A Gathering Storm + Epic II + Chant | Hadestown Reaction
Added 2024-09-02 03:57:00 +0000 UTCThe feelings.... I am starting to feel them!!
Comments
The world-building that takes place in Chant is overwhelming. Though I do think it’s still present in the audio
KDub0222
2024-09-27 05:41:25 +0000 UTCthe metaphor is capitalism…
Janey Rusk
2024-09-17 16:07:57 +0000 UTCBeautifully put
Bean of Glory
2024-09-15 04:14:16 +0000 UTCThe difficulty of not having the stage version is so real-
Winter Storm
2024-09-14 04:46:03 +0000 UTCChant is really where it heats up. Epic II through Wait for Me is my favorite part of act 1. I hurt for this version of Hades. He's a Wife Guy who has been driven to desperation by only having his wife 50% of the time. SO happy you understand how impressive Reeve's singing is. He mixes like it's easy.
Amy Golightly
2024-09-10 01:52:06 +0000 UTCIt's a weirdly great representation for a frustrating circumstance in marriage - Spouse A, lonely and insecure, thinks he's doing nice things and pushes for more time, desperately needing reassurance and love, but Spouse B *does not* like those things that A is doing, can't say so without provoking even more arguments, feels estranged and unheard, and is even less inclined to give reassurance and love as a result, which cycles, cycles, cycles. Couples counseling for the gods!
Bean of Glory
2024-09-09 04:16:45 +0000 UTCHaha, yeah you got it. Hades is trying to create false Summer for Persephone, not understanding that it's not technically the warmth or light that she needs, but the freedom and nature. And the more industrial fakery he adds, the more she hates it.
Kristina (LadyGreensleeves33)
2024-09-07 09:13:30 +0000 UTCMortius!!! OMG! I have never listened to the whole musical in one sitting before (obviously still not as im waiting for your reaction) BUT I JUST REALIZED! The back and forth between Hades and Persephone is INCREDIBLY FREAKING SIMILAR TO THE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE IN WEDDING SONG!! 😱 Including him calling her "lover". PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go back when you have time to listen to it. I about fell out when I realized I need you to hurry up and get to my favorite song. But I'm loving that I'm learning new things with you.
Fictional Kay
2024-09-07 00:37:42 +0000 UTCI love the thematic layers in this section of the show. Orpheus is the "starving artist", whose music is portrayed as having life-changing implications for the world. But being an artist isn't enough to provide physically for him and Eurydice, who is starving. This struggle to survive and thrive is then backlit and contextualized as being rooted in the conflict and lack of balance between Hades and Persephone, who can be seen as stand-ins for industry and nature. Hades' possession of Persephone leads him to capitalistic, industrial pursuits that pollute and harm the world above. His greed and insecurity creates a man-eat-man world where artists like Orpheus are left adrift and disenfranchised, unable to provide for those they care about, and people like Eurydice -- who are warmed and fulfilled by such art in good times -- are unable to appreciate it because they now have to focus on looking for ways to simply survive. Then there are the workers within the capitalistic domain of Hadestown, who no longer face these winds in the overworld, but still have to keep their heads low to their own plight and stay in the system so that they can provide for themselves.
madds_lore
2024-09-07 00:10:53 +0000 UTCThe 'scratchy' sounds in the background are meant to be the shovels and pickaxes of the constant toil of the workers of Hadestown.
Tristan Haller
2024-09-06 23:47:54 +0000 UTCIt's very Greek tragedy of her, re: that staging XD Watch the pieces fall into place exactly as you now know they will.
Bean of Glory
2024-09-06 23:14:11 +0000 UTCThe implication here is also that mankind's drive to industrialize, to hoard, to build up walls, to fear is powerfully fueled by our own consciousness of our growing separation from the world of nature -- a vicious cycle, of course, as the more we industrialize, the more keenly and acutely we feel that separation. It rings very true to me. Think of how often admonishments against this type of thinking directly cite nature as its antithesis: "Consider the lilies..." The tendency to consider man's estrangement from the world of nature or from some representation of nature as a kind of original sin can be found in many different cultures and mythologies.
