The musical Hadestown was produced off-Broadway in New York in 2016. A revised version of the musical premiered on Broadway...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
The musical Hadestown was produced off-Broadway in New York in 2016. A revised version of the musical premiered on Broadway in 2019, in a larger production. In a review of the Broadway production, theater critic Jesse Green enthusiastically praised the musical's storytelling. However, Green also explained that he had seen the earlier version of Hadestown in 2016 and had found the storytelling to be very confusing. This suggests that in Green's view, ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
the 2016 version of Hadestown had fewer storytelling problems than the 2019 version did.
Hadestown should have had a larger production in 2019 than it actually did.
the 2019 version of Hadestown was less enjoyable than the 2016 version.
Hadestown improved greatly between 2016 and its premiere on Broadway.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "The musical Hadestown was produced off-Broadway in New York in 2016." |
|
| "A revised version of the musical premiered on Broadway in 2019, in a larger production." |
|
| "In a review of the Broadway production, theater critic Jesse Green enthusiastically praised the musical's storytelling." |
|
| "However, Green also explained that he had seen the earlier version of Hadestown in 2016 and had found the storytelling to be very confusing." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Theater critic Jesse Green had opposite reactions to Hadestown's storytelling in 2016 (confusing) versus 2019 (enthusiastic praise).
Argument Flow: The passage establishes a timeline of two productions, then presents a critic's contrasting evaluations of the storytelling quality between these versions, setting up an inference about what this comparison suggests.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Looking at our analysis, we have a clear contrast: Green found the 2016 storytelling "very confusing" but "enthusiastically praised" the 2019 storytelling
- When someone has such opposite reactions to two versions of the same thing, the logical suggestion is that the later version improved significantly from the earlier one
- The right answer should reflect that Green views the musical as having gotten much better between 2016 and 2019, specifically in terms of storytelling quality
the 2016 version of Hadestown had fewer storytelling problems than the 2019 version did.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims 2016 had fewer storytelling problems than 2019
- Completely contradicts Green's evaluations - he found 2016 "very confusing" but praised 2019
Hadestown should have had a larger production in 2019 than it actually did.
✗ Incorrect
- Focuses on production size rather than storytelling quality
- Green's contrasting evaluations were specifically about storytelling, not production scale
the 2019 version of Hadestown was less enjoyable than the 2016 version.
✗ Incorrect
- Suggests 2019 was less enjoyable than 2016
- Contradicts Green's "enthusiastic praise" for 2019 versus finding 2016 "very confusing"
Hadestown improved greatly between 2016 and its premiere on Broadway.
✓ Correct
- States that Hadestown improved greatly between 2016 and Broadway premiere
- Perfectly matches the logical inference from Green's contrasting evaluations