Wait For Me + Why We Build The Wall | Hadestown Reaction
Added 2024-09-10 03:56:58 +0000 UTCComments
“Why we build the wall” was released in 2010. TWENTY TEN.
Amanda Caudle
2025-02-19 05:52:54 +0000 UTCI'm in the beginning of the reaction but I just wanna say Hermes isn't wrong 🤷♂️
NoBody
2024-11-13 10:43:28 +0000 UTCWith Orpheus singing his way into the Underworld, I’d highly recommend watching the actual musical for that section. It’s actually so magical, and I’m so glad I got to see it in person
Cameron Taylor
2024-09-30 05:41:57 +0000 UTCofc you can only watch it when you finish the show. but idk, maby it’s alittle dramatic but this story always makes me tear up. from young girl workin in a song in 2006, to 2019 tony awards for best musical. 💕
Joanna Sokolowska
2024-09-22 23:25:15 +0000 UTCgosh do I love reaction videos. Love watching your jaw drop. in the words of Hobby Brown ‘it’s a methaphor for capitalism’. Any way, idk if anyone told you before, but there is 1h video about history of Hadestown, on Waiting in the Wings yt chanel, and you would defo like it! As you ask who would write such thing…
Joanna Sokolowska
2024-09-22 22:14:58 +0000 UTCOne thing we Have to remember about Hermes is that he is the world's first and best pot-stirrer. He'll rile you up and spit you out, son. I'm now convinced that Casper is the only true good Hades. Fun fact after all those emotions, Hades' mesmerizing actor Patrick Page is also Frollo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame musical. (Lore Olympus' version of Hades is highly enjoyable, if y'all are curious to read that free, online masterpiece and haven't already.)
Kory Misun
2024-09-22 12:49:34 +0000 UTCWhy We Build The Wall is my favorite song in Hadestown, and it is also possibly the most anti-capitalist song in a musical ever. He’s diabolical! The circular logic is so fricking brilliant.
Tessara Dudley
2024-09-21 22:57:29 +0000 UTCI don't know if they've changed it since, but when I went to see the musical on Broadway back in 2018 they actually didn't pause for intermission at all, so it kinda just flowed over into the next song. But I agree, it feels like the break should come after Why We Build The Wall (or even after Wait For Me), but I know they also did a ton of restructuring from the off-broadway version, so maybe it was different originally? (sidenot; Anaïs Mitchell, the writer, sings in the original Why We Build The Wall, and it just sounds sooo good, I strongly recommend giving it a listen)
Cecilia Nygaard
2024-09-21 21:38:32 +0000 UTCIn regards to Hermes one the one hand I think he's trying to push Orpheus down the road, on the other I think he's genuinely and understandable upset with his ward. When Orpheus came out the storm was long gone. If she's 6 feet under she may well have already been found and put to rest. If he saw the child he raised as a son isolate himself and neglect his partner to the point he missed not only supporting her but not listening to others enough to know she was missing, found and buried, funeral and all, I'd say a bit of anger and disappointment from him is well warranted. His focus on his song is understandable, but given the consequences who could blame him for finding it unacceptable. And I mean, it's not like he cut off his support of him. I'd bet he was also being a worried carer, knowing full well what choice Orpheus would make. Who'd be happy to send the child they raised off to the Underworld? Also, lol, "You can't call them 'My Children"' and expect them to bow". I mean, he is the God presiding over them within his domaon. He basically owns them. So he probably can. XD And I love how they end Act 1!!! "Anybody want a drink?" yes, goes the audience as they leave to fill their plates and glasses. XD
DrivingMeBonkas
2024-09-18 15:25:46 +0000 UTChe kinda proves her point bc in her first song she states "everybody is a fairweather friend". Orpheus PROMISED he wouldn't be yet he ended up being just that (intentional or not). And Hermes was right since the beginning "and he was a son of a muse. Sometimes they ABANDON YOU", that's what orpheus did. Sure, he did have work but he ignored the reality of everything else going on. He ignored his wife literally STARVING AND HAVING FROSTBITE. He ignored HERMES WHO TOLD HIM TO LOOK AFTER HIS *WIFE*. He gave her up to POTENTIALLY fix the seasons, we don't know how long this song has been in the works- potentially years- so how long was he planning to ignore her if she hadn't died then? Of course hermes is upset- he told her that orpheus would make her 'feel alive' which is what ended up making her stay but then orpheus was the indirect reason she DIDNT LIVE. Hermes thought orpheus was better than that as he practically raised him only for him bc his father left. Only for orpheus to do nearly the same this and neglect his wife to the point she died because of it.
