I Saw "Hadestown" In London: An Analysis

I saw “Hadestown” on December 27th and right afterwards I wrote a quick post where I went over a few main points that I wanted to dissect further. Previously I listened to just the bootleg where I did truthfully miss a bunch of stuff and made a lot of comments and I may refer back to some of them in this post so the link for that post is here.

To understand my perspective: The original is quite possibly my favorite musical of all time, I’m a person who sees shows in New York City on a regular basis, I’m an American who basically went over to see my British boyfriend who lives in London (also a fan of “Hadestown” but not as much as me) on the agreement that he buy the “Hadestown” tickets and I pay the air fare, and I have stolen his laptop for the evening to write this. Also it has been two days since I saw it and he and I have discussed it a lot so the overwhelming aspects have worn off and I may forget some hopefully minor details.

8. The set and staging give me LIFE. During “Way Down Hadestown” I literally smacked my boyfriend’s leg just to ensure that he was seeing what I was seeing. We also did a lot of pointing but it was mostly at either Amber Gray or Patrick Page doing subtle acting things in the corner.

I’m actually going to start on a positive note and end on a positive note so let’s talk about this first since it will help lay the groundwork for other details.

I was originally pretty unimpressed with the set. There was no curtain or anything so the set was just there when we got in and when the show started the actors just went out and took their seats. I remembered reading in a review of the show that it looked like the backroom of a church in New Orleans and I kind of see what they mean but it was more evocative than direct. It actually reminded me a bit of the set from “Once” with less character.

It’s a mostly light wood set in a half circle with steps and the musicians are sitting on the steps. Above that there’s a balcony that is very French Quarter with a black iron spiral staircase and there’s a huge set of double doors behind the balcony. When the show starts, Hades and Persephone are sitting on the balcony and they basically chill there until their respective entrances into the show, which I thought was cool but I was constantly watching them just because I love them and both Amber Gray and Patrick Page never stop acting so it’s fun to see little things like Hades reading the newspaper and Persephone fanning herself and looking bored. It also hurt my brain to contemplate that they are Underworld gods who are in the Underworld when they are on the balcony but they’re above everyone else? It doesn’t totally make sense but it looks cool.

On the half circle stage below there are a bunch of tables and chairs during the first half of act one where the chorus are chilling in modern work clothes (I forgot to mention the clothes, damnit; I’ll do it after this). Most of the Orpheus and Eurydice action in the first half of act one happens here with some minor going-up-on-the-steps. Hermes is positioned stage right for nearly the whole show with a few small moments of dancing with Persephone during “Living It Up On Top” and “Way Down Hadestown.” This fact will be important later.

The first really key aspect to the staging is the turntable on the floor. I don’t know the proper terminology but it’s a three layered turntable, which doesn’t do anything in the show all the way until “Way Down Hadestown” at which point it becomes an essential feature. Amusingly, the audience seemed fairly unsure of the show until that song, which seemed to win everyone over because 1. it’s a banger and 2. that’s when the show started to get epic. That song is obviously a big number and it starts with this dance Persephone instigates that I will discuss specifically in the section on Amber Gray’s performance but what you need to know is that she’s in the center of the circle and most of the action happens there. Of course, if you are watching above you see Hades in the balcony putting on his coat and sunglasses before he descends the spiral staircase for “You’re early.” “I missed ya.” He helps Persephone put on her coat and then they go to stand in the center circle which raises up to put them above everyone which is the position they’re in when Eurydice says her line. This gives Hades a good vantage point to notice her, setting the stage for “Hey Little Songbird.” After Hades’ “one, two, three, four” the platform descends slowly into the ground as smoke raises up around them and I lost myself. It was epic.

From there the turn tables got used a lot. “Chant 1” had Hades and Persephone on the center as a platform with the chorus on the first outer circle and Orpheus or Eurydice on the furthest circle. “Chant II” was similar with Eurydice in the middle circle with the workers, Orpheus in the first rung, and Hades and Persephone on the outer rung walking in opposite directions, opposed to each other. In “Wait For Me II” the turntable is used to break part Hades and Persephone’s clasped hands. During “Gone I’m Gone” Eurydice descends into the floor the same way Hades and Persephone did in “Way Down” and she doesn’t emerge again until her solo in “Why We Build The Wall” where she literally comes out of the floor to show her devotion to the cause. I’m pretty sure Orpheus also descends into the floor during “Wait For Me” among a ton of smoke. During “How Long” the circle is open which literally forces Hades and Persephone to sing to each other across a gap between them (symbolism!). And finally, when Orpheus turns around, Eurydice descends into the floor again, slowly and tragically.

The other really big set thing that happens is during “Wait For Me” when the set breaks apart into three pieces, creating two narrow streets that characters can walk down. This is basically the Underworld set and through the magic of lighting mostly, looks entirely different. At this point, I kind of understood why the set was so bare and bereft of color. Once “Why We Build The Wall” starts, you feel less like you are in an enclosed area and more like you are in a huge city. The table and chairs on the balcony disappear and that huge set of double doors is now the entrance to Hades’ office.

Some aspects of the original NY production remain but in different ways. The double headed mic which was apparently integral to the original staging is still there but it is mostly off to the side. Hades uses it during “Why We Build The Wall” and it gets a few other cameos but it no longer seems to have any symbolic meaning itself. The swinging lights from “Wait For Me” are there and the Fates still use lanterns during that song and “Doubt Comes In” which was expertly staged with lighting and smoke to have Eurydice disappear and reappear. 

Oh and during “I conduct the electric city” there’s a little explosion of the lights because Hades is a drama queen.

I forget costumes. Okay, here you go.

I said this before somewhere else but the costumes need work just because they are not really cohesive. The gods are all in some kind of 1930s-ish look (although Persephone’s dress (it’s two dresses but they are the same in two colors) could read as 80s) and seem to have varying levels of shiny to their outfits. Hermes and the Fates have very shiny outfits, Persephone’s has some kind of glitzy in the detailing on her dress and the pinstripes on Hades’ suit really sparkle in certain lights. Hades also has shiny sleeve garters (is that what they’re called) and, curiously, a red back on his vest. My boyfriend said that the red back isn’t really apparent until scenes where Hades is vulnerable with Persephone so I guess that’s it’s symbolic purpose.

Also, Hades’ wall tattoo. I don’t know. It’s somehow cool and lame at the same time.

