The World We Live In and The World We Dream Of
April 19, 2019 11:50 AM Subscribe
In 2010, singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell released a folk opera concept album called Hadestown, based on live performances by Mitchell, her collaborator Michael Chorney, and a 22-person cast. Nine years later, after an off-Broadway production at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2016 and revised productions in Edmonton, Canada and London, England, Hadestown opened on Broadway on March 17 of this year. It was developed for the stage and directed by Rachel Chavkin, best known for directing the musical Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812. The NYTW production was also recorded, and released under the title Hadestown: The Myth. The Musical.
Hadestown adapts the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to a depression-era-inspired post-apocalyptic setting, intertwining the story of Orpheus and Eurydice with that of Hades and Persephone, narrated by Hermes. It contrasts Hades’s industrial underworld with the organic world above, the cynical gods with the idealistic young lovers, and the rich and powerful with the poor and powerless. It touches on power politics, climate change, and building walls to keep out the poor. Art, hope and love meet the inevitability of fate.
The song, "Why We Build the Wall" has been covered by artists including Billy Bragg, Ben Fisher, Ben Dunham, Lilli Lewis, and Robert Neustadt. Written over 10 years ago, lyrics include:
Other Broadway leads are André De Shields as Hermes, Amber Grey as Persephone, Eva Noblezada as Eurydice and Reeve Carney as Orpheus. The score combines folk, pop and Dixieland with rhythmic work shanties and ethereal arias, accompanied by a seven-piece onstage band.
Anaïs Mitchell talks Hadestown - BroadwayDirect
Hadestown Is A Broadway Musical Like No Other - Forbes
Hadestown Took the Long Way From Community Theater to Broadway - Vulture
Way Down, Hadestown ... Way Down Under The Ground - Metafilter, previously
Hadestown adapts the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to a depression-era-inspired post-apocalyptic setting, intertwining the story of Orpheus and Eurydice with that of Hades and Persephone, narrated by Hermes. It contrasts Hades’s industrial underworld with the organic world above, the cynical gods with the idealistic young lovers, and the rich and powerful with the poor and powerless. It touches on power politics, climate change, and building walls to keep out the poor. Art, hope and love meet the inevitability of fate.
The song, "Why We Build the Wall" has been covered by artists including Billy Bragg, Ben Fisher, Ben Dunham, Lilli Lewis, and Robert Neustadt. Written over 10 years ago, lyrics include:
The enemy is povertyPatrick Page, as Hades, performing the song with bricks tattooed on his arm, says "When I first sang it, Donald Trump was a joke. Then he was a candidate. Then he was the nominee. Then he was the president. And I look in people’s faces: some people are very afraid. Sometimes I see people cry during that song. Some people sing along with the song."
And the wall keeps out the enemy
And we build the wall to keep us free
That's why we build the wall
We build the wall to keep us free
Because we have and they have not
Other Broadway leads are André De Shields as Hermes, Amber Grey as Persephone, Eva Noblezada as Eurydice and Reeve Carney as Orpheus. The score combines folk, pop and Dixieland with rhythmic work shanties and ethereal arias, accompanied by a seven-piece onstage band.
Anaïs Mitchell talks Hadestown - BroadwayDirect
Hadestown Is A Broadway Musical Like No Other - Forbes
Hadestown Took the Long Way From Community Theater to Broadway - Vulture
Way Down, Hadestown ... Way Down Under The Ground - Metafilter, previously
Piece from Here & Now.
"This is my 15th Broadway show," he says. "And I have never, ever seen any reaction like this from an audience."
I am GUTTED I didn't get off my tired butt and go see this the last time I was in NYC. I hope it stays up long enough for me to catch it on the next trip.
posted by Medieval Maven at 12:06 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
"This is my 15th Broadway show," he says. "And I have never, ever seen any reaction like this from an audience."
I am GUTTED I didn't get off my tired butt and go see this the last time I was in NYC. I hope it stays up long enough for me to catch it on the next trip.
posted by Medieval Maven at 12:06 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I love the album so much, it’s amazing. I’m actually afraid to listen to anything else Ms Mitchell has done for fear it wouldn’t measure up.
posted by winna at 12:15 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by winna at 12:15 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
She's a nice person, and we used to chat when she worked in Montpelier before Hadestown.
posted by terrapin at 12:34 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by terrapin at 12:34 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm going in a few weeks and I'm VERY EXCITED. And, yes, did have to stop and double check the show's date once I heard the wall song.
posted by Stacey at 12:39 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Stacey at 12:39 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
One of my favorite albums. I hope this comes to Atlanta! Thanks for the post!
posted by snwod at 12:51 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by snwod at 12:51 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Saw this in its Broadway previews last month. Absolutely gripping show. Can't wait until an OBC recording comes out -- I love the live recording, but it's missing some of my favorites ("Wedding Song", "Any Way the Wind Blows") and some of the changes that happened between London and New York ("Epic III", e.g.).
