with producers now announcing that additional casting will follow shortly.
The Casting Announcement and Sudden Departure
Producers Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy had announced earlier in the week that Segers would join the production as part of a new principal cast starting September 1 at Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre.
That plan changed quickly when older online content resurfaced across theater blogs.
Following the online backlash, Segers made his Instagram account private and removed videos from his YouTube channel. No explanation for the decision to part ways was given, and the announcement did not include a statement from Segers.
“The producers of ‘Hadestown’ and Geno Segers have mutually agreed that Mr. Segers will no longer join the Broadway production. Additional casting will be announced shortly.”
Hadestown producers, via Variety and Deadline
Stage and Screen Background of the Actor
Segers built a varied career across theater and television before the casting controversy emerged. Segers began his theatrical career portraying Mufasa in Disney’s Australian production of variety.com and later appeared in New York City Center Encores! production of On the Town. His previous stage credits also include Deadline and On the Town.
Television audiences recognize him from several notable recurring roles. Television roles include Mason Makoola on Pair of Kings and Chayton Littleton on variety.com, with additional credits including Deadline, Deadline, Deadline, Deadline and Deadline as well as TV roles in variety.com, Pair of Kings and variety.com.
The Rest of the Incoming Principal Cast
Despite the abrupt casting change for Hades, the new principal cast of variety.com will begin their run Sept. 1 at Broadway’s Walter Kerr Theatre. The cast features pop-rock musician Kayko as Orpheus, Jasmin Savoy Brown (variety.com, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma) as Eurydice, Norbert Leo Butz (Catch Me If You Can, variety.com, variety.com) as Hermes and Amber Iman as Persephone.
A Broader Pattern of Stage Departures
The incident marks the second time in a week when a cast member of a stage production left the show after making comments or expressing ideas deemed controversial at best, hateful at worst: Boy George stepped away from his role as King Herod in the West End revival of Deadline after posting a song on social media that sided with Israel to the extent of being anti-Palestine.
One lyric included You say genocide/ I say war.
The song, We Will Dance Again,
references pro-Palestine artists and musicians by calling them sheep
with the specific lyrics: Musicians holding flags, mouthing like sheep/Propaganda fuelled by the Internet feels so weak,
according to reporting from Deadline.
Production History and Recent Milestones
variety.com was written by Anaïs Mitchell. Through folk and jazz music, the show combines the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with the myth of Hades and Persephone. The show began its Broadway run in 2019 and opened on London’s West End in 2024.
A live stage capture of the production, filmed with the original principal cast in London in early 2025, premiered in theaters for a limited release on July 24.
