并非每个百老汇作曲家都能打包教堂最时髦的场所之一。但这是AnaïsMitchell，他是一位歌手词曲作者和表演者，他为6月7日星期二的《 Hadestown》（Hadestown）写了这本书，音乐和歌词，直到7月3日在百老汇的Orpheum剧院举行。
The Tony Award-winning show weaves together the Greek myths of Orpheus and Eurydice — who can escape the underworld only if Orpheus never looks back at his beloved — and Hades and Persephone — who marry but live together only part of the year, with Persephone’s movements marking the changes of the seasons. It boasts music that you could play at a party without ever getting accused of being a musical theater geek. It’s raw and stripped-down, dangerous and driving, musical theater’s one cool family member.
5月7日的教堂露面之后，《纪事报》与米切尔（Mitchell）进行了交谈。这次对话已被编辑，以进行长度和清晰度。
Q: How would you compare writing for musical theater and touring as a singer-songwriter? Do the industries and art forms have much in common?
A:我来自一个非常注重故事的歌曲创作学校，就像许多民间音乐一样，民谣传统，《德克萨斯州皇家》作曲家的传统。人们来找故事，从这个意义上讲，情况并没有什么不同。
我喜欢了解剧院的世界。这不是我成长或训练的东西。其他人承担很多责任。有反馈，有对话，有所改进 - 从所有方面：“这件作品可以通过这种方式得到改善”，并且“这可以通过这种方式改善我们的行业”。有很多有意识的，主动的对话。在音乐中，还有更多的感觉。
One of the things I really loved about working with (“Hadestown” director) Rachel Chavkin is that she would always say, “You have to make a choice in order to then make a better choice creatively.” You have to see an idea all the way through, put it on its feet, even if it’s not right, and then be able to make a choice from there. I think a lot of times when I’m writing alone in my room or just with music, it’s easy to get paralyzed by the options and not roll the thing forward.
问：这让我想起了您在教堂上分享的有关加入一日游乐队的故事。您说，快速工作可以为您提供一些创造性的访问，并慢慢工作为您提供其他类型。
A:I did the song-a-day thing twice, and both times found it really generative. I would want to go in later and edit and rework those things, but there was enough there that felt inspired.
我没有根据自己的学习来采用计划。But if I were to, I would be trying to work slowly and quickly at the same time, at all times: I am chipping away at this thing, but I’m just going to toss one off today also, in order to get access to that lightning feeling, and maybe it becomes easier to access it at other times.
问：花了很多时间来想象黑社会写的“哈德斯敦”使您对死亡有所不同？
A:关于黑社会故事的讲述是以某种方式抽象的，因此它不是字面的死亡。这有点像生命的生活，或者选择安全或财富的选择，或者以牺牲喜悦，自由和自发性为代价 - 以及强迫性的工作，强迫性工业主义。那是从哪里来的？那是什么冲动？我觉得我在自己的脑海中锻炼一些我认为居住在我们所有人中的空间。
我们的词典中已经有太多的语言将其与死亡进行了比较：僵硬地工作，锻炼身体。
Q: The show also connects Greek myth to climate change. How did you get that idea?
A:我受到美国民间音乐的影响和启发，包括整个伍迪·古斯里·佳能（Woody Guthrie Canon）以及抗议音乐和工会组织音乐的想法。这个故事从萧条时代带来了很多灵感 - 关于Dust Bowl的歌曲以及老板和联盟的想法，美国人如此。在希腊神话中，哈德斯有时被称为富人。地下有一些东西；这是我们购买黄金和石头的地方，也是我们获得化石燃料的地方。有这些财富；那里有宝藏。
哈德斯（Hades）有这场陷入困境的婚姻，与珀斯弗内（Persephone）的这种奇怪的关系，他是季节的女王，平衡女王和自然女王，这是非常有意义的。
Even in the Depression era, there were natural disasters that were man-made. That was a precedent to what we experience now with the fires and the storms; they’re natural processes, but they also are man-made. They are a result of us taking the wealth out of the world.
问：您是如何首先对希腊神话感兴趣的？
A:I remember encountering a children’s illustrated book of myths — the “D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths” — when I was a kid. Actually, my 8-year-old is super into them now. I can remember reading the Orpheus myth from a really early age. It just had a hold on me: the beauty of this character who’s going to try to change the rules of the world with his beautiful music, and then also the way that it ends, how close he comes and doesn’t win. It’s like you’re all set up for this Hollywood ending, and then you don’t get it. That alone, I think, has kept people coming back to the story.
最难写的角色是Orpheus。花了多年的时间试图弄清楚他是谁以及他想成为谁。由于他的工作 - 他尝试了这一不可能的事情 - 我一直认为他是一个疯狂的乐观主义者。
Early on, he was a much more self-aware and confident character. I didn’t ever intend it to be this way, but he came across as kind of cocky and entitled. It made it hard for people to fall in love with him. It turned out that the more naive he became, the more innocent he became, the more it felt right.
He has a gift. He can see the way the world could be; he can make this beautiful music. But he’s also deficient in this other way where he almost can’t live in the reality of the world around him, and for that reason he lets down Eurydice, because she has needs he’s not able to meet.
Q: Why do you think Orpheus looks back?
A:故事的一部分是，最后，如果他能保留这种信仰，几乎就像他本可以做到的一样。但这几乎就像他看到的太多了，就像他在世界上太久了一样，他没有那种在去那里之前的盲目信任。
Orpheus has to have loved and lost in order to speak truth to the king, to be able to say, “I know what it’s like for you. I know what it’s like to be in love and to have the woman that you love be far from you.” He shows Hades a version of himself as a young man. But then by the time he’s put to the test, it’s like he’s aged too much.
在百老汇扮演哈迪斯的帕特里克·佩奇（Patrick Page）说，“哈德斯敦”是一个龙的故事。出发前往杀死龙的男孩永远不会杀死龙，但旅程使男孩成为男孩。
“Hadestown”:Book, music and lyrics by Anaïs Mitchell. Directed by Rachel Chavkin. Tuesday, June 7. Through Sunday, July 3. $56-$256. Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., S.F. 888-746-1799.www.broadwaysf.com