Mortius - HADESTOWN - Songs 30-35

Giving work to idle hands is a good thing, people need breaks, but also needs purpose or a distraction. Without they become anxious and depressed.

William Watson

2025-04-07 15:59:47 +0000 UTC

“I’m fine, I’m great, I’m not” is basically my reaction to Hadestown overall.

Amanda Caudle

2025-02-19 07:29:16 +0000 UTC

Totally agreed! And it's the Off-Broadway Epic III so there's also different lyrics that Mortius doesn't know yet to react to

Cinder

2024-11-07 12:38:06 +0000 UTC

In the original myth, Orpheus tells Hades that if Hades doesn't release Eurydice, "there will be two new souls in the Underworld today" so, yes, Orpheus would definitely be willing to stay with her, and it breaks my heart

Cinder

2024-11-07 12:26:53 +0000 UTC

I definitely say look for a live version of this if you can. The animatics are amazing, but there's something about the way this is staged that really brings it to life. Like with Hamilton, the animatics are top-tier, but the staging of the live performance is something else. I got to see Hadestown in person before most of the main cast had left, and it was astounding. Also like Hamilton they use a round top stage and it really helps, given that's a relatively small stage overall. I think there's a couple of live versions of the show on youtube you could potentially see, if not the whole performance than some of the songs. It's just really something to see this performance live.

Kassie Metivier

2024-10-26 23:56:37 +0000 UTC

Hades, she wants your love, not your stupid conditional perks and jewelry. That crap won't make her stay.

Kory Misun

2024-10-21 01:54:18 +0000 UTC

I'm pretty sure the implication of the 3 Epic songs is that we're watching Orpheus write his magnum opus. Each version repeats the story but builds on it and Epic III is just the final work

Zane C

2024-10-20 23:39:06 +0000 UTC

Also "You opened your mouth / And started to sing". I think the implication is that Hades WROTE the melody Orpheus uses

Zane C

2024-10-20 02:47:01 +0000 UTC

They danced is short but it's my absolute favorite song in the show. There is something about the melody that just speaks to me

Beth Joy

2024-10-20 01:21:58 +0000 UTC

"He'll fail and falter" just like Hades did. That's his point. He knew Orpheus would never be able to succeed bc he himself was not able to be without his wife either without ending up as the worst version of himself. Hades would go to Hadestown to get Persephone, just like Orpheus went for Eurydice ❤️😭

Shiloh

2024-10-11 18:55:05 +0000 UTC

You think aftwr seeing it three times now Epic III wouldnt do this to me yet: here I am sobbing (again)

BlueBoy

2024-10-10 22:02:45 +0000 UTC

Please please please react to the original concept album version of Chant II, and the live version if you can find it, because they include unique verses for Persephone that are SO good. They didn't include it on the soundtrack, but even current live performances include it, so you know it's good!

HamboneKablooey

2024-10-10 05:51:33 +0000 UTC

I was really impressed back in Act One's "A Gathering Storm/Epic II/Chant" when Mortius focused on (a) the overwhelming sense of responsibility and pressure he thought that Orpheus must be feeling to finish his song, a pressure that he felt Eurydice was greatly contributing to; and (b) the almost subliminal way in which Hermes' exhortation to Orpheus to "look UP" was followed by the workers' chorus's "Keep your head low." The reason it interested me so much that Mortius focused on both of those things is that they're at the heart of the Orpheus/Hades parallel in this part of Epic III: "The greater the weight of the world on his shoulders See how he labors beneath that load Afraid to look up, afraid to let go So he keeps his head low, he keeps his back bending He's grown so afraid that he'll lose what he owns But what he doesn't know is that what he's defending Is already gone" Orpheus, too, kept his head low, laboring beneath the load of finishing his song, never looking up to see the storm, all unaware that while he was working on it -- working so compulsively, I think, in part out of a desire to protect Eurydice -- he was actually neglecting her so dramatically that he didn't even realize: she was already gone. It's yet another place where Orpheus draws on his own experiences to achieve empathy with Hades, but it's far from an obvious one, and I found it really interesting that in his reaction to "Chant," Mortius focused in on precisely the points of connnection on which that leap of empathy relied.

