"See, on the road to Hell there was a railroad line..."

It's time for a deep dive into the Broadway musical, Hadestown. We get into how the musical adapts the Grek myths of Orpheus and Eurydice & Hades and Persephone for a modern setting; the love stories–and tragedy–of the two core relationships; and the productive ambiguity of seeing it all happen on stage. 

Content Warning: Discussions of S*xual Assault from (1:06:41 - 1:14:05)

Show Notes:

Other Lit Mentioned this episode: The Story of Ming Lang, Lore Olympus, When I Arrived at the Castle, Speak, Beka Cooper Trilogy, Alanna the Lioness Quartet

On Future SLL Episodes: Divorce Comedies (featuring Dr. Cha, Strangers Again, and Let's Get Divorced), and A Court of Thorns and Roses

Don't forget to subscribe to Sex. Love. Literature! You can find us on Instagram and Threads @SexLoveLit, and on Tumblr @SexLoveLitPodcast

Our cover art is by Charcooll (⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/charcooll/⁠⁠⁠). The SLL Theme music is “Pluck It Up” by Dan Henig. What’s Sparking Joy BGM is "Candy-Coloured Sky" by Catmosphere | https://soundcloud.com/ctmsphr; Released by Paper Crane Collective; Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com; Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US

SLL is a podcast relishing the romantic, the sexy, and the scandalous in pop-culture. English academics by day and podcasters by night, hosts Ayanni and Corinne take a semi-scholarly look at why the “sex-stuff” in media matters in the bedroom—and beyond.

Episode Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:08 Opening Banter

03:40 What's Sparking Joy

9:43 Introducing Hadestown

18:07 Characters and Plot

33:45 What We Loved about Hadestown

41:50 Is Hadestown a Successful Myth Adaptation?

44:57 The Cycle of Hadestown

49:57 Intertwined Love Stories

1:14:07 Hadestown's Other Themes

1:25:31 On the Climax...

1:31:29 Last Thoughts

1:34:56 Next time on SLL