The anti-capitalist themes come across strongly and worked well with the staging. I'm glad that as the cultural context around "Why We Build the Wall" changed, they haven't leaned too hard on the topical connection -- shows can have a tendency to lay it on thick at the cost of feeling trite. I thought that the show was most successful in the interpersonal relationship moments, though. Patrick Page's Hades as foil to Reeve Carney's Orpheus with respect to the effects of fear, jealously, and doubt was incredible to see.
posted by Expecto Cilantro at 12:57 PM on April 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
The anti-capitalist themes come across strongly and worked well with the staging. I'm glad that as the cultural context around "Why We Build the Wall" changed, they haven't leaned too hard on the topical connection -- shows can have a tendency to lay it on thick at the cost of feeling trite. I thought that the show was most successful in the interpersonal relationship moments, though. Patrick Page's Hades as foil to Reeve Carney's Orpheus with respect to the effects of fear, jealously, and doubt was incredible to see.
posted by Expecto Cilantro at 12:57 PM on April 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
i love that record so much, and i hate broadway shows so much. it's a conundrum!!!!!
posted by slappy_pinchbottom at 12:59 PM on April 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by slappy_pinchbottom at 12:59 PM on April 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
I’m actually afraid to listen to anything else Ms Mitchell has done for fear it wouldn’t measure up.
Her Child Ballads are good, but very very different than Hadestown.
posted by Candleman at 1:02 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Her Child Ballads are good, but very very different than Hadestown.
posted by Candleman at 1:02 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I absolutely adored the original folk opera album with all my heart. I saw a live performance of it and was in heaven. But I caught a few audio snippets of the musical show and like Etrigan says, it is very Broadway. Very much different from the original concept album. I bounced off of it pretty hard after hearing just a few minutes of it, which was sad because I love pretty much everything Anaïs Mitchell does. I still need to give the musical version of it a fair listen but the first experience was pretty jarring to me.
posted by zsazsa at 1:19 PM on April 19, 2019
posted by zsazsa at 1:19 PM on April 19, 2019
I was a big fan of the different records and think I couldn't shake the feeling of watching a long, but good, concert. It didn't feel like the average show since it is slowly paced and completely original.
Patrick Page and Amber Grey's characters were stand outs to me. The worst thing I can say is the leads seem to meet and fall in love in two seconds and it didn't seem to fit.
posted by Freecola at 1:24 PM on April 19, 2019
Patrick Page and Amber Grey's characters were stand outs to me. The worst thing I can say is the leads seem to meet and fall in love in two seconds and it didn't seem to fit.
posted by Freecola at 1:24 PM on April 19, 2019
I really liked this when I saw it in London with, I think, the same principal cast as are now on Broadway. The Fates and the chorus were also really good, and I'm glad to have seen and heard that combination of voices.
I like the way the show juxtaposes Orpheus and Eurydice's new love with Persephone and Hades's millennia-old relationship. That's the heart of it, I think. And the conflict between industrial capitalism and humanity. It's a very wise and timely piece of myth-making.
I think one of the reasons it connects so immediately with its audience is that we're all making our own slow, weary journeys through hell. Hadestown reframes that slow trudge as a journey out of hell, with hope at its end. We're reminded that the best musician there's ever been tried to make that journey for a love that was the stuff of legends, and still failed because he couldn't maintain his faith. But we who tell the story again and again, "as though it might turn out this time"-- we do that as an act of hope. An act of faith.
On dark days, that still sustains me. One foot, then the next. Step by step, out of hell.
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:42 PM on April 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
I like the way the show juxtaposes Orpheus and Eurydice's new love with Persephone and Hades's millennia-old relationship. That's the heart of it, I think. And the conflict between industrial capitalism and humanity. It's a very wise and timely piece of myth-making.
I think one of the reasons it connects so immediately with its audience is that we're all making our own slow, weary journeys through hell. Hadestown reframes that slow trudge as a journey out of hell, with hope at its end. We're reminded that the best musician there's ever been tried to make that journey for a love that was the stuff of legends, and still failed because he couldn't maintain his faith. But we who tell the story again and again, "as though it might turn out this time"-- we do that as an act of hope. An act of faith.