This is contrasted with the chorus and Orpheus and Eurydice who are kind of in shabby modern clothes. It’s weird and it may have something to do with choices made regarding the setting that I will get to at Point One.

1. The addition of the climate change thing, Orpheus’ ignorance about the gods, and the new “Epic” origin and how this diminishes the essence of a creator and kind of makes Eurydice seems more unreasonable.

So I said in my bootleg post that I liked how they redid “Anyway The Wind Blows” to be a character development moment for Eurydice and I stand by that but it also instigates a more overt addition of climate change as a theme in the show. Eurydice sings, “Strange things happen in the world today./Fall comes early, spring comes late” which I didn’t know the meaning of when I listened to the boot. Climate change was already kind of an under-the-surface idea in the original but now it’s very literal.

It turns out that the weather has changed because Hades is basically trying to keep Persephone with him as much as possible. This is explained directly as him keeping her with him because their marriage is going poorly and he’s afraid if he lets her leave that she won’t come back. I think this is totally fine, by the way, especially because it suits the original theme about doubt and trust.

Here’s where it gets weird. Orpheus was always kind of magic. His singing manifests Persephone in both the original and this one when he sings about her. In this one, Orpheus first creates a flower with his music which he gives to Eurydice and it becomes a big symbol in the show. The change is that in this production, he seems to be singing about the story of Hades and Persephone because he somehow has dreamed up this “la la la la la la la” tune which Hermes tells him straight out is the tune of an old song that, if he can bring about the rest of the words, will fix the climate change. This really takes away Orpheus’ music credentials and kind of changes his motivations from “write music, save girlfriend” to “write music to save the world and oh my girlfriend too”. More on their relationship in Point Three.

To digress slightly, Orpheus doesn’t even know that the gods are real until Hermes (a literal god, by the way) tells him that Hades and Persephone are real and they control the weather. His lines from “Way Down Hadestown” have gone to Persephone since he doesn’t actually know anything about Hadestown. This asks the question: is “Hadestown” set in the modern day? The near future? It doesn’t seem to be an alternate Great Depression setting, which the original seemed to be. If it is the modern day or near future, what’s up with the gods throwback clothes?

Anyway, in the original Orpheus’ commitment to writing a song about Hades and Persephone came off more as the devotion a creator experiences when they personally connect with a subject. He is fixated on their relationship, not because fixating on it will have some grand purpose, but because he connects to their story and is moved by it (and because it ends up as a parallel to his own). In the original, it also seems that Orpheus is kind of friendly with Persephone, like they’ve met before, so that could be a very strong case for his commitment. This is why in the original “Chant I”, Eurydice very much so has every reason to be pissed at him for ignoring her for the song. It is the essence of someone who creates to be fixated on their creation, occasionally to the determent of their relationships. In this version, since Orpheus is trying to write the song to literally save the world, Eurydice’s complaints feel more selfish.

A sort of “reveal” about the origin of “Epic” comes in “Epic III” when he is singing to Hades and Hades asks him how he knew about the “la la” melody because apparently, it’s actually a tune Hades came up with as a response to his love for Persephone. When Hades sings the tune he also manifests a flower, which Persephone puts in the pocket of his vest (the flower matches the back of it, by the way). I originally didn’t like this idea on the basis of “but Hades isn’t a musician” to which my boyfriend smartly replied, “but that incomplete melody isn’t something a musician would come up with.” Dang, he’s right.

I don’t mind the explanation about Hades’ doubt that Persephone will return causing climate change or even the fact that the tune was originally Hades’ but I hate both Orpheus’ ignorance about the gods and the directly stated idea that the song will fix the world. They severely weaken both Orpheus and Eurydice’s characters.

2. More on the “revolution” idea I discussed after I listened to the boot and why it conflicts with the main themes of doubt and love. Also how the chorus is both good and bad.

The second half of Act Two has developed communist tendencies and we need to talk about this. I joked a long time ago that Orpheus is a commie and Hades is a greedy capitalist, but that subtext has rapidly become text. In the original, Orpheus shows his red scarf with his line in “Living It Up On Top” about giving you a song for free. This line is gone now, which weakens his character, but let’s focus on the chorus.

Instead of the subtext we now have this “Show me the way” theme in the later portion of the show that seems to imply that if Orpheus can get Eurydice out of Hadestown, everyone can escape and be free. Eurydice even says, “What about them?” meaning the workers when she is encouraging Orpheus to leave***. But like, they’re dead? Why would they have a revolution?

In the original, the threat of Hades losing control of Hadestown was present because the shades were all taught to question by Orpheus in “If It’s True” and then they watched as Hades proposes the deal with Orpheus. There was never really a set up that said the shades would revolt; in fact it was supposed to be Hades’ doubt in their loyalty that drove him to make the deal instead of just letting Orpheus and Eurydice leave outright as a gift for sort of fixing his marriage. By making the threat literal,  Hades seems way more reasonable for his willingness to make a deal and the shades also seem less reasonable when in “His Kiss, The Riot” Hades explains that he gave them jobs because they were suffering. Hell, if his marriage is fixed he may not need all his emotional support industry anymore and he won’t work them as hard.

This whole change reads as trying to fix a problem that was never there.

Now to address the chorus. The original didn’t have a chorus so this is an addition and it is sometimes great and sometimes not. It’s great whenever there are choral bits from the original where the workers are supposed to be singing but were originally just the main actors. The downside is that they overuse the chorus during times when the focus should be more personal. The single worst case of this is in “Come Home With Me” where the chorus is saying Orpheus’ lines with him. It’s also pretty bad in “Wait For Me” where there seems to be way more chorus than before and a superfluous bit where the stones let him in that seems to be added solely to justify the fact that the chorus of workers is singing with him. Dial it back, guys.

All this community really detracts from the core connection between the two relationships at the heart of this story. This is a story that focuses on individual relationships in the grand scheme and now it is trying to fit too many things in at once.

*** There is a slight implied idea that Eurydice is so self interested that this is character development for her, which I guess if she is self interested this would explain her not caring about Orpheus’ world saving song. But also, she learns to care about one (1) singy boy in addition to herself. This brotherhood idea comes off a bit forced.

3. How Eva is the perfect Eurydice and Reeve is an acceptable Orpheus, but there’s something off here (feat. Choreography from “All I’ve Ever Known”)

Going off the idea of personal vs. public moments, let’s talk about Eurydice and Orpheus.