SK Elkins

2024-10-09 10:19:13 +0000 UTC

"But for half of the year with Persephone gone His loneliness moves in him, crude and black He thinks of his wife in the arms of the sun And jealousy fuels him And feeds him, and fills him With doubt that she'll ever come Dread that she'll never come Doubt that his lover will ever come back" The repetition of the word 'doubt' here in Epic II, I think, is an attempt to lend the word a certain additional emphasis, to fix it in our minds.

SK Elkins

2024-10-09 09:53:15 +0000 UTC

One thing I always thought about His Kiss the Riot is that Hades is essentially acknowledging that he does have some insecurities and jealousy… but he‘s also saying that if Orpheus is going to call him out on that then Orpheus has to go through that ordeal himself.

KDub0222

2024-10-09 04:58:37 +0000 UTC

Mortius- the reason the character designs don't seem consistent to you is because you don't know the signature looks of each character. The most recognizable thing about the fates is their flowy dresses and the hat/head scarf thingy that they have. Persephone has medium-long curly hair and a (veil?) over the back of it, she's typically wearing black during her time in the underworld and green when she returns. Orpheus has his little neck scarf and waiter-esque outfit. Hades has the brick tattoo and he's one of the only ones typically portrayed with a beard in the original cast if I remember correctly. I don't remember an animatic in this series so far that has not followed their original cast actor designs, but there are some.

Winter Storm

2024-10-08 19:50:17 +0000 UTC

I'm watching now and seeing you gush over the lyricism of Chant II, and I agree! Anais Mitchell is a phenomenal lyricist as well as guitarist. If you want, there are many performances of these songs in the early days sung by Anais Mitchell herself, where you can see early versions of these songs. It started as a concept album sung by Justin Vernon as Orpheus and Anais Mitchell as Eurydice, and it's also fantastic although much shorter.

Travis Welty

2024-10-06 21:57:22 +0000 UTC

on hades recognizing orpheus’s song: “i was young once too / sang a song of love like you”

Ainsleigh McCue

2024-10-06 19:21:18 +0000 UTC

I genuinely can't get over all the parallels they keep drawing between Orpheus and Hades. Especially those last few lines of "His Kiss, The Riot" You can tell at first he's referring directly to Orpheus, but with every line it feels like he's talking more and more about himself. And just the whisper of "and doubt comes... doubt comes in" in reference to being all alone! He used to be the sweet man who sung for his wife! He used to be the fool! The coward! And then slowly but surely the doubt crept in, because he wasn't able to handle it alone! So he turned to something firmer and more material than hope and love and songs! Concrete and iron and gold and labor! And now he puts Orpheus to the test! "Can you do what I failed to do? Can you bare to make the trip not knowing if your wife will really come with you?" And through that he tests himself "Does this version of me, the kinder and gentler one, did he have any chance to make this work?" and i just god I love this musical

NoNameNelly

2024-10-06 18:29:55 +0000 UTC

oh man i somehow was not anticipating how hard it would be for me to watch you watch epic III + they danced just because i kept having to pause so i wouldn't block your reaction while wiping my tears 🙈 i'm so, so glad to watch someone else have my response to that whole section and god(s)!! those last few lines in his kiss, the riot truly are The Lines Ever. hades looking at what happened to himself in the absence of persephone and looking at orpheus to go 'he sang the same song as i did, he shall face the same fear i did, too'.... so, so good

Atlas

2024-10-06 12:52:49 +0000 UTC

Little bit of staging that I didn't see in some of the animatics. The first time we hear Orpheus's melody, he produces the signature red carnation at the end. When Hades sings it in Epic III, he produces the same flower. He starts "His Kiss, The Riot" holding the flower and just staring at it.

Kerri Kortness

2024-10-06 11:47:11 +0000 UTC

If you ever do extra animatics for Hadestown I highly recommend Druid for Hire’s Epic lll animatic!

