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finelythreadedsky · 5 years

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Way Down Hadestown: Wedding Hymn and Funeral Dirge

I’ve talked a lot recently about the conflation of death and marriage in ancient literature, and the most obvious manifestation of that in myth is Persephone, for whom marriage and death are literally the same thing. By marrying Hades, she goes down to the Underworld and disappears from the world of the living, which constitutes a death (as she is a god, it is less than permanent, but still a death). One of the genius things about Hadestown is how well it plays into these ancient tropes and themes with its very modern take on myth. Specifically, I can’t stop thinking about Way Down Hadestown, which is the song of Persephone’s wedding and funeral.

In Way Down Hadestown, Persephone gets married and dies. (The exactness of “getting married” is a little weird, because there are ancient Greek traditions of celebrating the wedding of Hades and Persephone every year, with the idea that when she is in the upper world she is a maiden/girl again and must marry Hades again each fall to become a wife/queen.) It is a song in which the bridal party (Hermes and Hades) come to accompany the bride (Persephone) to her husband’s house, which was the central part of most ancient weddings. Persephone herself introduces this as the subject of the song: “my husband coming for to bring me home.” Hermes mentions the threshold that the ancient bride would be carried across; here it is the door of the train car in the lyrics, and, as it is staged, the platform of the stage itself, which Persephone crosses by descending through the trap.

The transfer of the young bride from the house of her parents (in Persephone’s case, her mother Demeter, though usually it is the father who is important-- shoutout to Anais Mitchell for not bringing all that weird business with Zeus giving Persephone to Hades into it) is the critical transition that marks her shift from girl to woman, maiden to wife. We hear Persephone told to “get [her] suitcase packed”-- that is, to prepare to transfer her whole life to her husband’s dwelling, the way an ancient bride would have packed up her possessions and dowry-- and then we hear what it actually is that makes up her bridal trousseau. Way Down Hadestown celebrates this wedding and the transition between Persephone’s two roles, filling the role of the wedding hymn in ancient times, when celebrants would sing as the bride moved from the house of her father and her youth to the house of her new husband and her maturity.

And Way Down Hadestown is also a song about Persephone dying-- descending into the Underworld, which is the definition of death. Because she is not mortal, her death will eventually be followed by a rebirth in the spring, but it is no less a death. Way Down Hadestown is marked by a conspicuous fan in the shape of an ivy leaf, marking death just as it does in ancient funerary art and inscriptions. The song owes much to New Orleans jazz funerals, as Anais Mitchell has talked about. Through the jazz funeral-inspired orchestration and parade-like staging, Persephone becomes a “participant in her own funeral,” an exceptional experience accorded to a god who dies. The song accompanies her funeral procession as well as her wedding procession. The cast is marching her toward her marriage and also her death, performing a wedding march and funeral march at the same time.

So Way Down Hadestown, the song that accompanies this dual experience of marriage and death, wedding and funeral, is both wedding hymn and funeral dirge, two completely disparate genres that nonetheless describe the same experience.

#hadestown #persephone #Anaïs Mitchell #anais mitchell #shes a genius guys #a genius #and she MUST be well versed in ancient literature #she plays off so many tropes and themes of greek tragedy especially #shamelessly promo-ing my own posts #mine #death and the maiden #having those great 1 am death/marriage thoughts

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elliecjrubrick · 5 years

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Just re-watching the live version of Our Lady of The Underground when this comment blew my dang mind:

#hadestown #holy sh*t #anaïs is a hecking genius #i love her lyric-isms #we stan 7 queens in this fandom #anais mitchell #anaïs mitchell #musicals

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jacquoumango · 4 years

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2010s, tracks

away, you go!

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littleforestbat · 5 years

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had my first coffee in over a month to do some internship work and instead I started writing comparisons between ghost quartets and hadestowns circular storytelling

looked up and two hours passed im starving

#also did you know that thr obc hadestown released wait for me ii and i cried #the whole 'its a love song slash tragedy but we sing it again and again because we have to and we do so even knowing the ending' is #incredibly fascinating like where was that post about the nature of ancient greek storytelling where part of it is knowing how it happens #wow i love you anais mitchell fucking genius #i.. shouldd do my work know #im still twitchy though but at least i get yo write about melbourne water levels and climate change!!!!!#erin.txt #.txt

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rdalestude · 3 years

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My Hadestown review

I saw Hadestown last month. Porting over my impressions of the show from Facebook, because I want to start committing to long form writing here and share it other places.

I realize it's been a week and I haven't spoken about seeing Hadestown.