SK Elkins
2024-09-04 23:30:11 +0000 UTCAdding a bit about costuming for my Problematic Obsessive King of the Underworld because the animatic hints at it: onstage Hades has what appears to be at least a half-sleeve tattoo on one forearm that’s a grey-scale brick wall. So yes. Waistcoat. Crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow. That tattoo. 😳 I keep typing and deleting more substantive thoughts about Hades and Persephone. I just LOVE how their marriage is written, and I love the acting choices from Page and Grey. Even with all the wrongness there is still a core of love and trust between them that’s more obvious onstage than in the animatics (others have covered that in depth). I’m also kind of obsessed with the idea of one’s personality drifting over time, until specific traits become more intense and potentially toxic than they were in youth, but instead of regular human proportions we’ve got divine traits being intensified (Hades’ possessiveness; Persephone’s addictive qualities). It’s interesting because we see that same distillation of character traits in Orpheus and Eurydice - the storm threatens, and Orpheus immediately dives into his art and his optimism. Eurydice is immediately all practicality haunted by the specter of her pessimism. And on some level they’re diving into this traits FOR EACH OTHER. Yes Orpheus feels the weight of the world, but he also promised Eurydice specifically the wind wouldn’t change on them. And yes Eurydice has her own hunger to address, but she’s hunting and gathering to feed them both, shouldering her fear and doubt alone to avoid distracting Orpheus from his work.
Andrea Hunt
2024-09-04 19:04:05 +0000 UTCalso staging note, like other comments mentioned, when hades says “think of them as my embrace… of you” at the very end of chant, you can see on stage as hades steps off the platform and persephone is sinking down off stage… she sees hades approaching eurydice and everytime I see her expression it breaks my fucking heart. She looks so devastated, like she knows whats going to happen next and no matter how much she likes Eurydice and Orpheus, she can’t stop it.
Ratatosk Clarke
2024-09-04 13:58:07 +0000 UTCThe lyricism and how the actual orchestration echoes it is my FAVORITE thing about this musical. The lyrics for Epic II say “and crashing and pounding, the rivers surround him, and drown out the sound of the song he once heard…” and as orpheus starts to sing the song and work on getting it right, the sounds of the workers of the underworld (literal “crashing and pounding”) starts to drown him out, showing that we’re transitioning to the underworld and to what hades and persephone are hearing while theyre down here. Its SUCH GOOD WRITING AND ORCHESTRATION AND IM FOREVER OBSESSED WITH IT. I could write a whole essay on the many moments like this in hadestown, but I won’t clog up your comments with that <3
Ratatosk Clarke
2024-09-04 13:55:18 +0000 UTCSaaaaame!
Bean of Glory
2024-09-04 00:02:58 +0000 UTCI can't begin to guess how many times I've listened to this soundtrack, and Mortius' reaction was also the lightbulb moment of that for me XD Appreciated! ❤️
Bean of Glory
2024-09-04 00:02:02 +0000 UTCIt's very amorphous before Chant, isn't it? Lots of vibes and hints, but for the most part we're focused on building the backstory of & the bond between the two young lovers.
Bean of Glory
2024-09-04 00:01:08 +0000 UTCYep. If this was a ploy to add subscribers, then hats off, it hook line and sinkered me, and clearly others XD And now that I am here, glad to be here! ❤️
Bean of Glory
2024-09-03 23:59:06 +0000 UTCThe palpable sense in the audience then of "oh fork oh fork oh fork oh man."
Bean of Glory
2024-09-03 23:56:08 +0000 UTCIf Hades is mankind and Persephone is nature, they were in love and harmony once, and then Hades started to hoard and industrialize to make things easier on themselves in the harder, colder times... and now here we are. It's not THE interpretation (this musical would be lesser if we only allowed for one meaning), but it's one of them, imo :) The world is out of whack because we're scared, and because we get (damagingly) industrial, possessive & controlling to alleviate that fear, and nature suffers - which doesn't necessarily make us villains, but it definitely makes us antagonists.
Bean of Glory
2024-09-03 23:53:00 +0000 UTCLISTEN I am doing my BEST 🤣🤣
Mortius
2024-09-03 04:01:21 +0000 UTCThis is my favorite song in the show, partly because the first time I heard it, my gradually-dawning comprehension of the climate change metaphor they were going for here followed the exact same trajectory as Orpheus's slowly-dawning-to-climactic revelation about why the seasons in his world have become so out of whack. I'm sure it can't work so very neatly for every member of the audience, but if it was indeed an intended effect, it worked absolutely perfectly on me and left me gob-smacked. I talked in an earlier comment about the Roman qualities of this Hades, how strongly he's influenced by the Roman adaptation of the Greek god into the Roman Pluto. Here, we get some even later Plutonic associations, this time from modern Western astrology. In Western astrology, Pluto is associated not only with oil, wealth, transformation, secrets, power, control, sexuality, and dangerously disruptive subconscious ('underground') emotional forces, but also with nuclear power -- in part because uranium ore, just like gems, metals and oil, is mined from under the earth. (The other reason for the association is that the planet was discovered in 1930, which to Western astrologers marries its associations to important cultural and technological developments that would be rising to influence in the following years, among them atomic power and...well, and fascism.) The linking of Hades with potentially-cataclysmic technological advancement -- Hadestown seems to lay the entire Industrial Revolution at his feet! -- ties in neatly to this aspect of his web of mythic associations.