Eva Noblezada is absolutely ridiculous as Eurydice. She blew me away. Every note was astounding. “Flowers”, one of my least favorite songs in the show, made me cry when she sang it because she felt every word and made you feel it. They have seriously lucked out with her.

Reeve Carney is okay. He has greatly improved over time (my boyfriend admitted that he actually likes his falsetto more than Damon Duanno’s) but when he’s up against Eva, Amber, and Patrick, he’s clearly the weakest link. Also, to apologize for something I said in my bootleg review where I was irritated by him singing like Lou Reed, he does this mostly as an acting thing to show Orpheus trying to come up with lyrics he doesn’t already have so it’s fine.

The problem is between them and I’m not even so sure if it’s their chemistry, which I originally suspected. So many of the parts of the show that really drive home how much Orpheus loves Eurydice have been changed so that they focus more on Orpheus’ man pain (especially “If It’s True” and “Doubt Comes In”).

The most awkward part of this dynamic difficulty comes in with the choreography for “All I’ve Ever Known.” Throughout the song, they’re doing a bunch of different things that are clearly meant to show aspects of their relationship: they have a kind of simulated sex moment, laying next to each other, piggy back rides, jumping into his arms, etc. It feels unnatural and like they are trying to convey a passing of time which isn’t really needed if the audience buys the relationship.

My boyfriend actually had a great solution here: Eurydice sings forlornly to herself at the beginning, then she sings to Orpheus during the rest. Instead of choreography, he takes her in his arms like she says in the song and everything is very simple and intimate.

As for the rest? “If It’s True” really needs to go back to its original lyrics. It’s now really strange how a song about Orpheus’ man pain and doubt of Hades’ words is the song that “broke [Persephone’s] heart in two” when the original song was a tearful plea about how much he loved her and much more worthy of Persephone’s sympathy.

4. Amber Gray is literally perfect even when she accidently spills water on herself at the curtain call.

Damnit. Give her the Tony right now, I swear.

I mentioned before that Amber never stops acting for even a second and oh, do I mean it. Amber has been playing this role for a long time and it shows because her performance is fully integrated. There are so many details that just make her a consistent delight to watch.

During “Road To Hell” she’s excitedly clapping for everyone (amusingly Hades claps unenthusiastically for everyone expect Persephone who he stands up for) and throughout the moments leading up to her intro, she’s leaning on the balcony bored, glaring at Hades, looking around like she’s waiting for time to pass, etc.

Right before “Living It Up On Top” she puts on her coat and goes around to give Hades a kiss on the cheek and when he doesn’t really respond she waves her hand dismissively at him before clumsily going down the stairs. “Living It Up” is a weird number to see because I always imagined it really upbeat but this performance felt kind of bleak. I think they slowed down the tempo and also the choreography left a lot to be desired. But even more than that is the way Amber Gray plays it. Instead of being a happy drunk like I was expecting, she’s a drunk with underlying melancholy. She isn’t drinking to have fun; she’s drinking to get through the day and it shows. You can barely bop along with it because you know that this is all artifice for Persephone because her marriage is falling apart.

During “Way Down Hadestown” this somehow gets even worse and it’s brilliantly played. Persephone slumps over when she hears the train coming and looks comatose until she slowly starts dancing in a way that builds and builds until it becomes this frenzied one woman performance that no one knows how to react to. It was some of the best choreography in the show and throughout the whole song you can see this mix of emotions Persephone is feeling. She doesn’t want to go back to Hades because it’s so hard being with him but she’s also sad because she wishes things were better between them, but she’s happy to be above ground but she can never forget her problems really.

“Why We Build The Wall” is such an intense thing in general but again, I was blown away by Amber and what she was doing. During the song, Persephone is now in her black dress (I thought the costume change would be after Act One but nope) and she’s standing to the left of Hades while he sings. It looked to me like the kind of positioning you see when a politician is admitting to something horrible so he has his wife next to him to make him look better. She sings with this expression that says she’s going through the motions, moreso than anyone else.

Then Eurydice comes into Hadestown and Persephone is shook. Initially it seems to be a sort of dull surprise and mild horror that Hades has made good on his statement about finding someone who will appreciate his town. At the end of the song proper, however, she slumps backwards as if she has given up, kind of an opposite slump to “Way Down Hadestown,” and as Hades passes her on his way up to his office with Eurydice, he taps her on the arm which seems to bring her back to life* and she moves downstage, trying to subtly wipe tears from her eyes. It’s kind of the first real moment in the show when you see how much Persephone cares about Hades and it really makes her “Anybody want a drink?” line similar to “Living It Up On Top”: fun in theory but masking a deep unhappiness. The audience still laughed though.

“Our Lady Of The Underground” is a show stopper. Amber sings the hell out of it, but there is this really great moment right at the end when the workers are all raiding her bag and she just looks like she has come down from her high only to have life hit her.

She’s still on stage during “Way Down Hadestown II” when Eurydice comes in now wearing her worker uniform. She lingers near Eurydice and listens to the fact that Eurydice didn’t actually do anything with Hades aside from sign a contract and die and that she’s not special at all but just another worker. When Persephone realizes that her husband didn’t cheat on her and that he was just trying to make her jealous, she kind of scoffs at Eurydice and walks off triumphantly.

“How Long” and “Chant II” I mentioned the staging of and oh, Amber sells the pleading and the anger.

I’ll talk about “Lover’s Desire” and “Wait For Me II” in Point Six.

That’s mostly it. At the end of the curtain call “I Raise My Cup” (which is a bit different and I should probably talk about it) Amber Gray drank from the cup and spilled water on herself. I don’t think it was on purpose but it was amusing and I was just surprised to see there was actually something in the cup.

Again, give her a Tony.

*The arm tap thing is interesting and I’ve thought about it a lot. On one hand, it could be Hades wanting to make sure she’s paying attention to the fact that he’s going to his office with Eurydice, which is a dick move but definitely in line with where Hades is at this moment. On the flip side, he could be trying to reassure her that he sees her and nothing is really going to happen with Eurydice and it’s just business. Clearly, she takes it the first way, but the intention really is ambiguous.

5. What did you do to the later half of act two’s best lyrics?! (AND MUSIC PARTS)

I mentioned most of these as they affect Orpheus and Eurydice’s relationship (“If it’s True”, “Doubt Comes In”) but I will call out a few new things.