Terms and Conditions

2024-10-05 22:23:26 +0000 UTC

I’m unbelievably excited to get into this (I’ve been waiting for chant reprise and epic lll with shaking hands)!!! Also, for the final batch: I’d recommend a desolate, industrial railroad or dark tavern

Emiii 🫶🏾

2024-10-05 07:53:59 +0000 UTC

I'm always happy to see more Hadestown, and I can't wait for the final batch of reactions! It's really fun to see which lyrics hit you the hardest I hope you get a chance to listen to the other versions sometime even if it's not for a video. These animatics use the Original Broadway Cast album (2019) but there's also the concept album (2010) and the Original Cast album (2017) which has a slightly different Chant II and the version of Epic III that fans usually like the most. I'd like to share some of my favourite moments of the show on stage up until this batch of songs (skip these if you want to keep the surprise for a first time watch of the actual show): - Come Home with Me: Orpheus makes a flower out of paper to offer Eurydice when he approaches her. - Wedding Song: Orpheus makes a single red flower bloom after singing the melody for the song he's writing (Eurydice keeps it until Gone, I'm Gone and then Orpheus finds it and takes it with him for Wait for Me) - Livin' it Up on Top: when Orpheus says "[we'll always raise our cups] to the world we dream about" he turns to look at the audience to say "and the one we live in now" - Way Down Hadestown: when the Fates talk about Hades' riches and Eurydice says "kind of makes you wonder how it feels" Hades turns to look at her and then Orpheus jumps in to block her from his view. Eurydice keeps trying to look at the "train"/Hades as they go away and Orpheus keeps trying to move her attention away from them. - Wait for Me: this is something you have to see for yourself. It's hard to describe, watching Orpheus walking in a dark stage until he sings the melody and the walls open up hits very hard. - Epic III: Hades' mocking "oh, it's about me?" line is meant to make the audience laugh and make Orpheus pause, which is why Hermes encourages him to keep going. Also, Hades is facing away from everyone until Orpheus says "[...] what he's defending is already gone." He turns to look back at Persephone in fear, because he's exactly like Orpheus! He would've failed his own test! Hades also makes a red flower bloom when he and Persephone sing the melody together. (apologies for the long comment, this is my favourite musical <3)

Kay Bell

2024-10-05 04:11:24 +0000 UTC

The background for the next set should be a dark foggy road

Anthony

2024-10-05 02:32:47 +0000 UTC

The background should be a flower blooming (bonus if its a red carnation)

Allison Watts

2024-10-05 00:35:18 +0000 UTC

I also love the Epic iii amimatic by Francy for live recording version because they show how Orpheus singing infects everyone and they spotlight the each as you hear them sing from eureduces in her cage to the fates dancing along to it

Christopher Heredia

2024-10-05 00:14:43 +0000 UTC

Also, the nytw's version of Epic iii is pure poetry

XanEcho

2024-10-04 23:22:19 +0000 UTC

Please react to the New York Theater Workshop version of Promises! It's much longer and (in my opinion) a much more satisfying payoff to Orpheus and Eurydice's relationship (allowing them to both adress the ways theyve failed each other). The Broadway version flows smoother from song to song, but the depth of the lyricism and the emotional impact doesn't hit as hard for me

XanEcho

2024-10-04 23:18:34 +0000 UTC

Another important thing about "I can't promise you fair skies above," is that's exactly what Orpheus promised her the first time, that he'd bring the world back into tune and she'd never know hardship again. But he couldn't deliver on that promise, and being so completely focused on the grand dream of how the world could be meant he lost complete track of the world that is, and wasn't there to help her with the hardships, or even just to be with her when she died. Now, for the first time, he understands why Eurydice abandoned the world of the living--and that the only part of that which is fully in his power to change is to make sure he doesn't let her face it alone.

Tristan Haller

2024-10-04 22:40:32 +0000 UTC

I was absolutely waiting eagerly for Mortius to get to “why do we build a wall and then call it freedom?” and it was as cute and excited as I anticipated. Chant (Reprise) is suuuuuch a good song.