I finally went last Tuesday night. I had been trying to see the show even before it won big at the Tonys. Funds and ticket availability, then covid, put a damper on those, however, this summer, when the re-opening was announced, I went in and snatched up a nice orchestra seat for not too much by Broadway standards.

I'm glad I was that close - it's a fairly intimate show for a Broadway musical. Five principal actors, the three ladies playing the fates, and a dance/backup singing chorus of about 6 or 7. With a small musical ensemble of around another 7 people at various places on the stage, which roughly resembles a speakeasy club, it never feels crowded even at full cast moments, which are frequent in this show. It's very ensemble-heavy.

The cast was almost the original Broadway cast - Patrick Page will apparently be back as Hades in November after a film commitment. Tom Hewitt made a terrific substitute. The musical high point of the cast album has always been "Why we build the wall," and Hewitt brings a kind of rock star grandeur, in place of Page's stark deep bass take from the album. Both work beautifully. As for the rest of the main cast, Amber Gray goes from flirty to acidic in a heartbeat as Persephone. Eva Noblezada has a voice that belies her small stature as Eurydice (honestly, she is tiny, like Kristin Chenoweth tiny). As Orpheus, I always thought Reeve Carney was saddled with the thankless task of trying to play a genius poet/songwriter, when his songs were no stronger than anyone else's in the cast, but seeing it on stage, he has a funny geekiness to his role that is really winning.

And Andre DeShields as Hermes, what can I say? The man does not waste a gesture. I've never seen an actor do so much with precice movement outside of a few physical comedians, but DeShields is working much smaller than that. A simple unbuttoning of a jacket, or a microphone adjustment, is a laugh line for him. And he sings like nobody's business.

The staging is a lesson in economy too. other than a combination turntable/trap door in center stage, there aren't many big hydraulic effects. The show's signature bit of stagecraft is a late first act set of swinging industrial lights that magically don't collide with each other. It's a simple but effective way of conveying the chaos of Orpheus's descent into the underworld.

I had extremely high expectations for this show going in. I have had a bit of obsession with it since hearing Anais Mitchell plugging the show with a few numbers on Mountain Stage prior to the show going into previews. I may be the only person in history to get sold on a Broadway show by Mountain Stage. Anyway, the show more than met my expectations. I want to see it again, maybe with Patrick Page back in the cast. Time to start playing that ticket lottery

#hadestown #hadestown broadway #musical #broadway #andre de shields #eva noblezada #amber gray #tom hewitt

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natalie-natalie-natalie · 3 years

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Lyrical Genius Anais Mitchell 🤩

#hadestown #anais mitchell #damon daunno #amber gray #nabiyah be #patrick page #eva noblezada #andre de shields

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thebirdandhersong · 3 years

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Fairy tale retellings! because I couldn’t help myself (under the cut because I got carried away and remembered my fairy tale retelling phase from middle school........ oh boy)

Cinderella

Cinderella (2015 Disney live action): beautiful beautiful BEAUTIFUL (the music! the script!! the Hope! the costumes! the dress! the gentleness at its heart! the overall design and the colours!) (I still believe it’s the best live action re-adaptation they’ve come up with so far) (then again they DID have one of the Rogue One writers and Kenneth Branagh--both of whom understand story AND fairy tales--on the team, and possibly the best combination of actors and costume designers)

Cinderella (Disney animated movie): like a dream. Can’t remember it that well because I haven’t watched it in over ten years, but I remember that I loved it

Cinderella, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical featuring Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana: Laura’s Cinderella is so lively and hopeful and bright and affectionate and I Love Her!!! The script is also surprisingly funny, and the little changes they made (like the fairy godmother being an old beggar woman in the village, the subplot with her stepsister, the scene at the ball where she suggests that they should all be kind to one another, the fact that the prince is called His Royal Highness Christopher Rupert Windemere Vladimir Karl Alexander Francois Reginald Lancelot Herman (HERMAN!) Gregory James....... iconic) added rather than detracted from the themes they chose to emphasize

A Cinderella Story: possibly one of my favourite films. I loved the fact that they knew each other before the ‘ball’. Loved the way the fairy tale was ‘translated’ into the 2000s. The friendship was strong with this one. I had the best time watching this movie. (Dress-wise, Hilary Duff’s dress is my least favourite, but that’s a minor quibble, and is also due to the fact that it has Lily and Laura’s gorgeous fluffy ballgowns to contend with, and that’s not fair competition)

Persuasion, by Jane Austen: does it count?? The way I see it, Persuasion is like Cinderella gone wrong (we discussed this in class, and my prof called Lady Russell a fairy godmother who means well but fails her protege before the story even begins. We talked about Anne’s ‘Cinderella’/makeover moment taking place over a longer period of time, about the ‘evil’ stepsisters, etc. etc. I’m not entirely sure I agree with every single comparison he made, but he made some Very interesting points).... at least the first time :)

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer. Oh, the images!!!!! Marissa Meyer is WONDERFUL at them. You wouldn’t think they’d translate well into a futuristic sci-fi (almost steampunk) world, but she did it SO brilliantly (the slipper! the ‘dress’! the whole family situation!)

