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4.53 AVERAGE
4.53 AVERAGE
This is the type of musical that speaks to your soul. It was delightful to get a window into its creation.
dark
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
If you have any interest in songwriting, writing, Hadestown itself, or how a theatrical show is developed, read this. Fascinating reading. It also made me very much want to personally know Anaïs herself.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Really enjoyed learning about the process of composing songs for a musical. Loved the insight on all the different iterations of the production. Highly recommend listening to the show while reading this ✨
It was incredibly interesting to see the the stories behind the songs of my favorite musical and to see how they changed over the years between the beginning in her 2006/2007 Vermont shows and what we see on Broadway today. I felt like some of the explanations behind the songs were brief and wished there had been a more thorough exploration of word choice, melody inspiration, etc. Ultimately, I enjoyed it but was left wishing the book had included more.
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
I somehow unknowingly read this entire book exactly three years to the day since I saw the show on broadway??? the fates at work
This was a well organized and insightful reflection on the lyrical development of a truly phenomenal show. Its constant evolution always made for a rather fitting parallel to its storytelling themes - retold again and again in different ways, with new character interpretations and thematic elements. Reading that journey was worthwhile.
It also gave me a greater appreciation for the Broadway lyrics which I always found rather lacking compared to the off-Broadway production. The show took a (maybe necessary) turn from “folk song told around a fire” to “traditional Broadway musical” - or at least it endeavoured in that direction. I do still maintain it cast the show into something of a limbo, neither the show it was nor the show it wanted to be. An attempt to craft more traditional three-dimensional theatrical leads and arcs still doesn’t make much sense to me; this show always felt like more of an epic recitation with characters more allegorical than relatable in order to reach its emotional core. This is pretty well exemplified in Broadway’s Epic III floating in a perpetual liminal space with no strong grounding, compared to the perfect poetry of its off-Broadway counterpart that delivers gut-punch after gut-punch in the best way possible. It was fascinating reading about the struggle to flesh out Orpheus and Eurydice into more likeable and well rounded characters. It had never occurred to me to look for anything beyond the fact he was Orpheus and she was Eurydice and that was enough, but I suppose it makes sense.
Regardless, it’s a testament to Hadestown’s brilliance that even its weaker iterations are still some of the best things we’ve seen on the stage in recent years. I highly recommend this book to anyone who, like me, has been an adoring of fan of its many manifestations and retellings. What a gift!
It also gave me a greater appreciation for the Broadway lyrics which I always found rather lacking compared to the off-Broadway production. The show took a (maybe necessary) turn from “folk song told around a fire” to “traditional Broadway musical” - or at least it endeavoured in that direction. I do still maintain it cast the show into something of a limbo, neither the show it was nor the show it wanted to be. An attempt to craft more traditional three-dimensional theatrical leads and arcs still doesn’t make much sense to me; this show always felt like more of an epic recitation with characters more allegorical than relatable in order to reach its emotional core. This is pretty well exemplified in Broadway’s Epic III floating in a perpetual liminal space with no strong grounding, compared to the perfect poetry of its off-Broadway counterpart that delivers gut-punch after gut-punch in the best way possible. It was fascinating reading about the struggle to flesh out Orpheus and Eurydice into more likeable and well rounded characters. It had never occurred to me to look for anything beyond the fact he was Orpheus and she was Eurydice and that was enough, but I suppose it makes sense.
Regardless, it’s a testament to Hadestown’s brilliance that even its weaker iterations are still some of the best things we’ve seen on the stage in recent years. I highly recommend this book to anyone who, like me, has been an adoring of fan of its many manifestations and retellings. What a gift!