Tessara Dudley

2024-10-04 21:34:14 +0000 UTC

We spend a long time hating on Hades for what he twisted into in the darkness of Persephone's absence, but we also talk about how similar he is to Orpheus, and Orpheus hasn't really gone through that part of their development yet. You could argue he was on his own for 'Wait for Me,' but that was also a simpler setup for his mind - he was sure that something bad happened to Eurydice bc he wasn't paying attention (and he didn't know about her choice yet), 'I gotta go rescue her to make it right.' This time, he knows that it's entirely her choice to follow - and keep following - or not.

Bean of Glory

2024-10-04 19:12:44 +0000 UTC

Huh. I just realized that Hades knows from personal experience that a man's blood runs cold and doubt comes in without his woman because that's exactly how he felt everytime Persephone left every 6 months.

Anon E. Mouse

2024-10-04 18:55:48 +0000 UTC

"Nothing makes a man so bold / As a woman's smile and a hand to hold / But all alone, his blood runs thin / And doubt / And doubt comes in." Take the crowd away, take the smile and the hand away, and then, alone in the darkness for however long it takes, can you still stand on your convictions.

Bean of Glory

2024-10-04 18:55:23 +0000 UTC

I just noticed when Hades says ' doubt comes in' He's not just talking about orpheus, but himself every time persephone goes away

Meghan Jensen

2024-10-04 18:30:32 +0000 UTC

Giving Orpheus the challenge to follow through with his convictions even without being able to see his wife with him, is Hades challenging, HOPING, that perhaps Orpheus can be better than Hades himself was in waiting for Persephone

StrangeBrian

2024-10-04 18:27:40 +0000 UTC

"Whole damn nation watching you" might really be my favorite single line in the whole show. The double meaning of "damn nation" and "damnation". Chef's kiss.

Kerri Kortness

2024-10-04 17:57:56 +0000 UTC

one of my favorite lyrics from the off broadway version of epic III — “and suddenly hades was only a man”, it’s so simple but it says so much

Anna Sofie

2024-10-04 17:36:07 +0000 UTC

You could do a nighttime railroad for the next vid! :)

Akumma

2024-10-04 17:34:52 +0000 UTC

34:20 😂 You sound just like the fandom after Promises ends

NiamhJP03

2024-10-04 17:16:20 +0000 UTC

His Kiss, The Riot is another song I really love, especially in the live version. It's so special live. The Fates have instruments (violin, tambourine, and accordion) and will play as part of the band occasionally, and His Kiss, The Riot has them picking those instruments up and circling Hades. He makes eye contact with them, turns to walk to the side of the stage, and the Fates look at the crowd as the music crescendos. Then they look back at Hades as he makes his final decision.

Taylor Wong

2024-10-04 17:02:03 +0000 UTC

Let me defend the decision Hades made in the end and why he cant give freedome to the workers. Well he is a king of the underground or in other words hell/afterlife so the workers are not quite alive and if he would let just one of them leave all the others would want to leave, technically stoping death and failing his godly obligations, so he has to somehow let orpheus leave because he genuinely wants, but he has to keep the others there not because he wants power (maybe a Tiny bit) but because it's his work.

David Kopčan

2024-10-04 16:59:53 +0000 UTC

That same person made a full animatic for another version of Epic 3 as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AplHHv--2Ck

Hawk

2024-10-04 16:25:37 +0000 UTC

The concept album is so slept on, Anais Mitchell is incredible.

Hawk

2024-10-04 16:21:35 +0000 UTC

Could you also react to the live versions of Epic 3 and Chant 2? These are from the concept album from the New York Theatre Workshop period, meaning before Broadway .The lyrics are different from the Broadway cast album and even more emotional. There’s a beautiful animatic made for this version of Chant 2, and I’ll include the link, and for Epic 3 (live), there’s a version made by a user that improves the song significantly. Please react to these after finishing all the songs Chant 2 (live) animatic: https://youtu.be/znLsTdwU4Sc?si=GS5_fTIlOXReQU7P Epic 3 (live) : https://youtu.be/gUQ_vP5Eb8E?si=7oVHIAJR2O33dDpz

