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4.53 AVERAGE
4.53 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.5
Dit was echt top! Ik had gehoopt dat er bij sommige nummers misschien iets meer insight was (het is CRIMINEEL dat er maar anderhalve pagina voor ‘Flowers’ was), maar het commentaar dat er stond voegde bij alles zoveel toe! Het was ook erg leuk om bepaalde songteksten te lezen die uiteindelijk geschrapt waren. Je snapt wel waarom, maar dang bij sommige was het echt jammer. Hierbij een selectie van mijn favorieten:
Orpheus was a poor boy / But he had a gift to give / Eurydice knew how to survive / Orpheus knew how to live
And young love, too, grew old…
And in this symphony of mine / Are power chords and power lines / Which I arrange and orchestrate / And every day I dedicate / The magnum opus of my life / To my unkind, ungrateful wife / Persephone, and she shall see / Her name in lights on my marquee / And every night, another show / My symphony will never close! / And she shall have a front-row seat / Which she shall never, ever leave!
A poor boy and a hungry young girl / Walking single file / While the music played / Brother, they looked for all the world / Like they was walking down the aisle / On their wedding day
Eurydice: Orpheus, hold on / Hold on tight / It won’t be long / The darkest hour of the darkest night / Comes right before the dawn
(Orpheus turns)
Eurydice: You’re early
Orpheus: I missed you
Everybody looked and everybody saw / That spring had come again / With a love song / With a tale of a love that never dies / With a love song / For anyone who tries…
Dit was echt top! Ik had gehoopt dat er bij sommige nummers misschien iets meer insight was (het is CRIMINEEL dat er maar anderhalve pagina voor ‘Flowers’ was), maar het commentaar dat er stond voegde bij alles zoveel toe! Het was ook erg leuk om bepaalde songteksten te lezen die uiteindelijk geschrapt waren. Je snapt wel waarom, maar dang bij sommige was het echt jammer. Hierbij een selectie van mijn favorieten:
Orpheus was a poor boy / But he had a gift to give / Eurydice knew how to survive / Orpheus knew how to live
And young love, too, grew old…
And in this symphony of mine / Are power chords and power lines / Which I arrange and orchestrate / And every day I dedicate / The magnum opus of my life / To my unkind, ungrateful wife / Persephone, and she shall see / Her name in lights on my marquee / And every night, another show / My symphony will never close! / And she shall have a front-row seat / Which she shall never, ever leave!
A poor boy and a hungry young girl / Walking single file / While the music played / Brother, they looked for all the world / Like they was walking down the aisle / On their wedding day
(Orpheus turns)
Eurydice: You’re early
Orpheus: I missed you
Everybody looked and everybody saw / That spring had come again / With a love song / With a tale of a love that never dies / With a love song / For anyone who tries…
TL;DR: Check out this book—particularly the audiobook edition!
Working on a Song: The Lyrics Of Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell is a fascinating, song-by-song account of writing, revising, re-writing, and re-revising the songs of an award-winning musical. Each chapter covers a song from the Original Broadway Cast production of Hadestown with commentary, alternative lyrics, and more from singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell.
Hadestown tells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice in parallel to the myth of Hades and Persephone. It's a difficult musical to describe because it's so rich, so carefully crafted, so thematically dense that an elevator pitch just can't do it justice. If you're unfamiliar, I'd strongly recommend checking out the Broadway Cast Recording and listening to it a couple of times before reading this book—or even better: listen to multiple cast recordings and check out the 2010 concept album. Trust me: it's worth the extra effort.
What makes Hadestown unique, at least in my mind, is how long it took to get to Broadway and how public the process has been. Over nearly a decade and a half, the show has evolved from a "DIY community theater project" (in Mitchell's words) in Vermont performed in 2006/2007 to a star-studded folk-opera concept album released in 2010 to an experimental Off-Broadway production at New York Theatre Workshop in 2016 and to a pre-Broadway run in Edmonton and London before finally making its way to Broadway. Though the overall story has remained consistent across these different productions, the lyrics have subtly—or in some cases substantially—changed over time, bringing out new themes and new aspects of the characters as Mitchell worked and re-worked the songs with her many collaborators.
In the introduction to the book, Michell writes that it takes a village to make a musical, and that certainly rings true in the case of Hadestown. Conversations with other songwriters, directors, actors, and dramaturge workshops brought out new themes, refined old ones, and helped each character's voice deepen in complexity and richness over time. Hadestown is a masterpiece, and this book is a testament to how a work of genius can come together through hard work, determination, and above all, community.
As noted earlier, the audiobook format is even better than the print version. Lyrics are printed at the start of each chapter, often with clips of the original Broadway cast bringing the words to life through song. The text of each chapter is read by the author, who delivers the words as though she's telling stories around a campfire. Mitchell—an evocative singer in her own right—often slips into song while reciting alternate lyrics or scraps that she cut from previous productions. If ever there was a book that could make the case for audiobooks as an artistic medium in their own right, this is it.
I cannot recommend this title enough. Do yourself a favor and check out this book from your local library today!
Working on a Song: The Lyrics Of Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell is a fascinating, song-by-song account of writing, revising, re-writing, and re-revising the songs of an award-winning musical. Each chapter covers a song from the Original Broadway Cast production of Hadestown with commentary, alternative lyrics, and more from singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell.
Hadestown tells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice in parallel to the myth of Hades and Persephone. It's a difficult musical to describe because it's so rich, so carefully crafted, so thematically dense that an elevator pitch just can't do it justice. If you're unfamiliar, I'd strongly recommend checking out the Broadway Cast Recording and listening to it a couple of times before reading this book—or even better: listen to multiple cast recordings and check out the 2010 concept album. Trust me: it's worth the extra effort.
What makes Hadestown unique, at least in my mind, is how long it took to get to Broadway and how public the process has been. Over nearly a decade and a half, the show has evolved from a "DIY community theater project" (in Mitchell's words) in Vermont performed in 2006/2007 to a star-studded folk-opera concept album released in 2010 to an experimental Off-Broadway production at New York Theatre Workshop in 2016 and to a pre-Broadway run in Edmonton and London before finally making its way to Broadway. Though the overall story has remained consistent across these different productions, the lyrics have subtly—or in some cases substantially—changed over time, bringing out new themes and new aspects of the characters as Mitchell worked and re-worked the songs with her many collaborators.
In the introduction to the book, Michell writes that it takes a village to make a musical, and that certainly rings true in the case of Hadestown. Conversations with other songwriters, directors, actors, and dramaturge workshops brought out new themes, refined old ones, and helped each character's voice deepen in complexity and richness over time. Hadestown is a masterpiece, and this book is a testament to how a work of genius can come together through hard work, determination, and above all, community.
As noted earlier, the audiobook format is even better than the print version. Lyrics are printed at the start of each chapter, often with clips of the original Broadway cast bringing the words to life through song. The text of each chapter is read by the author, who delivers the words as though she's telling stories around a campfire. Mitchell—an evocative singer in her own right—often slips into song while reciting alternate lyrics or scraps that she cut from previous productions. If ever there was a book that could make the case for audiobooks as an artistic medium in their own right, this is it.
I cannot recommend this title enough. Do yourself a favor and check out this book from your local library today!
informative
fast-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
i can't believe how long it took me to appreciate this musical. i loved reading about the progress made over 10 years of writing this masterpiece