One more change worth noting is that in early productions, the intro went like this:
Hermes: It echoed in the rocks and stones / When the poor boy asked the king
Orpheus: Can we go?
Hades: I don’t know
Hermes: And the walls were listening
I began to feel that I was abusing the rocks and stones metaphor, and I found another unwittingly funny moment. When Hermes says, And this is how he answered him the audience anticipates a No from Hades, because of the rhyme with go. I don’t know, especially in London, was a laugh line.
HIS KISS, THE RIOT
Hades (to himself)
The devil take this Orpheus
And his belladonna kiss
Beautiful and poisonous
Lovely! Deadly!
Dangerous, this jack of hearts
With his kiss, the riot starts
All my children came here poor
Clamoring for bed and board
Now what do they clamor for?
Freedom! Freedom
Have I made myself their lord
Just to fall upon the sword
Of some pauper’s minor chord
Who will lead them?
Who lays all the best-laid plans?
Who makes work for idle hands?
(to Hermes) Only one thing to be done
Let them go, but let there be some
Term to be agreed upon
Some . . . condition
Orpheus, the undersigned
Shall not turn to look behind
She’s out of sight!
And he’s out of his mind
Every coward seems courageous
In the safety of the crowd
Bravery can be contagious
When the band is playing loud
Nothing makes a man so bold
As a woman’s smile and a hand to hold
But all alone his blood runs thin
And doubt comes
Doubt comes in
Notes on “His Kiss, the Riot”
This one has remained mostly unchanged since the Vermont days, but there was one stanza that got cut at the last minute, in the crunch to shorten Act II for Broadway. It went like this:
Hades: Now it thickens on my tongue / Now it quickens in my lung / Now I’m stricken! Now I’m stung! / It’s done already . . .
I loved it, but the song lived happily without it. I made one other change in London. The song used to go:
Hades: Only one thing to be done / Let them think that they have won / Let them leave together under / One condition
This began to strike me as too dastardly for the complex character Hades was becoming. I didn’t want Hades’s final ultimatum to be a trick, but a test. I changed it to Let them go, but let there be some / Term to be agreed upon, which had the added benefit of feeling unpremeditated, a plot being hatched in real time.
WAIT FOR ME REPRISE INTRO
Orpheus (to Hermes)
What is it?
Hermes
Well, the good news is
He said that you can go
Eurydice
He did?
Orpheus & Workers
He did?
Hermes
He did . . .
There’s bad news, though
Eurydice
What is it?
Hermes
You can walk . . .
But it won’t be like you planned
Orpheus
What do you mean?
Eurydice
Why not?
Hermes
Well, you won’t be hand in hand
You won’t be arm-in-arm
Side by side, and all of that
(to Orpheus) He said you have to walk in front
And she has to walk in back
Orpheus
Why?
Hermes
And if you turn around
To make sure she’s coming too
Then she goes back to Hadestown
And ain’t nothing you can do
Eurydice
But why?
Hermes
Why build walls?
Make folks walk single file?
Divide and conquer’s what it’s called
Orpheus
It’s a trap?
Hermes
It’s a trial
Do you trust each other?
Do you trust yourselves?
Orpheus & Eurydice
We do
Hermes
Well, listen, brother
If you wanna walk outta hell
You’re gonna have to prove it
Before gods and men
Can you do that?
Orpheus & Eurydice
We can
Hermes
Alright . . . time to go
Orpheus
Mister Hermes!
Hermes
Yes?
Orpheus
It’s not a trick?
Hermes
No—
It’s a test
Notes on “Wait for Me Intro Reprise”
My favorite discovery in the writing of this scene was the trap/trial/trick/test language—it felt very Joseph Campbell—the mentor “testing” the hero. The “Wait for Me Intro Reprise” evolved, for Edmonton, out of the NYTW intro to “Promises,” the one that began with Hermes’s Here’s what Mister Hades said: He said he’d let you go.
There was another fragment of Hermes’s narration that I wrote for this spot, but never found a way to use:
Hermes: A poor boy and a hungry young girl / Walking single file / While the music played / Brother, they looked for all the world / Like they was walking down the aisle / On their wedding day
That image of a wedding procession haunts me still. It seems to contain the entire tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice within it, from wedding-day snakebite to ill-fated ascent. It’s possible that the line Make folks walk single file? is a vestige of that fragment.
WAIT FOR ME REPRISE
Hermes
The meanest dog you’ll ever meet
He ain’t the hound dog in the street
He bares some teeth and tears some skin
But brother, that’s the worst of him
The dog you really got to dread
Is the one that howls inside your head
It’s him whose howling drives men mad
And a mind to its undoing
Eurydice & Orpheus
Wait for me, I’m coming
Wait, I’m coming with you
Wait for me, I’m coming too
I’m coming too
Workers
Show the way so we can see
Show the way the world could be
If you can do it so can she
If she can do it so can we
Show the way the world could be
Show the way so we believe
We will follow where you lead
We will follow if you
Show the way
Persephone
You think they’ll make it?
Hades
I don’t know
Workers
Show the way
Persephone
Hades, you let them go
Workers
Show the way
Hades
I let them try
Persephone
And how ’bout you and I?
Workers
Show the way
Persephone
Are we gonna try again?
Workers
Show the way
Hades
It’s time for spring
We’ll try again next fall
Persephone
Wait for me
Hades
I will
Eurydice, Persephone, Fates, Workers
Wait for me, I’m coming
Wait, I’m coming with you
Wait for me, I’m coming too
I’m coming too
Fates
Who are you?
Who do you think you are?
Who are you?