SK Elkins
2024-09-03 03:31:31 +0000 UTCWhen you get to “When the Chips Are Down” and “Gone, I’m Gone,” please react to murky musito’s animatic on the two if you can! They really capture the feel of those two songs in a way that other animatics I’ve seen haven’t quite gotten. Your reactions are amazing and I’m so excited to see you get through the rest of the show!
Anarissa
2024-09-03 01:39:09 +0000 UTC"My corkboard is red stringing!" 😂
Lauren Groen
2024-09-02 21:15:40 +0000 UTCFun fact! in the stage performance in Chant, after having the whole cast on stage for that entire song, it ends with just Eurydice and Hades staring at each other across the stage, everyone else gone with two spot lights on them :DDD so after hades says "I'll give it to someone who does" he locks eyes with eurydice :D definitely not foreboding at all! enjoy that agony :)
Lenya Hope
2024-09-02 18:51:54 +0000 UTCI love this section of the musical SO much, especially Epic II and Chant! I hope you continue soon, things really start to pick up from here and it's absolutely amazing.
fluffqueen91
2024-09-02 17:13:32 +0000 UTCI think Orpheus is trying to remind Persephone AND Hades how much they love each other with his song, that why it tells of how they were in love and then doubt filled Hades to the point where he couldn't hear how much she loves him anymore. If you know the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, the idea of Hades fearing that Persephone won't come back to him informs his later actions.
Seiryunohoushi
2024-09-02 16:56:31 +0000 UTCI’m hooked now. Thanks (I think) …
Dorothy Rosenberg
2024-09-02 16:55:55 +0000 UTCUh ok I will try to finish my animatic then! Hopefully this gives me the push to get it done 😅
Larkire
2024-09-02 14:01:32 +0000 UTCWE HOOKED HIM! IT TOOK US HALF OF ACT 1 TO EXPLAIN THE PLOT BUT WE GOT HIM 😆 (all jokes, glad you're enjoying it!)
AceOfTheDeck
2024-09-02 14:00:09 +0000 UTCI’ll be finishing act 1 later this week and then hopping into act 2 when Casper goes out of town in a few weeks :)
Mortius
2024-09-02 13:59:52 +0000 UTCOne of my favorite parts of this show is how Hades is not the villain because he's the God of the Dead, but because he's a God of Wealth. You can tell that Persephone actively MISSES the old cycles of death and rebirth, that she didn't see the cold of winter in the underworld as a flaw. But the desire to hoard, to always have more? That's where the evil comes in
XanEcho
2024-09-02 13:52:17 +0000 UTCNow, lets talk about Hades and Persephone. First off, Patrick Page and Amber Grey are killing this. It would be so easy to mess this up and they are nailing it and I love them. Anyways. This song is sort of a microcosm of their entire relationship. I intended to talk about the choreography a little, but I ended up mostly talking about my own interpretation of the song and their dynamic, especially since, man, I don't like how this animatic does it. So this is mostly my feelings about it, heavily influenced by what I've seen of the stage play and the numerous hours I've spent overthinking it. Cheers! So Hades and Persephone are pretty pride of place the entire song; they have a designated portion of the stage as "their place" for the song and they don't move outside of it. Which means you can see them even when they're not singing, and get a pretty good look at their dynamic. There are so many interesting acting choices being made here. They've always given me the feeling that this is almost like a power play between them; and make no mistake, it is not one-sided. Persephone has power here; Persephone has a LOT of power here. There's this point in there where Hades reaches for her and she stops him just by holding up a hand. Its such a simple, thoughtless motion. It doesn't need to be more because despite everything, she trusts him, she trusts that he loves her. She trusts, she *knows*, that when she says "don't touch me", he won't touch her. And he doesn't. For all his talk of "gilded cages" so she can't "fly away", when Persephone sets a boundary, Hades obeys. The only time he touches her is when she visibly gives permission. And I think that's one of the reasons Hadestown's Persephone is my favorite. She's not some fainting maiden in need of saving from the big bad king of the Underworld. Even at her lowest here, bitter, drunk, angry, she's still the Queen of the Underworld. Amber Grey plays her entirely self-confidently, she is so self-assured. Very importantly, she never once seems actually afraid of Hades. Its so easy, I think, with just the lyrics, to see who Hades is. But Persephone loses a lot of her complexity if that's all you've got. So much of her character in this song is in how she's acted rather than the words she sings. There is a shocking amount of strength and agency given to her character here that could so easily be lost. And additionally, you could lose a lot of the... softness that's hidden in it too. Because while Persephone does rebuff him the