AceOfTheDeck
2024-09-18 11:26:13 +0000 UTCMortius would love Great Comet of 1812
Janey Rusk
2024-09-17 17:16:15 +0000 UTCHey Mortius! Just wanted to recommend that you (if you haven’t already) listen to the original cast Wait For Me. I personally like the music better, and there’s kind off a different vibe from the Broadway show.
Ainsleigh McCue
2024-09-15 20:09:39 +0000 UTCThat's the big thing about the two different cast this Hermes is more fun . But the other Hermes is kinda Eldritch like you know the whole time he's not Orpheus friend so this song just holds more umph when he sang it .
Lance Ivy
2024-09-15 09:50:30 +0000 UTCI'm late since I was just able to join today so a lot of people have made similar points, but I wanted to add a little more context to Hermes' behavior at the start of wait for me : Hermes is the narrator for this story - in the stage production he is always on stage, no matter what is going on, and he has seen everything that happened. He just watched Eurydice die, not only because of the fates and Hades' actions, but also because Orpheus got so wrapped up in working on his song that he never once spared a thought towards her until she was already gone. Hermes saw Eurydice's desperation and fear, and he saw, even in her final moments, that she still reached out for Orpheus and he wasn't there. Additionally, in a previous version of Chant that was replaced with the one that you watched, Hermes also tried to reach out to Orpheus to warn him that Eurydice is actively in danger. While Orpheus is having the big revelation about why Hades and Persephone are having issues, Hermes is at the same time trying to warn him. (Here's the full original lyrics for that part of the song, just so you can see how blatant it is) HERMES: Orpheus! ORPHEUS: King Hades is deafened, by a river of stone HERMES: Listen to me Orpheus ORPHEUS: And Lady Persephone's blinded, by a river of wine, living in an oblivion HERMES: Talk about oblivious ORPHEUS: His black gold flows, HERMES: There's a storm coming on ORPHEUS: in the world down below, HERMES: And your girl is alone ORPHEUS: and dark clouds roll, in the one up above HERMES: Look up! ORPHEUS: And that is the reason we're on this road, HERMES: Look, I know you can see ORPHEUS: and the seasons are wrong, HERMES: How the world could be ORPHEUS: and the wind is so strong, HERMES: But you've GOT to live ORPHEUS: that's why times are so hard, HERMES: in the world that IS! ORPHEUS: it's because of the gods! The gods have forgotten the song of their love! This was likely cut because it can be hard to tell what they're saying, since they're essentially trading off lines, but I think it is really useful to help understand just how blind Orpheus is to how much Eurydice is struggling while he's holed up working on his song. It does have the possibility of saving the world, but Orpheus is too caught up in it to save the world right in front of him. TLDR: Hermes tried to warn Orpheus that Eurydice was slipping away, and he didn't listen. THAT is why he's so upset at Orpheus at the start of wait for me.
Skysong
2024-09-14 23:45:31 +0000 UTCI think you missed some stuff in Chant which would help explain why Hermes is so annoyed/mad with Orpheus (which I'm not really blaming you for, it gets recontextualized/expanded upon in later songs) but for the moment I'll just remind you of a single quote from Orpheus' introduction: Now Orpheus was the son of a Muse And you know how those Muses are Sometimes they abandon you As sung by Hermes himself.
