You may know me as one of the news editors or just another journalism major, but what you don’t know about is my love for the 2024 version of the television show, “Hazbin Hotel.”
The story follows Charlie Morningstar, the princess of Hell who wants to rehab sinners and send them to Heaven. With help from the radio demon Alastor, she creates a hotel for the sinners to stay as they cleanse their souls. Other characters include Husk the bartender, Nifty the housekeeper, Angel Dust and Morningstar’s girlfriend Vaggie, the only two residents of the hotel.
Throughout the eight episodes, Morningstar faces overlords who hold different powers over Hell, adversaries who become allies and angels from Heaven. The other main characters have their own stories as well, like Angel Dust’s job as an actor. All of the side stories connect into one, making this a lovable show to watch.
Not only is this a television show, it’s a musical! Altogether, there are 16 songs, two for each episode. Adding the time length of each song, the soundtrack is 39 minutes long. Some of my favorites are “Poison,” as mentioned in the February 2024 staff picks, “Loser Baby” which is a duet between Husk and Angel Dust and “Hell’s Greatest Dad,” a duet between Lucifer, the king of Hell, who comes in a later episode, and Alastor. They are upbeat and I always end up singing along even out in public.
Of course this show wouldn’t be possible without talented Broadway and movie stars. The most well known actor is Jeremy Jordan, who’s been in the Broadway musical “Newsies” and Winn Schott in the television show “Supergirl.” In “Hazbin Hotel,” Jordan plays Lucifer and you can hear his voice, which makes me smile.
More Broadway stars include Erika Henningsen, who plays Morningstar and Alex Brightman, who plays Sir Pentious and Adam. Sir Pentious is a serpent who starts off as a villain and then turns into a resident at the hotel. Adam is the first man created by God and a villain for Morningstar.
Henningsen is most well-known for playing the original Cady Heron in the “Mean Girls” musical on Broadway. Brightman is most well known for playing the original Beetlejuice in the Broadway musical “Beetlejuice.”
For “Beetlejuice” fans that may be interested in watching “Hazbin Hotel” but are unsure, Leslie Kritzer plays Rosie, an overlord that supports Morningstar in her dream for the hotel. In “Beetlejuice,” she was the original Delia Deetz and Miss Argentina.
An actor you wouldn’t recognize at the start is Darren Criss, who plays St. Peter in the show and sings “Welcome to Heaven.” Criss is known for “Glee” and “American Horror Story.” Just hearing his voice in the show makes it even more lovable. I hope to see more of St. Peter in the show just to hear Criss.
My favorite unexpected voice is Keith David who plays Husk. Husk is my favorite character in the show because of his low voice and how he’s drawn. David is known for playing Dr. Facilier, the villain in the movie “Princess and the Frog.” Once you realize the two characters are the same actor, you can’t unhear the similarities of the articulation of the voices.
Don’t get me started on trying to find different theories between each character’s backstories. How did they get to the hotel? Why are they drawn in that style? It’s like Swiftie math, but for “Hazbin Hotel.”
If you want to experience this passion of mine on your own, it’s free to watch on Amazon Prime. I promise you, you’ll love it as much as I do.