Theater History and Mysteries
The deepest dives you can find anywhere into the history and backstory of the great musical productions. Dense content...for people who aren't. And, I’ll never miss an opportunity to pursue any mystery, bizarre coincidence, improbable event, or supernatural suggestion along the way because, in the words of Dirk Gentley, it is all connected.
You can contact me directly at theaterhistorypodcast@gmail.com
Released every other Tuesday.
Music by Jon Bruschke and Andrew Howat, arranged, performed, and recorded by Andrew Howat.
Check out the interview on Musical Theater Radio, episode 404: https://www.musicaltheatreradio.com/podcast
Theater History and Mysteries
The Big Song in Hadestown -- Epic 3 (Hadestown 4/8, episode 33))
Hadestown Episode 4 script – The song (Epic 3)
What does it mean to be a tortured genius?
Does it mean getting your show to Broadway, and finding yourself unable to get out of bed one day, crushed by the weight of all the things that happen because of your work?
Maybe. And that happened to Dale Wasserman, the author of the Man of La Mancha.
Does it mean you wander around inside your own head, unable to tune out the art and music and math and magic inside your own cranium, also unable to conquer and control it?
Maybe. And we’ll see one of those is a character in HT.
Does it mean that you find yourself curled up in bed, knowing that you need to fix a song, working yourself past the point of exhaustion and insomnia and reason, unable to sleep, unable to stay awake, but more than anything, unable to stop working on a song?
Mabye. And that happened to the author of HT, Anais Mitchell.
Why is it so important to have that one song, the one that fits perfectly, that makes the show? Why was this the demon that stalked both Jonathan Larson and Anais Mitchell? We’ll find out this episode of THM.