“Epic III” is shorter for no reason.

“Promises” is cut in half and no longer has that moment of resolution in the first half that I thought was so amazing for showing the development of Orpheus and Eurydice’s relationship. Also, no string interlude.

The accordion interlude in “His Kiss, The Riot” is now really discordant and isn’t as good.

“Wait For Me II” suffers from revolution. Same with “Chant II”. “Chant II” also lost Persephone’s lines about banging Hades in a garden, which is probably because someone said, “Uh, Persephone says she’s going to give Eurydice advice and then doesn’t.” I mean, they’re right, but I didn’t see that as a problem.

And to note a dialogue change, when Orpheus turns around in the original there’s no dialogue, just Eurydice’s gasp, but there was a brief period of time where she said “You’re early” and he responded with “I missed you.” This was iconic and never should have been removed. Now he says “It’s you” and she says “It’s me” which is kind of a callback to what they say when he arrives in the Underworld but oh, the other dialogue is so much more on point. With a good subtle thing like that, maybe they could finally trash Persephone saying outright that Orpheus and Eurydice are just like she and Hades used to be (an additional bit of dialogue before “How Long” which is just lazy).

There’s a specific choice towards the end that I really want to address though. During “Road To Hell II” the show ends by restarting. In theory, this is a great idea because the show is cyclical in nature and with its themes. Eurydice comes in looking for a match in her original clothes. Persephone comes in wearing her green dress.

The problem with this is that they still sing “I Raise My Cup”. They changed some of the lyrics to be more universal but it still talks about where Orpheus is half the time and it’s like, um, he’s standing right there? It doesn’t totally work. I say one of these things need to be cut or “Cup” needs to be completely universal and not about Orpheus at all.

6. Why does the text imply that Hades is evil when his character is the same as it’s always been and he’s actually super sympathetic most of the time? (Feat. How Patrick Page gets Hades in a way no one else does)

I mentioned the disconnect already so I’ll just talk about Patrick Page.

Patrick Page, being that he possesses a voice that sounds like the rumbling of the Earth, primarily seems to play villains. I first saw him as Frollo in “Hunchback” which was great but it took a while for me to hear Hades and not Frollo when I listened to “Hadestown.” Because of this type-casting, he is clearly psyched to play Hades. His Twitter and anything he ever says about the show conveys how much he loves the show and loves the character. Specially, he seems to love the fact that Hades isn’t a villain and that Hades’ primary motivation is really his love for his wife with a secondary motivation of keeping his kingdom running smoothly.**

Like Amber, he has been playing this role since the beginning and it shows. Like Amber, he has all the subtle details down. I mentioned the standing up when Persephone is announced but in the beginning he also rolls his eyes when Hermes is playing to the audience and I’m right there with him honestly. He lowers his sunglasses at Eurydice in “Way Down Hadestown” in this intrigued way. He is genuinely scary during “Why We Build The Wall” and every aspect of act two shows how much he cares about Persephone.

My boyfriend particularly was effected by him in “Epic III” and how he loses his composure and reunites with Persephone when he makes the flower appear.

The dance in “Lover’s Desire” is interesting because it starts as a slow two step (they’re in step now, get it) and then escalates and ends with him really showing vulnerability by burying his face into her shoulder. Yes, I cried.

I think the prime subtle moment for Patrick Page though comes during “His Kiss, The Riot.” When he says the word “beautiful” he looks directly at Persephone before looking away on “poisonous”. Nice.

He also should get a Tony,

**The villain of “Hadestown” is doubt.

7. Andre DeShields is a totally different Hermes.

I have talked at length about the four main characters but technically there is a fifth and there’s kind of a reason why I saved him for last.

Hermes in the original felt very much like a part of the show because he is the narrator but was also very clearly present during all the action of the show. Whenever I see stills of the original show or the Canada show, Hermes is right there with everyone else.

This isn’t how he’s played now. Throughout almost the entire show, he’s stage right. He dances a little with Persephone during “Living It Up” and is actually on stage during “Way Down Hadestown” but even when Hades gives him his plan, Hades goes stage right to do it. Hermes offers all advice to Orpheus and Eurydice from stage right. Hermes even implies that he doesn’t totally know what’s going on until the end when he admits that everything is a cycle.

My boyfriend, a fan of Andre DeShields from “Fortress of Solitude”, said that it wasn’t that this was bad but that it repositions Hermes as more of a god figure than a god who lives in between. Before Hermes was a god like Persephone who will hang out with the commoners but now he is positioned above them. I had once joked that in the class system of “Hadestown”, Hermes is the one with the reasonable job. Even as my boyfriend explained this change from chill god to god who only interacts when necessary, I could see his resolve slipping as he managed to accidentally talk himself into realizing that Hermes was better before. Even the way he’s dressed is flashier and less like a rumpled middle class man in the 1930s.

Mythologically speaking, it makes more sense for Hermes to be the go between as he was the one who brought people to the Underworld. He would understand people and know their stories.

I have to wonder if this change comes from the casting of Andre DeShields who is a new addition.

9. Overall, the show is so freaking enjoyable and I will see it multiple times on Broadway BUT the lyrics and story changes have been detrimental to a show that was nearly perfect, mostly in the name of being more heavy handed and less subtle.

Like I will pay a lot of money because the good that has been untouched or added is so good even with all the problems.

And that’s how the story ends.

The Myth Of Persephone in "Hadestown."

I’ve written many posts on Tumblr where I analyze various print and media versions of The Myth of Persephone born out of a specific fascination I have with the myth and mythology in general (and a book writing related reason) under the tag “The Persephone Project.” For a year I have also been unable to stop talking about and occasionally posting about the musical “Hadestown.” However, I realized yesterday as I listened to the musical for the first time in many months that I have never analyzed The Myth of Persephone as it exists in “Hadestown.” Yes, “Hadestown” is actually about The Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice but because the musical elevates the characters of Hades and Persephone to main character status and their relationship, and more specifically the changes that their relationship has gone through over time, is such a prominent feature in the musical as it is a foil to the relationship between Orpheus and Eurydice, The Myth of Persephone had to be addressed at least a little for context.