On dark days, that still sustains me. One foot, then the next. Step by step, out of hell.
posted by Pallas Athena at 1:42 PM on April 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
I saw this show last week and it was amazing! I had been looking forward to it since I missed the off-Broadway production and I loved it.
posted by interplanetjanet at 1:53 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by interplanetjanet at 1:53 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Happy to say Anaïs is my friend from college! I saw this at Joe's Pub in NYC years ago when it was still getting worked out. Can't wait to see the Broadway version.
Unfortunately meanwhile at our alma mater things are not quite so woke.
posted by rossmeissl at 2:15 PM on April 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Unfortunately meanwhile at our alma mater things are not quite so woke.
posted by rossmeissl at 2:15 PM on April 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Hadestown is one of my favorite pieces of art ever. You could say that about the Chavkin Bway oeuvre as a whole, I loved Comet enough that the comet itself is now a tattoo I have. It's just fucking incredible musical theater, put together so cleverly that you don't even notice how clever it is. Hades and Persephone are the best. The NYTW run and cast will always be my favorite, I love the juxtaposition of an Orpheus with some bravado who is still naive with a Eurydice who seems tired and older and subdued already, despite being so young, but I'm so excited to see this version.
This is my favorite interview that's come out of the recent media blitz, with some really good info about the design and influences on the show as it is now - especially good for the many critics making lazy Hades = Trump comparisons. Also (tw: depression/suicide) it's delightful that the King of Hell himself is a real mensch.
posted by colorblock sock at 2:25 PM on April 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
This is my favorite interview that's come out of the recent media blitz, with some really good info about the design and influences on the show as it is now - especially good for the many critics making lazy Hades = Trump comparisons. Also (tw: depression/suicide) it's delightful that the King of Hell himself is a real mensch.
posted by colorblock sock at 2:25 PM on April 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
I saw this last week and loved it. I was worried it would lose a lot scaled up for Broadway. It's definitely bigger, but just as great as it was at NYTW. The lighting and stage design are incredible--it's a wonderful show to look at. Patrick Page is magnetic, and that voice, my goodness. I'm going to try to get another ticket before it wins all the Tonys.
posted by Mavri at 5:26 PM on April 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Mavri at 5:26 PM on April 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Thanks for this post!
My wife and I saw Anaïs Mitchell open for Ani DiFranco years back, when Mitchell was still previewing individual songs and were really impressed. We were lucky to then see her with a full stage show a few years later, and I'm happy that the full production was filmed, I'll have to find it. I love everything about the original album, from the story itself and the lyrics, to the range and quality of voices.
Here's the full original cast album on YouTube, and the original album (both official audio playlists).
If "Build a Wall" is getting you down, you can always enjoy the fake dog barking at the end of Epic, Pt. 1. For some reason, it always makes me smile.
posted by filthy light thief at 5:40 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
My wife and I saw Anaïs Mitchell open for Ani DiFranco years back, when Mitchell was still previewing individual songs and were really impressed. We were lucky to then see her with a full stage show a few years later, and I'm happy that the full production was filmed, I'll have to find it. I love everything about the original album, from the story itself and the lyrics, to the range and quality of voices.
Here's the full original cast album on YouTube, and the original album (both official audio playlists).
If "Build a Wall" is getting you down, you can always enjoy the fake dog barking at the end of Epic, Pt. 1. For some reason, it always makes me smile.
posted by filthy light thief at 5:40 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
FWIW, Here is a video I took of Billy Bragg singing "Why We Build the Wall" in Vermont, back in 2002.
posted by baseballpajamas at 7:41 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by baseballpajamas at 7:41 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
...a video I took of Billy Bragg singing "Why We Build the Wall"
The video I always liked of that song is by Mitchell herself, singing at her farm in VT almost 10 years ago. I’d planned to go see an early version of Hadestown at Higher Ground in Burlington in December 2007, but then a blizzard blew in and I decided not to drive. My loss. (For one thing, the ticket price was 5% or 10% that of a seat on Broadway.)
I did catch up with Mitchell playing in a church in Montpelier a few years later, at one of those New Year's Eve ‘First Night’ celebrations. She is an enormously appealing performer, as you can tell from the video.
