Anais Mitchell tells the stories behind her Hadestown lyrics
Our family had a chance to catch the musical Hadestown last October in the Kennedy Center. The show has a New Orleans jazz style to its instrumentation and much of its composition. In addition to the touring musical, other material has been released to fans’ delight. There is a holiday record titled If the Fates Allow, a play on the trio of female characters called The Fates. One of the other releases is composer/lyricist/performer Anais Mitchell’s collection of stories about the history of the show and the evolution of the music numbers. It’s titled simply Working on a Song, a very important lyric and story beat in the show.
Mitchell has a long history with Hadestown, which debuted in Vermont back in 2006. Some of the lyrics come from fragments or other projects years before that. Some of the production’s other stops include Edmonton, London, the New York Theatre Workshop, and Broadway. Mitchell recalls how the songs changed through those various stops, and how the music and the characters changed along the way.
Some of the changes are eye-popping. Learning how the protagonist Orpheus was sometimes seen as arrogant or aloof was a revelation. Mitchell writes about pairing him with (his literal wingman) Hermes and how that dynamic developed. She is very quick to give credit for music changes and dramatic changes to the respective teams working on the musical. She includes some wonderful input from performers like Patrick Page (Hades) and Andre de Shields (Hermes.)
Mitchell also isn’t afraid to include some criticism that was difficult for her to take. She shares a number of times when she was outright embarrassed by some of the things that she had written and other times where she had to sacrifice lyrics that she loved. She also provides contrast between writing as a singer/songwriter against writing for theater.
Working on a Song is a fantastic read for fans of Hadestown or those interested in the writing process for musical theater. It was published in 2020 by Penguin Random House. Learn more about Mitchell and her extensive musical catalog at anaismitchell.com.