The “Hadestown” version of The Myth of Persephone is actually one of only two that I’ve seen where Demeter, Persephone’s mother, is entirely absent. I don’t just mean she isn’t physically in the show, but she is only alluded to twice and one of those times is a play on words that is clearly meant to evoke the more common versions of the myth without necessarily addressing her directly. That “joke” time is from Hades in “Chant” when he says, “Someone grateful for her fate/Someone who appreciates/The comforts of a gilded cage/And doesn’t try to fly away/The moment Mother Nature calls.” Obviously, Mother Nature is Demeter in this scenario but in this kind of Demeter-less universe Hades could just be more vaguely gripping about Persephone’s job and how she has to leave him to bring about spring and how he wishes he had someone who could stay with him all year round. In Greek Mythology the true Mother Nature is actually not Demeter but Gaia, who is actually the grandmother of Hades and Demeter, but that’s another path this argument could go down. Either way, the comment is more of a shout out than a direct addressing of the presence of Demeter in the “Hadestown” universe.

The second time Demeter is mentioned is much more direct but mentioning her almost doesn’t relate to the myth at all. In “Epic III” later on in the show, Orpheus is trying to convince Hades to let him and Eurydice leave by reminding him of what it was like for him to be young and in love by painting the image of the first time he saw Persephone “in her mother’s garden.” The fact that Persephone was in her mother’s garden in this scenario is not particularly significant to the story aside from the fact that it conveys the idea that Persephone was younger. She was young and therefore still lived in her mother’s garden: symbolically unwed.

Any discussion of the actual Myth of Persephone is completely absent of Demeter and any other players who sometimes feature in the myth like Zeus, Hecate, Hermes, and Helios. Orpheus lays out the myth very broadly in “Epic I” when he says, “Lady Persephone half of the year was bound to stay down in the Underworld.” There is no mention of Hades kidnapping her, no mention of pomegranate seeds, no mention of Demeter causing winter, and no mention of deals made.

Whenever Persephone discusses the formation of her relationship with Hades it is always very positive and seems to lack complications or any kind of deals. In “Chant” she says to Hades, “I recall there was a time/We were happy, you and I/In the garden where we met/Nothing was between us yet.” Early on in the show, this evokes the idea of a mutually formed relationship that has only soured with time. Persephone gets more explicit about it (ha) in “Chant II” when she tells Eurydice the specifics under the guise of giving her advice,

“Love was when he came to me
Begging on his bended knee
To please have pity on his heart
And let him lay me in the dirt

I felt his arms around me then
We didn’t need a wedding bed
Dark seeds scattered on the ground
The wild birds were flying around

That’s when I became his wife
But that was in another life
That was in another world
When I was a young girl.”

The story of her marriage is simple through her explanation: they met, later he asked her to marry him, they had sex as a consummation of their marriage, and that is what started the arrangement of her spending half her time in the Underworld. Without Demeter to fight for half her time while her husband claims the other half, the implied narrative is very different.

In this narrative, we can assume that the world’s nature state is one of winter and that it is through the work of Persephone specifically that we have seasons. Her decision to marry the King of the Underworld meant that she was committing herself to him, and as such, must give up some of her time to be with him in order for them to have a real marriage. You could say this is still sexist, like the original narrative can be, but realistically Hades has a higher status as an older god and a king and actually would be completely unable to abandon his job as King of the Underworld to spend time with her. His job is constant, which is why Hades is often portrayed in more original-myth-accurate media as being overworked and tired a lot. While there are no flowers or warm weather in Persephone’s absence, there is not a complete destruction of order like there would be if Hades left his job to spend six months with his wife. People be dying always.

This also kind of allows Persephone’s dual nature to be fully shown in a way a lot of myths neglect because of Persephone’s usual lack of agency. It is not Demeter that brings on cold and death in winter but Persephone herself through her choices. She was draw to the darkness in Hades, “hungry for the Underworld” as she calls it, and thus became a force of death herself half the time when she isn’t a force of life. In “How Long” she reflects on the cyclical nature of her job and really, the necessity of the life and death cycle that her marriage to Hades causes with a kind of acceptance.

Ultimately, the “Hadestown” version of The Myth of Persephone may be one of the best ones even if it’s one of the least accurate as it lacks basically all the major iconic components of the myth. I’ve complained in the past about how Demeter often ends up becoming the most focused on character in the Myth of Persephone with Persephone often given little development or even regulated to an object to be bartered for. When you remove Demeter from the narrative, Persephone increases in both importance and agency and the true nature of her character and what makes her so interesting is revealed.

“Hadestown” is so brilliant, I can barely even deal with it.

2018 Potentially Oscar Nominated Movies

I feel like every year I go into writing this post thinking there were a few good movies that really made the year worth it, but this year I'm just underwhelmed. I saw a lot of good movies; I'm not denying that. The problem is very few movies really affected me. My "Loved" list is short this year. Looking at last year's "Loved" list, I'm actually kind of sad by how much better those movies were than the overall list this year, but I don't know. Maybe I'm missing something here.

Also, I actually don't have a "Movies I Don't Care About" list. I can't find any really nominated films that I just don't want to see. I just went ahead and watched them all for better or worse.

Movies I Still Need To See:
* A Fantastic Woman
* God's Own Country
* The Square

Movies with a + were not nominated for Oscars.

Previous Years: 2017 2016  2015  2014  2013  2012  2011


Movies I Loved:

Get Out: It's kind of sad to think that I saw this at the beginning of the year and barely anything has come close to being this good.

The Shape Of Water: Although here's a contender. I love this movie and kind of love everything Guillermo Del Toro has made. I just have an issue with the pacing or something? And I do with all his movies. Maybe I just want more so they seem to go too fast.

The Florida Project: Sad thought: this is one of the best movies of the year but it NEVER would have been nominated for best picture because of what it's about. 

I. Tonya: Speaking of movies that should have been nominated for best picture and weren't. Normally I'm not a particular fan of biopics but this one is unique and crazy well-acted.

Lady Bird: This one was nominated for best picture and it is solid even if it gives me horrible high school flashbacks.

Wonder Woman: This is basically a perfect superhero movie in every single way.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Sorry. This was amazing, and haters can leave.

The Disaster Artist: A good story, well told. 

Coco: A kid movie about death is so my jam. I also cried deeply.

A Ghost Story+: This was one of the best movies of last year that no one saw. No pun intended, but there are scenes of this movie that continue to haunt me.

