I have a new file in my filing cabinet, called “Hadestown,” and in it I put all the hours and papers and feeling lucky to have been a part of it for a couple of nights at Club Passim (april 15-16) – and the note Anais Mitchell included with her CD when she sent it to me.
Anne Heaton, Melissa Myers and I were the three Fates, Peter Mulvey was Orpheus, Anais was Eurydice. Tim Gearan was Hades and Kris Delmhorst was Persephone, and Dinty Child was Hermes. Michael Chorney and the Hadestown orchestra provided those gorgeous arrangements. This was definitely the most people I’ve ever seen on the Passim stage – Matt Smith was rubbing his hands with glee! Almost all the songs were caught for youtube, by a user named jbos6 (click here to go to his Hadestown video playlist).
A fellow named Keith Bergendorff posted a kind of internet document of the show – complete with an embedded mp3 player with all the songs! He says he “joyfully mixed and mastered” them. I borrowed his player for this page:
Almost every background vocal was originally sung by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and since I am a big fan of his, I relished the task of mapping out his ideas to stage at Passim. Honestly, it was all about me, my midi keyboard, and Finale software last month. All the harmonies in the Fates’ songs (“when the chips are down” and “nothing changes”) were set by the Haden triplets.
It’s like 32 degrees outside today, but I’m remembering now that we rehearsed out in Dinty’s yard on the days before the show, we were singing under a tree and there were birds singing.
Read the Globe article about Hadestown at Boston.com.