Rapunzel

Tangled (Disney animated movie): an absolute joy. Rapunzel is an Ariel-like character who has hopes and dreams of her own, and I love how warm and vivacious and endearingly transparent she is. The dance scene is so, so lovely. (I stand by my opinion that very few little went right with Disney’s fairy tale retellings after Tangled.)

Cress, by Marissa Meyer: once again. Images. I can’t believe she managed to pull Rapunzel-in-space off so well. (Plus she’s a hacker, and such a sweetheart!!)

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (Disney animated movie): Amazing. Gorgeous. Brilliant. The buildings and the music and Belle (Belle, my darling!!) and the darker, more Gothic feel to the art and the design...... Yes

Beauty, by Robin McKinley: knocked it right out of the ball park, right through the atmosphere, right into outer space... The language is so lush and atmospheric, and even though I knew roughly what was going to happen, I loved every moment of it. She puts a special emphasis on family and on human connection and I Loved that so much.

Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley: also gorgeous!!!!! Beauty is still my favourite of the two, but this one was also a gem. (Again: the emphasis on family and sisterhood!!!)

Beauty and the Beast (the Broadway musical): Susan Egan’s voice is SO lovely. And Home deserved more than just an instrumental reference in the 2017 version.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Princess of the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George: the Best. The sisters are easier to distinguish, the changes/things she added (the war, the queen’s past, etc.) make the story even more interesting, and Galen is fantastic (courteous, kind, brave, AND likes to knit?? NICE)

The Barbie movie: I loved it when I was a little girl (it is also Muffin-approved!)

The Princess and the Pea

@fictionadventurer‘s Wodehousian one :) which is an absolute delight. Every once in a while I remember it and then can’t stop smiling

The Goose Girl

The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale: the Best. And by the Best, I mean the absolute Best. Her writing is so beautiful and her characters are so real and distinctive. The worldbuilding is fascinating. It’s so simple and so beautiful, and is near-perfect as a retelling and as a novel. The rest of the Bayern series is also wonderful!!

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid (Disney movie): can’t remember it very well, except for the chef who wanted to cook Sebastian and also Ariel’s very cool sisters.... the music and Ariel’s character are lovely :)

The Little Android, by Marissa Meyer: genius. The first time I read it, I cried furiously. What does it mean to be human?? Marissa Meyer loves to talk about this in her other books (through malfunctioning robots, androids, werewolves, etc.). And the conclusion she comes to is always the same (and always done so beautifully): it’s about love and sacrifice (and tbh even though she’s talking about this through robots and werewolves, she’s got a point!!! When you act with love and self-sacrifice, you reflect the character of the Maker and His love and self-sacrifice, which is what makes us in that moment the most human--or at least human in the sense that that’s what we were made to be and to do towards our neighbours and enemies)

Ponyo (Studio Ghibli movie): this counts, doesn’t it?? A film that is an absolute joy through and through. It doesn’t completely stick to the original fairy tale but it also talks about compassion, kindness, and love as a choice

The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog (Disney animated movie): can’t remember it very well, but Anika Noni Rose has a fantastic voice, and I loved Tiana’s practicality, optimism, and kindness

The Prince of the Pond, by Donna Jo Napoli: can’t remember it either (read it in third grade) but basically it’s about how the prince turns into a frog and starts a family with another frog (the story is told from her perspective). I do remember that the ending made me so sad, though

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty (Disney movie): can’t remember it at all either, except for: 1) Once Upon a Dream (a brilliant song) and 2) forget pink or blue. I liked her grey dress the most

Spindle’s End, by Robin McKinley: the story was told in such an interesting way (the animals! the way she wrote about love and protecting the people you love and self-sacrifice in familial and platonic relationships!) with Robin McKinley’s beautiful style