Your Name+: What a strange oversight that this film wasn't nominated for best animated film. I mean I'm glad Coco is going to win with no real competition, but this movie is astoundingly good.


Movies I Really Liked:

Mudbound: Not sure how the narration worked for me but man, this movie is compelling.

Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri: Martin McDough movies are all good to me, but this one kind of felt like his weakest. Great characterization, as is true of all his films.

Call Me By Your Name: This movie is very pretty and appeals to the senses well but a voice in the back of my head kept talking about how Elio is only 17, and it made watching the movie difficult at times.

Dunkirk: The cinemotography is great, but there was something about the structure that did not come together for me.

Baby Driver: The use of music was amazing. Very fun.

The Big Sick: Everything good you've heard about this movie is accurate. It's got the humor and sads in the right amounts.

Raw+: Twisted premise, good use of music, good cinematography and direction. I expect good things from this director.

Detroit+: This film was a stressful experience, and I was on the edge of my seat.

Gook+: A fine independent film.

Lady Macbeth+: I love the quiet horror of this movie.

Ingrid Goes West+: This might be the most 2017 film of the year.

The Killing Of A Sacred Deer+: Not as good as last year's "The Lobster" but still quality weirdnss.

A Quiet Passion+: Good biopic. Funnier than expected too.

A United Kingdom+: I'm a sucker for historical films and Rosamund Pike and this was a pretty feel good movie.

Their FInest+: See above minus Rosamund Pike.

Thor: Ragnarock+: I'm checked out of Marvel films for the most part but I watched this one because it was funny and because I would bang basically everyone in the cast. Worth it, but I did have a very low quality download of it so i kind of feel like I may need to watch it again.


Movies I Liked:

Darkest Hour: Joe Wright is a great director and the performances in this movie are great, but overall this movie is wildly unmemorable. 

Beauty And The Beast: There was a lot of not-good about this movie ("Be Our Guest" is cringe) but it's very pretty and Luke Evans killed it.

Girls Trip+: When I laughed, I laughed like mad. They lost me at the potty humor. The end was beautiful though.

The Beguiled+: I love creepy Victorian stuff and studies in power. Like Girls Trip this one is kind of in between "Really Liked" and "Liked."

Atomic Blonde+: I have no idea what the plot was, but I want to make love to the aesthetic of this movie.

I don't feel at home in this world anymore.+: I've been told I look like Melanie Lynsky. That has nothing to do with the film, but I don't have much to say about the film. It's quirky and enjoyable.

The Girl With All The Gifts+: This movie started strong and kind of got weaker as time went on. The ending was quite a twist though.

Score+: This is a perfectly competent film about movie scores.

Descendents 2+: Watched this on bad movie night. It's the gayest movie I've ever seen and deep down I love it, but it's not good.


Movies I Thought Were Okay:

Phantom Thread: What was this exactly? I feel like Paul Thomas Anderson made one decent film (There Will be Blood) and everything else has just been meh. This film was pretty visually but too long, and it took way too long to reach anything resembling a point.

The Post: This movie was fine, yay Meryl Steep and all that, but Spielburg puts me to sleep even more as time goes on. I feel like this got a best picture nomination because of clout and timeliness more than anything else.

Lady Bloodfight+: This was a bad movie pick that ended up not being bad. It was just like a female Blood Sport.


Movies I Didn't Like:

Fifty Shades Darker+: Looking back, why did I even watch this?

Wish Upon+: This was a bad movie night pick. Highly amusing.

Turf War+: Also bad movie night. Also highly amusing.

2017 Potentially Oscar Nominated Movies

Are the Oscars earlier this year or have I just lost track of all time? I have done terribly in terms of watching all the movies I want to see this year within the appropriate time frame. Just yesterday I realized the Oscars were TOMORROW and that I haven't written my yearly round up post yet because I'm not even close to finishing all the 2016 movies on my list. Alas, I have an excuse: graduate school. I have been in grad school non-stop since May of last year. I graduate in early May and if I haven't fully caught up by then, I'll have time but right now I can only speak to what I have seen. As with last year, I'm going to be using the "few words" format because grad student. 

Actually, as I'm looking through my movies, it seems I did see a lot of movies this year but a good portion of them were movies from the last six years that I missed and I had been catching up. I've been on this mission to really clean up my movie list since last year and that was part of the effort I was putting in. Hopefully, I will reach my goal of getting it to 200 films this year.

Also as with last year, I'm going to list movies I don't care to see. In a bit of an update from last year, I did end up watching The Big Short and I actually loved it so, of course, there is always a chance I may see any of these. But probably not.

Movies I Don't Really Care About:

Hacksaw Ridge: I probably would have wanted to see this (I like movies about suffering) had it not been for a very specific set of experiences. I work at a bookstore and for months before this movie came out I had people asking for the book (often by the wrong title or with just a description) and explaining that it was going to be a movie. When I looked it up, I realized that it is supposed to go in the Christian fiction section. My immediate assumption was that the movie was some niche thing that would be in few theaters and not get much recognition. Imagine my surprise. Even if this movie doesn't mention God or Jesus or religion once, I'm still pretty sure it's not how I want to spend my time.

Hell or High Water: I read the description at one time and was just overcome with not caring. Something about a western and bank robbery and I'm asleep. Sorry.

Jackie: I feel like I should want to see this, at least for the costumes, but I just can't bring myself to want to.

O.J.: Made In America: I kind of want to see this and it will probably win Best Documentary but it's eight hours long. I don't have the time. At least not now. Also how can something that long even qualify as a movie. . .

And the movies I haven't seen yet. As I see them, I will move them to the appropriate section.

Movies I Need To See:
After Spring (this doc was directed by a college friend's sister; no clue how I will see it though since it's only in selected cities nowhere near me)
Embrace Of The Serpent (technically last year)
The Handmaiden
The Little Prince
Neruda
Under The Shadow

And now the lists. Movies with a + were ones not nominated for Oscars. 

Previous Years: 2016  2015  2014  2013  2012  2011


Movies I Loved:

Moonlight: The cinematography and music choices made my life. Also, the last 30 minutes.

Hidden Figures: I was completely enthralled by this movie the entire time. And I cried slightly.

Arrival: Science fiction + language studies = I'm a happy camper.