Who are you to lead her?
Who are you to lead them?
Who are you to think that you can
Hold your head up higher than your fellow man?
Hermes
You got a lonesome road to walk
And it ain’t along the railroad track
And it ain’t along the blacktop tar
You’ve walked a hunnert times before
I’ll tell you where the real road lies
Between your ears, behind your eyes
That is the path to paradise
Likewise the road to ruin
Company
Wait for me, I’m coming
Wait, I’m coming with you
Wait for me, I’m coming too
Company (except Orpheus)
Wait for me, I’m coming
Wait, I’m coming with you
Wait for me, I’m coming too, I’m coming
Workers, Hermes, Persephone
Show the way
Eurydice
I’m coming, wait for me
Workers, Hermes, Persephone
Show the way
Eurydice
I hear the walls repeating
Workers, Hermes, Persephone
Show the way
Eurydice
The falling of my feet and
It sounds like drumming
Workers, Hermes, Persephone
Show the way
Eurydice
And we are not alone
Workers, Hermes, Persephone
Show the way
Eurydice
I hear the rocks and stones
Workers, Hermes, Persephone
Show the way
Eurydice
Echoing our song
I’m coming
Workers
Coming, coming . . .
Notes on “Wait for Me Reprise”
Vermont
The idea that the chorus of “Wait for Me” could be reprised and repurposed by Eurydice during the lovers’ ascent dates back to the second Vermont production. I remember it well, because I sang it myself! Back then, there was no intro scene, so the information about the terms of the release went into the body of the song:
Hades: Hermes!
Hermes: Hades!
Hades: Time to go / Time to bring this to a close / Time to lay this thing to rest
Hermes: Orpheus?
Hades: Orpheus / It’s all agreed / We’ve struck a deal / He’s free
Hermes: He’s free?
Hades: He’s free to walk
Hermes: And she?
Hades: To follow at his heel / And she, to follow at his back
Eurydice: Wait for me, I’m coming . . .
Hades: And she shall follow at his back / And she shall follow in his wake
Hermes: And what’s the catch?
Hades: The catch is this: / He shall not turn to see her face / And if he turns, the game is up / The deal is off, his race is run / And that’s the end of Orpheus / You’ll see it done?
Eurydice: Wait for me, I’m coming . . .
Off-Broadway & Edmonton
That early stab at the reprise didn’t feel strong enough to make it onto the studio record, so I started from scratch in the workshops leading up to NYTW when I wrote Hermes’s “advisory” verses (The meanest dog you’ll ever meet . . .) and the recitative exchange between Hades and Persephone (You think they’ll make it?).
London & Broadway
For London, the song got a major overhaul. The first thing I added was the Show the way verse and refrain for the Workers. It was an attempt to address a long-standing note from Rachel about tracking the significance of the walk, not just for our young lovers, but for the world at large. It had the side effect of really putting the pressure on poor Orpheus. I also added the outro for Eurydice, which parallels the first “Wait for Me” outro, and became a showcase for Eva Noblezada’s earth-shattering belt.
Finally, in my quest to respond to Ken’s note about having Orpheus “go a few rounds” with the Fates before the final battle of “Doubt Comes In,” I added the Fates’ Who are you? interlude to this song. It’s worth noting that I initially tried to put the interlude in a whole different song—“Chant Reprise”—but it didn’t work, either musically or dramatically, and this structure paralleled the first “Wait for Me.” Symmetry!
Hades’s line used to go: It’s almost spring / We’ll try again next fall. I preferred that line poetically, and still do. But it didn’t land forcefully enough the idea that Hades was now at least somewhat willing to restore balance in the world. It’s time for spring was more resolute.
There’s a double chorus near the end of “Wait for Me Reprise”: the first chorus is accompanied by the band, and the second is a cappella. In my efforts to shorten Act II, I tried multiple times to cut one or the other of these choruses. I remember a production meeting in London at which Todd Sickafoose declared he was “going down with” the double chorus; it felt absolutely essential to him as a slingshot into the outro. We conducted an experiment in London previews where we tried first the single and then the double chorus. The audience let us know loud and clear that there was something alchemically right about the double—their applause that night overrode the transition into “Doubt Comes In”—so we kept it.
DOUBT COMES IN
Orpheus
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la . . .
Fates
Doubt comes in
The wind is changing
Doubt comes in
How cold it’s blowing
Doubt comes in
And meets a stranger
Walking on a road alone
Where is she?
Where is she now?
Doubt comes in
Orpheus
Who am I?
Where do I think I’m going?
Fates
Doubt comes in
Orpheus
Who am I?
Why am I all alone?
Fates
Doubt comes in
Orpheus
Who do I think I am?
Who am I to think that she would follow me
Into the cold and dark again?
Fates
Where is she?
Where is she now?
Eurydice
Orpheus
Are you listening?
Workers
Are you listening?
Eurydice
I am right here
Workers
We are all right here
Eu
rydice
And I will be till the end
Workers
Will be till the end
Eurydice
And the coldest night
Workers
Coldest night
Eurydice
Of the coldest year
Workers
Coldest year
Eurydice & Workers
Comes right before the spring
Orpheus
La la la la la la la
La la la la la la . . .
Who am I?
Who am I against him?
Who am I?
Why would he let me win?
Why would he let her go?
Who am I to think that he wouldn’t deceive me
Just to make me leave alone?
Fates
Doubt comes in
The wind is changing
Orpheus
Is this a trap that’s being laid for me?
Fates
Doubt comes in
How dark it’s grown
Orpheus
Is this a trick that’s being played on me?
Working on a Song Page 16