J
2024-09-14 23:40:33 +0000 UTCI didn't see anyone else mention this but my favorite part of Why We Build the Wall is the fact that the song layers like someone laying bricks. The song melodically builds a wall as they're singing about building a wall. Once Hades introduces a new phrase, the workers sing the previous phrases and then add the new phrase on top. I know there's a term for it but I'm not actually sure what it is lol. And the fact that this song was written in 2010. Life imitates art...
madds_lore
2024-09-14 22:11:55 +0000 UTCFour years ago, when I still worked at Walmart, I listened to "Why Do We Build the Wall" to work and from work all the time. It felt ironic but also so fitting. (also the pun) Fun fact: Jay absolutely loved this version of Hermes and originally wanted Epic's Hermes to be similar, but he changed his mind. But he does have a cut jazzy song for Hermes. I love this musical just as much as the epic because they are both so clever in how they portray parallels in songs their songs. It happens musically for Epic, but for Hadestown, it's lyrical. Some of my favorite songs are in Act Two, but they parallel and fit so perfectly with the songs in Act One. I love this musical so much. When you finish your reaction, you should sit down and just listen to it straight through; I think that's the best way to hear it because no matter how many times you listen, you always get sucked into the story.
Shay-Thelogicaldreamer
2024-09-14 19:09:35 +0000 UTCI would certainly watch that, it's still my preferred version of the musical even tho I do love the Broadway version
D. Sparrow
2024-09-14 07:12:17 +0000 UTCWe also don't know how long the gap is between her leaving and him noticing her absence
Phoenix Mackenzie
2024-09-13 13:19:35 +0000 UTCLook, I get wanting to defend Orpheus. We love a devoted writer, a musician, someone who's focused on their goals - but this was negligence, plain and simple, lack of intentional disregard or not. He zoned out and abandoned her to deal with the harshness of tending to their present survival alone, while he only thought of the good he could do for the theoretical future. Hermes has every right to be angry when he'd been trying to get to him for what was probably days or weeks (during Chant) and tell him that Eurydice needed him, and as someone whose been there with the idealist 'I have lofty thoughts to think while you work to keep the lights on' type, I'd be taking Hades up on that offer too. He's risking everything to try to fix his mistake,but it is a bit late, huh? But such are the tragedies of a capitalist society...and the underlying plot of this show lol. At the end of the day, he's precious and his work is important, but important enough to NOT NOTICE YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS STARVING TO DEATH? Come on... He deserved that attitude from Hermes, at least.
Kristina (LadyGreensleeves33)
2024-09-13 03:56:42 +0000 UTCWell Hermes does warn us in the beginning; "and it ain't because I'm kind" And I think he's more interesting that way. Yes he cares, but he's not completely wholesome about it
D. Sparrow
2024-09-13 00:06:32 +0000 UTCYou know how musicals can be a love letter to things? This one feels like a hate letter to capitalism. Love it sm.
Broody Gaming
2024-09-12 21:25:19 +0000 UTCYeah, we don't know how long it'd been from the storm coming to Eurydice leaving to Orpheus finding out for all we know he's not noticed Eurydice being gone for weeks before Hermes managed to get through to him
Phoenix Mackenzie
2024-09-12 20:28:16 +0000 UTCHey Mortius, I just wanted to let you know there is actually another version of this show called Hadestown: The Myth. The Musical. That came out before this that I think going back and comparing this to would be a real good video. The older one has less songs and some very interesting differences.