13th: The only movie I gave 5 stars to this year. Didn't even have to think about it.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: I went from really liking this movie to loving it the more I thought about it. Perhaps unfairly, the novelization may have colored my view but whatever.

Moana: The ocean is my life. And I wanted to cry at almost every song. 

Zootopia: I watched this. Then I watched it again two days later.

Sing Street+: This is just such a "me" movie. I'm hopelessly partial.

10 Cloverfield Lane+: Any thriller that makes me genuinely care about the characters and makes them behave like real people is doing something right. This one has layers.

Green Room+: Nazi punks, Nazi punks, Nazi punks, FUCK OFF. Also, see above comment.

Tower+: Really fascinating way to do a powerful documentary.


Movies I Really Liked:

The Lobster: One of the weirdest movies I've seen in a while. Very theater of the absurd.

La La Land: It seems like everyone loved ("it's so fun like a classic movie musical") or hated this ("fuck these boring white people"). I thought it was really good for reasons that no one is discussing but it's not without its flaws.

Fences: Performances: excellent. Direction: needed to be more creative to distance itself from the stage show.

Lion: A well done story but so transparently Oscar-baity if I'm being honest. Spent a lot of time staring at Dev Patel though so there's that. Glad David Wenham is getting work.

Captain Fantastic: I enjoyed the crap out of this. Kind of picked up some parenting ideas.

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them: I appreciated this one more the more I thought about it and on a second watch. 

The White Helmets: Man, oh man.

The VVitch+: I'm weak for anything really historical. And witches. And demons.

Ghostbusters+: I laughed a lot. It was also distracting.

Deadpool+: Also laughed a lot. The only superhero movie I even thought to bother with. Well sorta (see far below).

The Neon Demon+: I thought this was better than "Only God Forgives." Still riding the Refn train. Got distracted a lot by Jena Malone until that one scene . . . (Note: I was a real pervert at the movies this year apparently)

The Nice Guys+: Solid Shane Blackness. No "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" but very similar.

A Street Cat Named Bob+: My heart was warmed exactly the right amount.

Eye In The Sky+: Tense. So tense. 

The Edge Of Seventeen+: I have been waiting for a teen movie like "Easy A" to happen again.

Weiner+: More thought provoking than I was expecting. The intersection of politics and personal lives.

Elle+: Verhoven is on his game. Violent and unsettling and engaging.

Paterson+: Quiet. Soft.

Love & Friendship+: Hilarious period drama.

Kubo And The Two Strings: Laika always does good work but never seems to get enough recognition. 

Finding Dory+: This was a fine sequel but I kind of can't remember it (Unlike Moana and Zootopia).


Movies I Liked:

Noctural Animals: I enjoyed this but felt like I missed the point of this film.

Florence Foster Jenkins: Perfectly fine biopic. Nice to see Nina Arianda in movies!

Imperium+: I predicted the end early but I was still on the edge of my seat for most of the film.

Hush+: Unique alteration for a horror film.


Movies I Thought Were Okay:

Nerve+: I watched it because I thought it'd be fun. It was.

Goat+: I like suffering. 

The Purge: Election Year+: I must watch every Purge movie. Such a good concept; Always pooly executed.

Me Before You+: Wanted to understand both why people like the book and why this film was controversial. It was actually better than expected but still kind of shlocky.

Pride And Prejudice And Zombies+: More 'watched because it was fun.' Great combination of things I like: period drama and ladies kicking ass.

Batman: The Killing Joke+: This should have been better. The first 30 minutes were absolutely shameful to Batgirl.


Movies I Thought Were Over-Rated:

Manchester By The Sea: It was okay. No idea why this movie is so praised. Casey Affleck is a bad person.


Movies I Didn't Like:

The Girl On The Train+: Only okay book. Not good movie. Love Emily Blunt though. She always does a good job.

Suicide Squad: What is plot? Why do I develop more than three characters? Can Jared Leto be more of a embarassment?

Pass Thru+: Neil Breen should be going down in history with Tommy Wiseau in the Bad Movie Hall Of Fame. Unfortunately this one wasn't as good delightfully bad as 2013's Fateful Findings. Actually, why did I put this in this category? I really liked this, just in the wrong way.

My Guilty Pleasure Movies

I watch a lot of movies and I have said before that my preferred choices of movies really only fall into two nonspecific categories: very good movies and very bad movies. I don't like to watch movies that aren't well crafted and smart or so bad they're funny. But what happens when I do watch movies that are in between? Those films that are not good but are not bad enough for me to laugh it. There lie my guilty pleasure movies, movies that I actively enjoy but can't really justify my liking of them. Whenever I talk about them with other people I  need to clarify that I KNOW they aren't good but I am going to watch them anyway. This is that list.

Some of these I thought of off the top of my head and for the rest I looked through the movies I had on my hard drive because therein lies the truth. If it's on my hard drive, I saved it for a rewatch. These are all films I can't in good faith rate higher than a 3/5 but there's a place for them in my heart anyway

Albatross (2011)

I doubt many people have seen this one. It's a British indie film starring Felicity Jones and Jessica Brown Findley and it's pretty mediocre. JBF is a bad influence on Felicity Jones because she wears t-shirts with risky slogans, flashes a cashier to buy liquor underage, and has sex with Jones' German author dad. There is a great use of the word "fuck trumpet." Aside from the actresses and the liberal water shots, I think part of what I like about this movie is how it's so middle-of-the-road indie that I die. The bad girl isn't that bad. The girl sleeping with her friend's dad trope is so overdone it's ridiculous. I somehow relate to both girls. I want to go to the sea.

Angels And Demons (2009)

Dan Brown is a garbage writer and this was the first book I read by him. I was in high school and I enjoyed it on a simple adventure mystery fun level while knowing it wasn't actually good so it wasn't too big a surprise when I enjoyed the film too. The plot is super contrived but there are so many things I like about this film. Science vs. religion. Rome and lots of running around Rome looking for historical stuff. Ewan McGregor as a priest making me want to sin. I actually watched this WHILE IN ROME because I am the worst.

