The idea of attending a Broadway show in person still seems so distant right now. Luckily, the library collects plays, musical scores and original cast recordings to help you get in the spirit.
This beautiful book provides a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Broadway musical Hadestown from start to finish. From thought to pen. From pen to paper. From paper to stage. This includes "orphan" lyrics, those lyrics that have been reworked, retooled, or removed from the show for various reasons. Very interesting! I love witnessing the genius involved in creating musicals. Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton: The Revolution: The Complete Libretto is another example of sharing source material with the audience to great acclaim. If you read and enjoyed that, I highly recommend Working on a Song.
The lyrical story behind Hadestown spans several productions and culminates in the most recent Broadway production. The musical is based on Greek mythology. It tells two love stories, that of the young, skeptical, yet hopeful Orpheus and Eurydice and that of the jaded immortal gods Hades and Persephone. Orpheus and Eurydice meet when the winds are whipping during the changing of the seasons. Persephone blows into town just before she's summoned back down to Hadestown for the winter. As with any compelling story there are competing interests for Orpheus and Eurydice, a lack of trust and understanding and above all else, a competition for resources. There's actually a wall being built around Hadestown to keep the workers in Hadestown in and the rest of the world out. It's a telling tale for our current times.
The cast features celebrated UW-Madison alumnus André De Shields, winner of the 2019 best actor Tony Award for his performance as Hermes. In addition to reading all about the play, consider checking out the NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert cast and band performance recorded on March 2, 2020, right before the pandemic took over our lives.