Tristan Jordan-Christianson
2024-09-12 16:28:51 +0000 UTCIf you don't get political your missing 2/3rds the point of the show it's very political
Lance Ivy
2024-09-12 15:36:53 +0000 UTCSomething else you miss without the staging is the fact that when Eurydice is calling for Orpheus he is one stage with her sitting at a desk writing. She comes right up to him and calls his name multiple times but he ignores her he doesn't even turn his head to acknowledge her. Hermes is angry with Orpheus because despite Euridice calling for him and Hermes telling Orpheus to "look up" and notice that Eurydice is suffering, Orpheus doesn't notice that she's even gone until it's too late.
Faeri
2024-09-12 03:27:09 +0000 UTCI don't get it, why aren't you mad at Orpheus?? He literally promised to be there with her then didn't even leave when winter came but completely blocked her out while she was asking for help and Kept both of them fed and warm until she literally died while calling for him. He literally left her alone the moment there was a problem. Who cares if he tried to fix everything, it doesn't make it okay.
מעין מסיקה
2024-09-11 22:58:33 +0000 UTCI’m living this! I love Hadestown but I always wonder how people would react to the original cast live recording because it’s so much shorter and there’s so much less context but it always felt more like a myth to me than the broadway version. I know the chants themselves just always have a different vibe and every time I see someone react to the broadway version and get confused I wonder if it would be different with the other version
Mani S.
2024-09-11 10:47:45 +0000 UTCHe did get hit with a light during one performance. I think an understudy did too, but I can’t find any confirmation of it.
Rhyianan
2024-09-11 07:16:24 +0000 UTCI can totally respect that that’s your interpretation of things, but personally I have never read it that way. In my mind it is still meant to be the Underworld and Eurydice is still dead, it’s just that the setting is intentionally murky and not in any literal place or time. That’s why they say “don’t ask where, brother, don’t ask when.” Even though it doesn’t make sense for the land of the dead to somehow be a mining town with neon lights and automobiles, both of those things are true in the story as I see it.
Kelsey Avril
2024-09-11 06:28:06 +0000 UTCNot to get political but i had the same thought when i went to the live show with no prior knowledge.. "Huh why does this song sound familiar?" Also i think the whole 'we have a wall to work upon' while icky, it does make sense that since these souls are dead- they dont need food or earthly comforts... they're dead- but an eternity without purpose sounds like hell. Pulling on Percy Jackson lore: the fields of Asphodel where most souls go they just stood there- its not damnation like Tartarus but still seems like hell to me, if given the choice i'd probably be like yo hades can i work in your palace walls too?
Lexi Rasmussen
2024-09-11 06:04:51 +0000 UTCYou should definitely watch the Tony awards live version of the song! It adds a little to the beginning of the song, it’s sort of a reprise and summary of the musical because I think it’s supposed to be shown to a new audience, but I mostly just think it would be cool to have a clear bit of stage performance to see the character’s actors!
Lui
2024-09-11 04:29:06 +0000 UTCMortius: "How does the wall keep you free" *Song immediately Answers* Mortius: But who's the Enemy though? *Song Immediately Answers*
Logan Baxter
2024-09-11 04:25:00 +0000 UTCMortius: “Hermes, what the heck!” Me: “where’s the lie though” 😬
Laura Scott
2024-09-11 04:15:33 +0000 UTCwhoops
Freezing Ice
2024-09-11 01:52:50 +0000 UTCYou need to react (or at least watch on your own) the stage version of Wait for Me. Seeing the lanterns go up in person was amazing PS-The reprise is so much worse for painfulness
Allison Watts
2024-09-11 01:10:26 +0000 UTCOur Lady of the Underground is also nice because in the live show she does an introduction for all of the band members on stage. <3
Magnus Taliesin
2024-09-11 00:49:28 +0000 UTC"who woke up one day..." Anais Mitchell lmao XD Like, frfr.
Magnus Taliesin
2024-09-11 00:43:30 +0000 UTCYeah, he helps them get together then Orpheus just seems to not notice she's gone for however long until Hermes has had to see her off with Hades, any wonder he's upset with him
Phoenix Mackenzie
2024-09-11 00:39:43 +0000 UTCI think he actually did get knocked in the head once lmao?? if I remember correctly
Fae
2024-09-10 23:57:00 +0000 UTCHermes' attitude in this song will make a lot more sense when you re-listen after the end of the show. Remember he's not just Orpheus' guardian, he's the storyteller. You will pick up on alllllsorts the second time.
