Ep196 - Trent Saunders, T. Oliver Reid, Eddie Noel Rodríguez: Being Hermes

The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales

What makes the heart, soul, and sound of Hermes? Ask three different Hermes u/s and get three different answers. That speaks to the brilliance of the Hadestown creative team, and their encouragement to anyone who steps into the winged shoes of Hermes to bring their actual selves to the role. With us in this episode are T. Oliver Reid, Trent Saunders, and Eddie Rodriguez (two Broadway and the national tour understudies respectively), three uniquely different individuals who are all joined together in their privilege of being to play Hermes, the messenger.

Eddie Noel Rodríguez (Swing, u/s Hermes) is a proud Puerto Rican performer who has lived and worked as a professional artist since he was 14 years old, starting with the folkloric dance company Gíbaro de Puerto Rico traveling the world representing his culture. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón with a specialty in telecommunications and theater. He’s collaborating with different Broadway artists to bring musical theater workshops to the artists living in Puerto Rico. Eddie is thrilled, honored and grateful to be in his second national tour with the family of Hadestown. Tour: On Your Feet! (Emilio). Regional: Godspell (Jeffrey), Man of la Mancha (Dr. Carrasco), La Cage Aux Folles (Hanna), Footloose (Willard), Rent (u/s Roger), Piaf (Ensemble), Hair (Ensemble).

T. Oliver Reid (Swing, u/s Hermes, u/s Hades) Broadway show #13 for this award-winning artist. Broadway: Kiss Me, Kate; Follies; Thoroughly Modern Millie; Never Gonna Dance; La Cage Aux Folles; Chicago; The Wedding Singer; Mary Poppins; Sister Act; After Midnight; Sunset Boulevard; Once on This Island. TV/Film: The Sixth Reel, “Sex & The City,” “The Blacklist.” Educator Trent Saunders (Worker, u/s Orpheus, u/s Hermes) is grateful for the chance, joining this incredible company. He has been building some exciting things with his cohort and family of collaborators, The Saunders Collective (thesaunderscollective.com). Favorite credits: Evita (Che), Aladdin (OBC), American Idiot (St. Jimmy). Love to Tree, the Delfinitas, Mike, the family and all of you. Let’s tell the story!

In this episode, we talk about:

• How majoring in telecommunications helped Eddie make it to Broadway
• Why their unique differences help unify them in the role of Hermes
• The stress of the vocal ranges required for covering multiple tracks
• How do get over that "I HAVE TO PEE!" feeling before going on stage
• Representation of 3 different guys being the same character

Connect with Trent, T., and Eddie:

• IG: @eddienoelr, @toliverreid & @trensaun
• @nyugradacting @columbiamfaacting @ridermusicaltheatre

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