Mara Isaacs and Dale Franzen, the producers of Hadestown, which played an acclaimed run earlier this year at New York Theatre Workshop, along with Brian Joosten from Warner Music Group, have announced the release of an EP with four exclusive tracks from the show. Anaïs Mitchell's award-winning and twice-extended folk opera was recorded live June 28 and 29.
A release of the full album can be expected in 2017. Download the EP here.
The first song on the EP is “Why We Build the Wall,” which Mitchell said is one of the oldest songs in the show. “I never expected it to feel new again,“ commented the songwriter. “But when Patrick Page and the Company sang those lines over the spring and summer at New York Theatre Workshop, it felt like they were channeling the fear-mongering and the mob mentality of a modern-day rally. It was chilling to witness.”
Watch the video below:
The upcoming full album (and this pre-release EP) is produced for Warner Music Group by David Lai and Todd Sickafoose. Isaacs, Franzen, and Don Erik Franzen are executive producers. Paula Marie Black is associate producer.
The Off-Broadway premiere of Hadestown began performances May 6 and officially opened May 23. The new work, which was the recipient of a Richard Rodgers Production Award, follows Orpheus’ mythical quest to overcome Hades and regain his one true love, Eurydice. The show is inspired by traditions of classic American folk music and vintage New Orleans jazz.
The cast of Hadestown featured Nabiyah Be (Queen of the Night) as Eurydice, Damon Daunno (Brief Encounter) as Orpheus, Lulu Fall (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) as a Fate, Amber Gray (An Octoroon) as Persephone, Patrick Page (Spring Awakening) as Hades, Jessie Shelton (Futurity) as a Fate, Chris Sullivan (The Knick) as Hermes and Shaina Taub (Old Hats) as a Fate.
The production featured music direction by Liam Robinson; arrangements and orchestrations by Michael Chorney; and co-arrangements and orchestrations and music supervision by Sickafoose. Hadestown was co-conceived by Ben T. Matchstick.