Amy Golightly
2024-09-10 21:02:38 +0000 UTCWell at the end of gone i'm gone is Hermes the one who sees off Euridice because he's in the train station. Also he was telling to orpheus to put attention to Euridice in Chant.
José Antonio Gómez Rodríguez
2024-09-10 20:00:13 +0000 UTCmy two favorite things about hadestown that you have discovered: First! Both Eurydice and Orpheus have valid perspectives-- Eurydice was literally starving, so of course she's going to choose the comfort of hadestown (Remember in Way Down "Kind of makes you wonder how it feels..."). Orpheus literally did not notice she was starving. But also, hyperfixations a b**** sometimes BUT he realized it and went after her at great cost. both of them are so emphatically HUMAN I love it (and arguably so are persephone and hades) Second! yes, Jeff Bezos. The major themes of this show are climate change, industrialism and capitalism couched in this massive HUMAN story of people trying to find connection and safety in a messed up world-- It creates this really complex story of how DO we combat "the enemy is poverty" while still clinging to this connection and love that we have found. I'm glad you are so invested Mortius! It is my favorite musical and my two favorite songs are in act 2 (No spoilers!) so ENJOY!
Lenya Hope
2024-09-10 19:19:18 +0000 UTCAlso, once you're done, definitely check out a live recording if you can. Persephone is actually present and part of Why We Build the Wall and just......her face says everything.
Kerri Kortness
2024-09-10 17:40:34 +0000 UTCAs far as I understand, Hadestown IS the underworld. Like he took the flames of Tartarus and used them to industrialize both Elysium and the fields of Asphodel. There is nothing else.
Kerri Kortness
2024-09-10 17:33:26 +0000 UTCYou should most definitely watch the performance of Wait For Me at the Tony Awards! It’s amazing and you really get a feel for the wardrobe for everyone and the set design! It’s absolutely wonderful!! Plus you get to hear Reeve Carney sing live!
Sammantha Lloyd
2024-09-10 16:42:37 +0000 UTCespecially since he was so involved (at least in the musical) with getting them together in the first place!! totally agree 💯
Jennifer Rose
2024-09-10 16:42:33 +0000 UTCAlso Hermes and Eurydice tried to warn him, Hermes had to watch the aftermath of the storm brewing then have Orpheus realise after however long that Eurydice had been gone for however long and he didn't notice
Phoenix Mackenzie
2024-09-10 15:50:41 +0000 UTCHermes makes sense imo, we don't know the time gap between Eurydice warning him of the storm, Eurydice leaving and Orpheus noticing that she's gone like how long was Orpheus so wrapped up ignoring everything that he didn't notice Eurydice had fled
Phoenix Mackenzie
2024-09-10 15:49:14 +0000 UTC"you can't call them your children and expect them to bow" is such an amazing line
Tallulahbell
2024-09-10 15:14:01 +0000 UTCPlus how long ago did Eurydice leave before Orpheus actually noticed she had gone?
Phoenix Mackenzie
2024-09-10 15:04:06 +0000 UTCYeah, Orpheus literally didn't notice Eurydice was starving and left, how long had she been gone(fled) before he noticed?
Phoenix Mackenzie
2024-09-10 14:59:31 +0000 UTCMelting mad mortius moment 🤣
Phoenix Mackenzie
2024-09-10 14:58:18 +0000 UTCMortius has been hanging around Casper long enough for something to rub off.
Dorothy Rosenberg
2024-09-10 14:27:02 +0000 UTCMortius - oohhh, Hades you butthead! You meanie jerk!!! Patrick Page - 🎵Whhhhhyyyyy do we build the wall?🎵 Mortius- *dissolves/melts at that bass voice* Understandable- I'd forgive A LOT of sins for that voice growling in my ear.