first time, when he asks again, she does let him touch her. Hades and Persephone actually spend a solid chunk of this song holding hands. They are whispering to each other in the middle of the stage while everyone else is singing. Lyric-wise, Persephone is so hostile, Hades is so demeaning. But in the microcosm of their relationship that is this song, they do love each other, even when its all gone wrong. And Persephone's last verse! Amber Grey usually gives Persephone a lot of grit when she sings her lines, it really conveys Persephone's age and character really well. Which makes this part stand out: "Lover, what have you become? [...] I don't know you anymore." Its sang so softly, so cleanly. It kills me a little, cause you can kind of hear it, the yearning, the affection, the kind of grief of what they once were, who he once was. The young woman she used to be when she married him, slipping back into existence just a little. But even though the delivery is so gentle, her power and strength are all in the physicality. She is circling him and he can't even bring himself to look at her. This verse is a dressing down and Hades looks, I think, almost ashamed. But the real twist of the knife, is Hades' ending verse. Yes, its incredibly creepy, yes its a lot of ick. And yes, I do think its an attempt to regain power and control from Persephone after she took it so easily during her verse. It very much feels to me like, Hades loves her and she's dismantling him, so he's going essentially "Oh you don't know me anymore? You don't love me anymore? Okay, fine. I can replace you." And it almost doesn't work! She doesn't believe him! This is the best part to me. Persephone trusts him, she trusts that he loves her, and when he says he's going to find someone else? She's visibly going "Oh please. No you won't." And then the verse keeps going and you see her start to second guess. The doubt creeps in. What if he does? She starts to believe him, just a little. And at the very end, you can see she *does* believe Hades. That he's going to find someone to replace her. That he'll leave her alone. That she'll get what she wanted. And its breaking her heart.
Alexandria Podolak
2024-09-02 13:49:51 +0000 UTCas of right now, the epic 3 video is a lyric video :)
jayden_arsonew
2024-09-02 13:49:48 +0000 UTCFirst off, that was a really nice low note! Hats off! Anyways, welcome to Chant, a lot of people's favorite song and one of the reasons I am personally unwell about Hades and Persephone in this musical. They've got such a messy relationship and I'm all here for it. But I'll get to them in a different comment so this doesn't get too long because it turns out I had a lot of feelings about them. First off, I think Hermes' design in this animatic is actually from the off Broadway costuming, with the hat and the suit and the stubble. Its interesting that it comes up here when everything else is from the Broadway production. And yes! It is the Fates that take Eurydice's things. In the stage play, since you can't have "the wind" take it, they have the three Fates literally rip her bag and coat away. And its not... I wouldn't call it violent in the stage play, because its not, but it feels a lot more visceral compared to this. Also, do you know what a company town is? Because that's sort of the vibe I've always gotten from Hadestown, the place this is set in, not the musical itself. That Hadestown is a company town and Hades is the miner owner/oil barren that runs it. Glad to see you're fully hooked by the way! There's not escaping now.
Alexandria Podolak
2024-09-02 13:25:03 +0000 UTCI really hope you check out some of the New York Theater Workshop versions of the songs once you're done with the show. I honestly love it more than the Broadway version (Orpheus is more flawed in it which put some people off, but personally I think it makes the story much more complex and better at the parallels between the couples). A lot of the songs were unchanged, but the ones that were had SUCH GOOD older versions. The Epics especially had a layer of poetry that ended up stripped down to make the story more straightforward. I understand the changes they made, but I'll always be attached to the version I discovered first. Chant is also a masterpiece imo. I really appreciate your perspective on it! You're a lot more empathetic to Orpheus than I am here lol. Yes obviously his song is important, but Eurydice is doing ALL the physical labor to keep them alive moment-to-moment. I honestly believe she'd be fine with his song coming slower if he helped her gather food and firewood (after all, she's used to how the world is. She knows what it takes to survive these winters). But right now all she has is vague hopes and promises of shelter while she's actively being endangered to keep them both alive. She's my favorite character in the musical though, so I'm obviously biased
XanEcho
2024-09-02 13:23:48 +0000 UTCWas just about to comment pretty much this.