Selma Sabırlar

2024-10-04 16:13:14 +0000 UTC

Just to be clear, cause it might cause confusion. This is a song from the pre-broadeay version of Hadestown. So yes, there's cut stuff in this song, but if you went and saw the show on Broadway, or a touring version, you wouldn't see those cut things. They were cut before the show went to Broadway. On that note, it might be fun to do a reaction to the whole concept album version, because there is A LOT of cut stuff... Kind of like Hamilton in that way lol

Lauren Groen

2024-10-04 16:04:24 +0000 UTC

“IF HANDS ARE IDLE WE’VE SUCCEEDED AS A SOCIETY” someone make it a shirt Mortius that’s such a sick ass line wtf man!! Omfg

Broody Gaming

2024-10-04 16:03:21 +0000 UTC

My suggestion for a background are the following: 1. https://unsplash.com/photos/a-flower-that-is-sitting-on-a-table-C8MCTJXWiSk This is the one i think fits best 2. https://unsplash.com/photos/close-up-photography-of-purple-rose-flowers-Pqhv3jR1KRw This is also quite nice, but the format of the picture isn't the best for a background (it's more of a phone wallpaper)

DianaPana

2024-10-04 15:53:56 +0000 UTC

I was so excited when i saw the update, I am so thankful you keep reacting to all of my favourite things in the world. Loved the video as always <3 Can't wait to see the finale! Have a wonderful time with your family!

DianaPana

2024-10-04 15:49:50 +0000 UTC

and/or in a tunnel

Addy0302

2024-10-04 15:47:09 +0000 UTC

If you're able to find one, I think a good background for the next one would be abandoned railroad tracks at night

Azure Maxwell

2024-10-04 15:38:25 +0000 UTC

As I’m sure others have said there’s a concept album that came before and Patrick Page also plays Hades in it and during “I CONDUCT THE ELECTRIC CITY” part the fuckin microphone cracks and he almost blows the speakers it’s amazing. It’s AMAZING. Prob the biggest part of the musical where I prefer the concept album. Just those like 5 seconds of build. Chefs kiss. LOVING ur reaction btw!!

Broody Gaming

2024-10-04 15:27:58 +0000 UTC

We definitely need a special reaction to this version after he's finished the whole show

Jimmy Wise

2024-10-04 15:20:22 +0000 UTC

Hades says he sang a song once too. . . Orpheus is singing Hades' melody, the one he'd abandoned

Mediocre_ Me

2024-10-04 15:13:16 +0000 UTC

You could say when hades saw persephone he stopped being LORD OF THE UNDERWORLD but just a man

Christopher Heredia

2024-10-04 15:11:58 +0000 UTC

Mortius please I beg you to react to the older recording of Chant II (Live) - there is a verse cut that was cut out of the official version and I’ll never forgive them that because it is so impactful and so powerful - Persephone actually gets to speak about her own feelings and it’s just incredible https://youtu.be/znLsTdwU4Sc?si=F8PURtxuUZdUJs-P please 🙏🏻❤️🥺

memoir_of_a_daydream

2024-10-04 15:11:34 +0000 UTC

Thank you so much for the shoutout! (I'm lunamond btw) I'm really glad I managed to finish it time <3

Larkire

2024-10-04 15:08:42 +0000 UTC

Oooooooh, that’s a good pitch!

Mortius

2024-10-04 14:52:59 +0000 UTC

My expert* suggestion for the background: loose rose petals, but they're so sparse that they can't possibly all combine to make a rose Edit: more or less what I'm thinking about https://unsplash.com/photos/nine-withered-rose-petals-on-white-surface-o3A2v1w7J9A

SugarBrother

2024-10-04 14:29:25 +0000 UTC

oh what a pleasant surprise! i shall look for images when i've got time :)

jayden_arsonew

2024-10-04 14:25:16 +0000 UTC

RAN when I got the notification 😭 I love these reactions so much

Rebecca Holmes

2024-10-04 14:24:22 +0000 UTC

HADESTOWN - Songs 30-35

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