Anon E. Mouse
2024-09-10 14:17:42 +0000 UTCI do feel like Hermes was a little justified in being slightly salty that Orpheus *didn't notice* that Eurydice was starving to death. Orpheus didn't keep his promises, he wasn't there when she needed him. It wasn't malicious, but Hermes sees that all this could have been avoided if he'd looked up a little earlier. "Oh, you care now?" seems like a reasonable response to me.
Ashley Evers
2024-09-10 14:01:01 +0000 UTCEr... No I'm pretty sure she's actually dead. It can be two things.
Doriima
2024-09-10 13:56:46 +0000 UTCThis is why I seek out Hadestown reactions! I live for seeing the concatenation of mythic metaphors and associations cascading upon themselves in the listener's brain until they collide to form the new metaphor that the show is working to construct. It's just such a cool process, and it's what makes this show *feel* like real, actual mythos in a way that very few others have done for me.
SK Elkins
2024-09-10 12:47:26 +0000 UTCJust a bit of a hint since the intermission isn’t much of a break in the story and picks up in the same location. Persephone just saw Hades and Eurydice go into a back room and close the door behind them before asking if anyone wanted a drink. I don’t think she knows that Orpheus is coming.
Julie Lyles
2024-09-10 12:19:02 +0000 UTCYeah, Hermes lyrics are also a lot more fitting when directed to the older versions of Orpheus. "You'll find another muse somewhere" doesn't really hit as hard when they removed Orpheus' cockiness as a character flaw
XanEcho
2024-09-10 11:08:27 +0000 UTCOh and a fun fact - Why We Build The Wall was first published in 2010, alongside most of the other tracks when Hadestown was just a concept album. Most of the theming is over 14 years old now. Our world has been in this dark dark place for a long time.
Eliška Svobodová
2024-09-10 10:54:11 +0000 UTCOh, btw, there's a "Wait for me" Tonys performance out there somewhere in youtubeland, and the staging is very close to what it was during the broadway run, just with added start from Road to Hell and a little bit of early story context, no spoilers for Act 2 - I can only recommend checking it out, even just for yourself.
Eliška Svobodová
2024-09-10 10:39:42 +0000 UTC😂 Not Mortius continuously asking the exact clarifying question that Hades is about to sing in the next verse.
Rose Franco
2024-09-10 09:41:00 +0000 UTCMortius in Epic II / Chant: "He's industrializing Hadestown?? What does it mean? What's the symbolism??" Me: ......it... the..... it's the thing you said. it's capitalism and climate change and industrialization. ....oh well, they'll probably figure it out in act 2 at least. Mortius towards the end of the finale: "...except the bad guy is just Jeff Bezos" yaaaay you got it! (not Bezos specifically but you got the idea)
liminalpsych
2024-09-10 08:13:21 +0000 UTCI think focusing so much on how this ties into the actual greek myth is causing some hang ups. Keep in mind, this isn't like catherine tate and david tennant's much ado where it's shakespeare with modern set dressing- its a modern story about capitalism and climate change in america with greek mythology set dressing. For example, Hadestown isnt the afterlife, its literally a mining company that's harming the earth. eurydice isn't dead, she's an impoverished person taking a damaging and soul sucking job who doesnt have the luxury of trying to make the world a better place because she's just trying to survive. and orpheus is basically greta thunberg :)
Rachel Zeringue
2024-09-10 06:40:48 +0000 UTCi’ll have to check again but as far as i know, hermes and orpheus don’t actually interact much in the original version of the musical and hermes is just there to serve as a sort of narrator and to tell orpheus how to get to hadestown also, i can’t recommend the live cast recording enough, its a bit of a different take from the broadway version so its still a new experience (and in my opinion some parts are done better) and the actors for hades and persephone are the same as the broadway
Robin
