A journey to hell can be surprisingly uplifting and still relevant to today’s challenges.
I doubt Anaïs Mitchell had any inkling when she started to write her folk opera ‘Hadestown’ in 2006 that it would become a career-defining work that also subsequently became one of the most successful Broadway shows in recent history. ‘Hadestown’ was performed in theatres in 2006 and 2007 in what Anaïs Mitchell described as, “a DIY theatre project” before she released it as an album in 2010. Mitchell took the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice where Orpheus had to try and retrieve his wife Eurydice from the underworld, and brought it into the modern world. The music was a mix of American roots music folk, blues, indie folk, ragtime, New Orleans jazz, and swing and the album includes the cream of indie folk including Ani DeFranco, The Haden Triplets, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Greg Brown and more. ‘Hadestown’ attracted rave reviews and is now regarded as one of the best indie folk albums of all time, with most reviews marvelling at how Anaïs Mitchell had managed to pull all the threads together to give such a complete and rich experience covering the story and music that moved seamlessly across genres.
‘Hadestown’ had various theatre runs, including London in 2018, but it was its Broadway run that really put the musical on the mainstream map when it won 8 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The ‘Hadestown – Original Broadway Cast Recording’ included songs that were not included on the original album release of ‘Hadestown’, and included the complete score over 40 tracks. The original cast included performers of the calibre of Reeve Carney in the role of Orpheus, Eva Noblezada as Eurydice, André De Shields as Hermes, Amber Gray as Persephone, and Patrick Page as Hades. It has proved extremely popular, finding fans outside the indie folk americana genres, with ‘Hadestown – Original Broadway Cast Recording’ becoming one of the most streamed original cast recordings with over 300 million streams to date. Sing It Again Records are rereleasing the complete show on a 2 CD set with a six-panel digifile package, a limited edition blue vinyl 3lp box set including the full libretto, and a repressed black vinyl 3lp box set to tie in with ‘Hadestown’ making its West End debut at the Lyric Theatre, London, on 10th February.
Anaïs Mitchell continued to develop ‘Hadestown’ after the release of the original album which means that ‘Hadestown – Original Broadway Cast Recording’ is based on the original concept album, but there is additional music on the cast album. There is a direct link with the original album in that Michael Chorney who produced, arranged and played guitar on the original album, is a member of the rootsy backing band and the production uses his orchestrations. The standout songs from the original album are still standout songs, songs like ‘Wedding Song’ which captures the essence of Orpheus and Eurydice’s love, and while ‘Way Down Hadestown’ maybe about taking a train ride to hell it could just as well be going to New Orleans, and ‘We Build The Wall’ which is a critique on modern society.
Original cast albums are a specialist genre where the original cast will record a show in a studio, therefore preserving the essence of a show for posterity and making it available for listeners who may or may not have experienced the actual show. Clearly, anyone who enjoyed the show would welcome the opportunity to revisit it at their leisure, it also makes the music available to general music lovers who may be couldn’t attend an original show or who are interested in the music but aren’t avid theatre goers. Anyone who enjoyed the original ‘Hadestown’ should give ‘Hadestown – Original Broadway Cast Recording’ a listen and then maybe go and see the show at the Lyric if practical. Obviously, for those who are fans of musical theatre, it is a must-hear and see production.
