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A review by jasonfurman
Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell
4.0
"A musical is a living, breathing animal." This book more than fulfills its opening line. I have seen Hadestown three times (twice on Broadway and once in Boston), I absolutely love the music, the performance, scenery, and everything else about this retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in a dark, industrial, honky tonk alternative world with resemblances to the 1930s.
Working on a Song is the full text of each of the songs from the Broadway show, itself enjoyable to read to appreciate the subtlety and poetry of lines I've heard sung many times before. Then each song is followed by a description of the history of writing the song, often when Anaïs Mitchell first thought of it, whether it was in the original Vermont performance in 2007, how it was added or evolved in subsequent performances including Off Broadway, Edmonton and London, and how it got into its final form for Broadway.
A few things come through clearly: Anaïs Mitchell is incredibly committed, hard working and constantly thinking, tinkering and innovating. The musical itself is the result of an intense collaboration including a lot of suggestions by the director (Rachel Chavkin) and Ken Cerniglia (the dramaturg), in fact Mitchell says that even when she disagreed she incorporated whatever suggestions the majority wanted. Finally, Mitchell is relentlessly concerned with how the audience will react, the mixture of moods, moments to allow applause, letting the different people have their voices. She is constantly experimenting, adding and subtracting songs, moving the point of intermission, including and removing a last song. She doesn't see a distinction between "pure art" and audience reaction, what makes it art is that it moves the audience, engages them, understands when they're not fully focused, draws them in and helps them feel resolution. It is all relentlessly focus grouped almost but that doesn't make it pure pop but really pure art.
Mitchell just shows and does not tell, she literally just goes through each sone without anything broader, but it left me with a better understanding of how musicals work, and in particular why Hadestown is so amazing.
I should add, would only recommend this for a big fan of Hadestown or of Broadway musicals, not sure it would work for others.
Working on a Song is the full text of each of the songs from the Broadway show, itself enjoyable to read to appreciate the subtlety and poetry of lines I've heard sung many times before. Then each song is followed by a description of the history of writing the song, often when Anaïs Mitchell first thought of it, whether it was in the original Vermont performance in 2007, how it was added or evolved in subsequent performances including Off Broadway, Edmonton and London, and how it got into its final form for Broadway.
A few things come through clearly: Anaïs Mitchell is incredibly committed, hard working and constantly thinking, tinkering and innovating. The musical itself is the result of an intense collaboration including a lot of suggestions by the director (Rachel Chavkin) and Ken Cerniglia (the dramaturg), in fact Mitchell says that even when she disagreed she incorporated whatever suggestions the majority wanted. Finally, Mitchell is relentlessly concerned with how the audience will react, the mixture of moods, moments to allow applause, letting the different people have their voices. She is constantly experimenting, adding and subtracting songs, moving the point of intermission, including and removing a last song. She doesn't see a distinction between "pure art" and audience reaction, what makes it art is that it moves the audience, engages them, understands when they're not fully focused, draws them in and helps them feel resolution. It is all relentlessly focus grouped almost but that doesn't make it pure pop but really pure art.
Mitchell just shows and does not tell, she literally just goes through each sone without anything broader, but it left me with a better understanding of how musicals work, and in particular why Hadestown is so amazing.
I should add, would only recommend this for a big fan of Hadestown or of Broadway musicals, not sure it would work for others.