2024-09-10 06:35:24 +0000 UTCSo, while obviously I can't say for sure, I have to imagine that at least one reason for it being where it is is purely for the practical reason of costume and makeup changes. I'll go into the actual changes once we're fully in Act 2, but you can see some of them in the Wait for Me animatic, which has very accurate to the stageplay outfits. Now, the cast did perform Wait for Me at the Tonys, if anyone wants to see it and can still find a recording of it, its a beautiful performance. Just a heads up, do not confuse it with the Saturday Sessions with CBS one, that is the Reprise, not the first one. Additionally, the National Theatre has a mini documentary on Why We Build the Wall, where Anais Mitchell discusses her thought processes behind the song and how strange it was to have started writing it before the 2016 election and then have that all happen. Its all very interesting and includes some nice bits of the cast practicing. And one last, very important note for Wait for Me. Remember Epic 1, Hermes asks Orpheus where he'd gotten the melody he sings, the "lalala" bit, because he'd heard it before. The La la la isn't Orpheus' song, its Hades'. Its his and Persephone's; its the song of their love. So that bit in Wait for Me isn't Orpheus' ideals fighting Hades; its who Hades is now, fighting with who Hades used to be as embodied by Orpheus. Its a slight difference technically, but its very important to the themes. And thats why the Underworld responds to it like it does; its responding to the song of their rulers, of the people who built the Underworld originally.
Alexandria Podolak
2024-09-10 06:35:02 +0000 UTCthe broadway version of hadestown does tweak the characters a bit from the 2017 and 2010 version so i think hermes’s tone shift in wait for me is much closer to how he acts in the 2017 version where he isn’t nearly as close to orpheus as he is here and it might just be that they couldn’t change the lyrics and the tone to fit that (at least that’s how i interpret it) edit: coming back after rewatching the 2017 stage play and yeah, originally hermes and orpheus were not really friends, so hermes’s attitude towards orpheus here isn’t out of character. its an interesting choice to change it for the broadway version but leave him acting so cold towards orpheus in this song
Robin
2024-09-10 06:34:05 +0000 UTC"...except the bad guy is just Jeff Bezos." I'm ded XD Perfection.
Bean of Glory
2024-09-10 06:31:08 +0000 UTCI think you mean Hermes
Nika
2024-09-10 06:19:43 +0000 UTCI was trying to figure out the Hermes tone shift here, too. What I landed on: he gives me the vibe of a god doing Groundhog Day, like he lives the tale again when he retells it, and so he experiments with different approaches (with at least partial foreknowledge of how things play out). Maybe trying for a different result, maybe just curious to press this button or that one this time. Onstage, there are moments where you can see the actor wrestling with whether to intervene more or less in a given circumstance - e.g., about to do more to get Orpheus's attention, but then thinking better of it.
Bean of Glory
2024-09-10 06:00:07 +0000 UTCI know other people have already defended Hermes, but I'm gonna add in another part of it: he's the train conductor. The train whistle that startled you so much in Gone, I'm Gone? That's Hermes! Remember I mentioned the whistle is a prop he uses? He was there when Eurydice went with Hades, he had to see her off, there was nothing he could do. Of course he's a little sharp, he's grieving.
Alexandria Podolak
2024-09-10 05:52:26 +0000 UTCwhat you have to remember Mortius, in respects to how Hermes acted in the intro to wait for me, is that he ALSO was calling for Orpheus and he didnt listen then either. its not so much a matter of being a jerk as he was also turned away. Orpheus basically ignored the whole world and shut out everyone he cared for, and their issues, while focusing on his song. as much as his song is important, his loved ones were also important, and this made Hermes feel like maybe they weren't important to him. at least, that's my interpretation of it
natasha
2024-09-10 05:51:22 +0000 UTCWhew, what a way to close out Act 1! As someone who has never seen/listened to Hadestown until these reaction videos, it definitely has me hooked.