East of the Sun, West of the Moon

East, by Edith Pattou: I was obsessed with this book in elementary school. Obsessed. I kept rereading it over and over again because I just loved it so much. It’s been a few years since I’ve read it, but I can remember certain scenes (Rose entering the ballroom for the first time, the white bear’s hulking figure in the doorway, the architecture of the hall where she washes the shirt, her fingers running over the wax, the reunion scene) so vividly as if it had been a movie instead of a book, or if I’d actually been there, experiencing what Rose was experiencing

Orpheus and Eurydice (which kind of counts)

Hadestown (the Broadway musical, the original cast, AND Anais Mitchell’s original concept album): I’ve talked about it so much I probably shouldn’t even start slkfjsdl;kfjlk; I just wanted an excuse to mention it again

Tam Lin

Fire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones: I loved it when I first read it but I was so confused and so fascinated by it.

The Snow Queen

Frozen (Disney animated movie): no (insert heart emoji)

And contemporary(?) books that are considered modern classics, if not modern fairy tales (depends on how you look at it, really):

Peter Pan

Peter Pan (Disney animated movie): a childhood favourite!!!

Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry: the whole series is so much fun (and they’re among some of the funniest books I’ve read). This one serves as a sort of prequel to Peter Pan, but it’s safer to say that Dave Barry reimagined the whole story.

Peter and the Starcatcher (Broadway play adaptation of the book, which is a reimagining of the original Peter Pan..... yeah): the source material is incredibly funny, so naturally the play adaptation makes you laugh until your sides feel ready to split (I mean!! You have Christian Borle as Black Stache, Adam Chanler Berat as Peter, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Molly..... they’re all brilliant) The script, the way the cast makes use of the set and props, the perfect comic delivery....... love it

Finding Neverland, a musical adaptation of the movie (the A.R.T. production with Jeremy Jordan as James Barrie): the music is so good, and the way they write about the value of looking at the world through the eyes of a child?? of seeing the beauty in everything?? of hope and imagination and wonder?? If it weren’t for the way it handles adultery (even emotionally cheating!) and divorce :( but Laura Michelle Kelly is absolutely enchanting, and the script is also incredibly funny and heartwarming

Tiger Lily, by Jodi Lynn Anderson: a twisted fairy tale... it was quite disturbing at times, but it was also beautiful and heartbreaking. It’s a darker take on the story, which I tend not to like (at all), but the way it explored Tiger Lily and Peter was quite interestng

The Wizard of Oz

WIcked, the Stephen Schwartz musical--I haven’t read the book: as far as retellings-about-the-villain-of-the-original-story goes this one is my favourite. It is another twisted fairy tale, though, and there’s a constant undercurrent of doom and dread, even in the motifs Stephen Schwartz uses... the ending is not completely happy, but the music is FANTASTIC (Mr. Schwartz also did The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Prince of Egypt!!)

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland (Disney movie): another childhood favourite... I also haven’t seen this one in over ten years, but I can still remember specific scenes very clearly in my head

Alice by Heart: a musical about a girl called Alice Spencer whose coping mechanism (quite literally) is Alice in Wonderland. She knows it by heart (again. Literally) and she dives into the world as a form of escapism (LITERALLY. There’s even a song at the end where the characters acknowledge how unhealthy this is). There’s a lot about growing up, losing a loved one, learning to let go... about self-deception and grief and the control one has over one’s life (unfortunately it IS subtly antagonistic towards Christianity at times)..... i do wish that writers didn’t have to treat sexual maturity as the most prominent/interesting part of coming-of-age stories, though. The characters, the set and lighting and costume design (BRILLIANT, by the way!!!!)... all wonderful. But the strangely sexual references can be a bit uncomfortable. (Really!! You can tell a coming-of-age story WITHOUT that stuff, you know!!!!!)

That Disney Movie directed by Tim Burton: wouldn’t recommend. Alice doesn’t need to be a warrior. (At ALL.)

Would also like to mention: Princess Tutu :)

#i am sorry but i am very emphatically not a frozen fan #especially since we read snow queen at jellicoe lodge?? it's such a beautiful story #and the IMAGES #but hollywood is more into self-actualisation/self-discovery/self-acceptance/self-centric stories these days #i guess they just didn't want to tell a story about self-sacrifice and selfless acts of love ? i don't know #anyway i get irrationally worked up about frozen sorry #the second one nearly made steam pour out of my ears #i GET they want to focus on the Self (and all the selfishness and self-importance that comes with our world's idea of self love)#but ELSA as an oldest sister HOW could you make all these decisions #fairy tales #i need to finish princess tutu sometime (sigh)#songbird again #my posts

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