Rose Franco
2024-09-02 09:35:02 +0000 UTCI love Chant so much! The red flower Orpheus keeps looking at is a flower he made bloom back in Wedding Song, the animatic you watched made it a gold ring instead but it's supposed to be the red flower
Nika
2024-09-02 09:13:16 +0000 UTCThe way the songs keep bleeding into each other is one of my favourite parts of Hadestown. I'm really glad to see that you're fully hooked now. I know you have a playlist with all the songs, I wanted to ask if you have an animatic for epic III because last I checked there were unfortunately no full animatics for the broadway version. I actually used to work on one, so if you don't have one yet I can try to finish it before you get to it.
Larkire
2024-09-02 07:53:02 +0000 UTCThis has convinced me to buy a membership once my trial runs out so I can see your next reactions to this earlier than waiting for YouTube to catch up 😅
AislingBee
2024-09-02 07:51:57 +0000 UTCChant is the absolutely best song!! I also always wondered why it's not the end of act 1 song, but we get another banger for that. Your reaction was great, very similar to my first time! it's great to see it through fresh eyes again, especially because you get so hyped <3 I wonder if the "keep your head low" chorus is stuck in your head now as well
Havanna J
2024-09-02 06:33:04 +0000 UTCChant is where you really start to understand how the relationship between Persephone and Hades has devolved and why it's causing so many problems for the overworld. I remember chant being my lightbulb moment for understanding a lot of the themes in the show.
Faeri
2024-09-02 05:51:12 +0000 UTCOoo I somehow hadn’t realized he was trying to make it like summertime down in the underworld to appeal to Persephone! How did I miss that? Nice catch :D
liminalpsych
2024-09-02 05:48:01 +0000 UTCIT'S CHANT TIME BAY-BEEEE, LESGOOOO
Macabrellian
2024-09-02 05:44:00 +0000 UTCI ended up not having the energy to stay up late but trust me it is on the list for next Friday for SURE
Mortius
2024-09-02 05:33:44 +0000 UTCOh my if the end of Chant is giving you the Big Ick I know exactly how you're gonna feel about Hey Little Songbird. I'm so excited for the rest of the show!!! For Wait For Me, I recommend reacting to the Broadway recorded version, the staging for it is actually amazing. I recommend listening to Hey Little Songbird, When The Chips Are Down, and Gone I'm Gone together, it kinda all goes together and forms the next piece of the puzzle before Wait For Me
Leia Elkins
2024-09-02 05:33:29 +0000 UTCI’m so thrilled that you’re fully in this story now! I think this show is exceptionally hard to follow and appreciate in its totality when separated from the stage visuals. (No shade to the animators, this material is tricky) However, you’re on top of it now and it’s absolutely thrilling! I’ve seen this live twice and have watched the *cough* bootleg *cough* multiple times so I can’t imagine the possible confusions that can arise. But even with all that exposure, I never realized that Hades seemed to be trying to make the underworld as appealing to Persephone as the overworld with all of his industrialization. That’s fascinating and I love it!
Laura Scott
2024-09-02 05:32:40 +0000 UTCOh dang...that was...awesome! But yep...I get icky vibes from Hades. As he gets more and more possessive Persephone dislikes it there more and more but Hades just doesn't want her to leave, so is trying to limit her time away from him or convince her to never leave him again. But she's not responding how he wants her to. Now he's like, if you don't want my "love" then I'll find someone that does. Dang...
Kenzie Wing
2024-09-02 05:12:03 +0000 UTCyessss I love chant I'm glad you loved it too. Can't wait for the next one
Suneater.mp4
2024-09-02 05:04:38 +0000 UTCoh my gosh im already clamoring for more😭
Sol Williamson
2024-09-02 04:58:26 +0000 UTCI knew your reaction to this would be my favorite reaction ever. It's amazing live. When you finish this you have to listen to the off Broadway recording. A different Hermes and Orpheus. Not better or worse. Just different and great.❤️
Elissa Newton
2024-09-02 04:51:44 +0000 UTCwe wouldn't mind an early continuation :P Chant is a really good song and benefits a lot from that seamless transition
Colby Zimmermann
2024-09-02 04:49:51 +0000 UTCYes yes yes yes yes, Chant is my favorite song in the whole show, I'm so excited to see you experience it ❤️
Jimmy Wise
2024-09-02 04:00:35 +0000 UTC