Robert LeMoyne
2024-09-10 05:41:09 +0000 UTCjust dropping this because i could write an essay on this show: the mythology more to support the themes of industrial capitalism vs nature :) its all one big metaphor basically, just like how the og myths were metaphors for the natural phenomena they experienced!
fromhigherthings
2024-09-10 05:40:16 +0000 UTCWith the beginning of ‘Wait for Me’ I’ve always interpreted it as he’s more trying to switch gears from Eurydice to not hurt him and guise some of his disappointment, that is until he sees it’s not gonna work and he has to sternly lend a helping hand.
Emiii 🫶🏾
2024-09-10 05:34:40 +0000 UTCAnd I'm not a musician at all but Persephone's music seems jazz and Hades seems blues.
Elissa Newton
2024-09-10 05:30:11 +0000 UTCBasically, Hermes was mad at Orpheus because he was warning Orpheus of the storm brewing, telling him to "look up" in chant and calling him a "poor boy working on a song" when he was ignored. He tried to warn him so that he could save Euridice, but Orpheus was too enraptured in his song. It's definitely a lot more obvious in the actual musical than in the animatics, so don't worry about it.
Freezing Ice
2024-09-10 05:29:09 +0000 UTCIn the stage play they use the same rotating stage ala Hamilton. Its amazing.
Elissa Newton
2024-09-10 05:21:14 +0000 UTCAwesome video! I loved these songs...but dang, Hades still gives creep vibes. Not sure if any beat Chant for me but they came close.
Kenzie Wing
2024-09-10 05:03:01 +0000 UTC11:55, you heard it here first, Mortius wants Orpheus to abandon Eurydice lmao
Max
2024-09-10 04:54:23 +0000 UTCWait For Me is one of my favorites!! I was about to get some sleep, but I got too excited seeing that your reaction to it got posted! Also, the mining town Hades rules/Hadestown is a representation of the Underworld. The "overworld"/where Orpheus traveled from is just regular ol' mortal Earth. I love how the creator took creative liberties and set this ancient Greek myth to a slightly more modern context. I feel it helps to bridge some gaps between the Greek myths and our modern culture.
Nina The Ravenclaw
2024-09-10 04:51:29 +0000 UTCALSO ALSO the wall imagery is completely coincidental, this was written originally in 2006. How prophetic, huh?
Leia Elkins
2024-09-10 04:48:25 +0000 UTCCANNOT WAIT for the act 2 opener, btw. Our Lady of the Underground and Way Down Hadestown (reprise) are my two favourite songs in the musical for sure
Wizzywod
2024-09-10 04:45:44 +0000 UTCI get Hermes being a butthead in Wait for Me since he repeatedly tried to warn Orpheus about the storm that would kill Eurydice, but Orpheus was too wrapped up in the song.
Kit
2024-09-10 04:44:29 +0000 UTCThis song actually predates any Trump presidency promises by several years, if you can believe it
Wizzywod
2024-09-10 04:38:41 +0000 UTCAlso in the stage production, it is presented with the underworld guards surrounding Orpheus, and there are giant lamps above him that they swing around and use as spotlights. It always terrifies me watching Reeve or any of the other Orpheus actors performing im always scared they're gonna get knocked in the head.
Leia Elkins
2024-09-10 04:34:59 +0000 UTCOkay so while Our Lady of the Underground is the first song after intermission/Act 1 end, it's not the opening of Act 2. Our Lady of the Underground is an entr'act, "between acts" so it is not connected to either act. The first official song of Act 2 is the Way Down Hadestown reprise, but it's an easy mistake to make. I'm excited for what's next!!! Wait For Me is such good imagery I love it so much. My favorite line "-they'll truss you up in your Sunday best and stuff your mouth with cotton" goes so hard
Leia Elkins
2024-09-10 04:31:58 +0000 UTC