Two other songs I especially like from the original album are ‘Way Down Hadestown’ and ‘Our Lady of the Underground,’ both featuring Ani DeFranco.
p.s. Robert Sullivan also has a nice feature on the Broadway production today at Vogue.com.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:52 PM on April 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
The video I always liked of that song is by Mitchell herself, singing at her farm in VT almost 10 years ago. I’d planned to go see an early version of Hadestown at Higher Ground in Burlington in December 2007, but then a blizzard blew in and I decided not to drive. My loss. (For one thing, the ticket price was 5% or 10% that of a seat on Broadway.)
I did catch up with Mitchell playing in a church in Montpelier a few years later, at one of those New Year's Eve ‘First Night’ celebrations. She is an enormously appealing performer, as you can tell from the video.
Two other songs I especially like from the original album are ‘Way Down Hadestown’ and ‘Our Lady of the Underground,’ both featuring Ani DeFranco.
p.s. Robert Sullivan also has a nice feature on the Broadway production today at Vogue.com.
posted by LeLiLo at 8:52 PM on April 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
I saw what must have been one of the first performances of this in Bellows Falls. Vt, with Mitchell in a lead role. I think she was 24 at the time. Wonderful show and music. Strangely prescient. Very happy that it's getting the attention it deserves.
posted by Hobgoblin at 8:32 AM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Hobgoblin at 8:32 AM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Hadestown, the original, is one of my favorite albums of all time, and shortly after acquiring it, I started giving copies to everyone I knew. I still do. Listening to Flowers, really listening, still has the power to bring me to tears.
I don't dislike the Broadway show - I like it quite a bit, and love the new songs - but nothing will beat the original cast and arrangement for me*. I had the good fortune to see Anaïs Mitchell perform some of the new songs she was workshopping for the show at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley some years back, and got the opportunity to tell her how much her music meant to me.
It's such an interesting almost-sub-genre, depression-era mythic. Carnivale and O Brother Where Art Thou and Hadestown. It doesn't feel like the 30's were long enough ago for us to be mythmaking about it just yet. 90 years? I mean my grandparents were teenagers. O shit, I'm middle aged, aren't I?
*Which is not to say that I don't want a complete fucking recording of the stage show, rather than this piecemeal shit.
posted by Myca at 12:28 PM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
I don't dislike the Broadway show - I like it quite a bit, and love the new songs - but nothing will beat the original cast and arrangement for me*. I had the good fortune to see Anaïs Mitchell perform some of the new songs she was workshopping for the show at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley some years back, and got the opportunity to tell her how much her music meant to me.
It's such an interesting almost-sub-genre, depression-era mythic. Carnivale and O Brother Where Art Thou and Hadestown. It doesn't feel like the 30's were long enough ago for us to be mythmaking about it just yet. 90 years? I mean my grandparents were teenagers. O shit, I'm middle aged, aren't I?
*Which is not to say that I don't want a complete fucking recording of the stage show, rather than this piecemeal shit.
posted by Myca at 12:28 PM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
I got a chance to see the show over the weekend, and wow. "Wait for Me" is one of the most striking performances I've seen, and at the pivotal moment at the end, there were straight-up gasps in the audience. The half-mirrored drum booth at the back of the stage reflecting back ghostly images of the cast (Princess Leia's hologram is the image that came to mind) gives the whole thing just the right ethereal quality. And Amber Gray is so great and is being recognized more and more these days.
I'm really hoping for a Broadway album too. The change to the ending from the (fairly abrupt) one on the live recording was really interesting to me, and I'd be curious to revisit that.
Also, I tweeted about how great it was afterwards, and it turns out Reeve Carney's mom is systematically searching Twitter to like the tweets of people who say nice things about the show, and it's the purest thing ever.
posted by zachlipton at 11:00 PM on April 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm really hoping for a Broadway album too. The change to the ending from the (fairly abrupt) one on the live recording was really interesting to me, and I'd be curious to revisit that.
Also, I tweeted about how great it was afterwards, and it turns out Reeve Carney's mom is systematically searching Twitter to like the tweets of people who say nice things about the show, and it's the purest thing ever.
posted by zachlipton at 11:00 PM on April 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
I also want to add here that giving Persephone an amazing white coat that looks like the gorgeous one from Great Comet is such a delightful detail.
posted by zachlipton at 11:17 PM on April 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 11:17 PM on April 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
A new cast recording has just been announced for June 7.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 12:41 PM on April 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 12:41 PM on April 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by Etrigan at 12:01 PM on April 19, 2019 [1 favorite]