Another Gay Movie (2006)

I watched this twice in one week the first time I saw it. It's basically just a gay version of American Pie but I genuinely think it's better than American Pie. Four gay friends want to lose their virginities before they graduation high school. Spoiler: they do. The jock and the nerd fall in love. The awkward one has a three way. The flamboyant other has the Stifler's grandad plotline. The more I think about it, the harder it is to actually distinguish from American Pie which also isn't good but I'd much rather watch this one. Plus this one gave me the word "Aberzombie" and the song "Everything Makes Me Think About Sex." There was a sequel which had ridiculous musical numbers but wasn't good. (I watched a lot of gay romcoms in college including Eating Out and But I'm A Cheerleader which might warrant rewatches)

Halloweentown (1998)

This one might not really count as a guilty pleasure so much as it's nostalgia but still. I just like magic and would want to live somewhere where it's Halloween all the time. 

Live Freaky! Die Freaky! (2003)

This movie was a full on thing with my friends in college and then we started spreading it like an STD to everyone we know. It's a claymation musical about Charles Manson and the Manson Family voiced by people in the rock community. Seriously. Billy Joe Armstrong plays Charles Manson. Davey Havok plays a gay hairdresser. Kelly Osbourne plays Sharon Tate. This movie is just tasteless and I love it so much. It's highly quotable and wildly inappropriate.

The Purge films (2013, 2014, 2016)

Every time a new one comes out I just have to watch it and I hate this about myself. The problem is that the concept of The Purge is so interesting and each movie hints at something more profound about it but each new installment is just another violence-fest pandering to the lowest common denominator. The first movie specifically takes place in a home after a boy lets a homeless man (a veteran at that; both topical now and specifically applicable to the fact that the Purge means no more military) into their house and a bunch of rich college students want him out so they can kill him. This classism is further expanded in the second movie about a bunch of people stuck outside in the city during the Purge. The idea of a resistance group who believes the Purge is meant really to control the poor is established as well as human hunting clubs for the rich. In the third a presidential candidate is running on an anti-Purge platform and her opponent wants to have her dead before the election. The ideas of Purge tourists and Purge-as-a-religion are introduced. Honestly, I will keep watching these if they keep making them but ultimately what I want is for the idea to land in the hands of someone who could make them a cerebral mediation on current issues.

Shock Treatment (1981)

The sequel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show barely resembles the movie it follows. The town of Denton has been turned into a game show (or something) and Brad and Janet are the contestants although Janet is now played by Jessica Harper and Brad is some guy who isn't Barry Bostwick. I don't know what's happening most of the time but the songs are just as bananas as the ones in Rocky Horror. I especially love Jessica Harper's deep voice and the song "Looking for Trade."

Showdown In Little Tokyo (1991)

I have seen a lot of 90s martial arts movies (my best friend is a martial arts instructor so this is entirely his fault) but most of them are bad movie night quality. This movie, starring my favs who aren't Cynthia Rothrock, Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee, is definitely a dumb 90s martial arts movie but it's trying to also be a buddy cop movie so it manages to be slightly better quality while still being silly as hell. I have seen this movie at least five times and I can't really tell you the plot but I think it has to do with a drug bust in Little Tokyo. Brandon Lee's character is half-Japanese but comically knows nothing about Japanese culture while Dolph Lundgren really knows what's up. It's full of odd lines and odd line reads ("That was nuts!") and it's just delightful.

Sorority Row (2009)

I have seen this movie at least fifteen times. I'm not even sure if I can explain why. It's just so ridiculous. I knew I had to watch it after hearing my junior year college roommate (who was in a sorority, by the way) laughing hysterically at the opening scene. It's pretty much your typical horror movie but I find it hilarious and some of that humor seems to be intentional. It has so many great things. You know who is going to live from the very beginning. The head bitch is practically a sociopath in how she responds to people (and is funny). The pop music score is kind of brutal and badass. Carrie Fisher has a shotgun! RIP.

The Crow (1994)

I feel like some people would argue that this movie is too good to be a guilty pleasure but honestly, it's not that good. It has a lot of style to mask how not good it is. I basically watch this movie like porn because Brandon Lee is so pretty in it. Also for the strangely realistic way he shouts out, "OH FUCK!" when he gets shot in the leg. RIP.

Vampire Academy (2014)

Another movie I watched twice in one week. I think I secretly like some dumb teen girl shit. The plot of this movie is so convoluted but I love the cheesy lines, the weird premise, the totally inappropriate relationships, the fact that it is one of TWO movies that exist where people get into a car accident while listening to "Bad Girls" by MIA, and vampires who are not like your vampires.

Underworld (2003)

Speaking of vampires who aren't like your vampires. What a dumb action movie that is so much fun!

I am horrible.

A Scale For Siblings Who Are Close

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Ode To The Strangers I've Met On My Travels

I've just done a thing. Pretty soon I will be quitting my job in banking after nearly five years in the industry to go back to school to get my masters in secondary English education. It's a step in my life that's mostly exciting and a smidge scary but something that I feel I absolutely have to do. Banking was always just a way to pay off my undergrad loans so that I could eventually go back to teach. 

Before starting school, however, I will be going to visit my signother in his homeland of England since it will be a while until we are both free again. Because he still has to study for exams and such during his Spring Break, he'll be kicking me out after a little over a week and because I have no real commitments at this time, it seemed like a waste to just go back to America right away. Sure, I won't have much money but plenty of wanderers don't have much! 

One problem: I have never really traveled alone before. I've taken most of my plane rides alone but I've always been meeting someone there. Only once have I ever stayed in a hotel alone and that was when I drove up to Montreal to meet Ana (and at the time I had kind of stupidly thought most people in Montreal speak English). With this in mind I decided to pick a place on these foundations:
1.) A place in Europe that I haven't been
2.) Where English is widely spoken (or at least Spanish)
3.) And that would be safe to travel alone while being female

Essentially this list lead me to the Nordic and northern countries. I've been to The Netherlands and while I love Amsterdam and would like to go back, it wouldn't be as fun alone. I've seen all the museums and the nightlife stuff is only fun with someone else. I can't go to Sweden because the signother is half-Swedish and has family there and would be sad if I went without him. Norway got ruled out partially because I know absolutely nothing about Oslo and partially because it's close to where the signother's family is in Sweden anyway and could be part of a trip there. He even has an uncle who knows it well and could show us around. Everyone I know who has been to Finland has said it's boring so I've never had a desire to go. Iceland is somewhere I really want to go but the signother poo-pooed it so hard I kind of backed away. Relatedly it's the only other country aside from Ireland (which I've been to a lot) that is in between our countries so perhaps it would be better to go together.

So that left me with Denmark and, more specifically, Copenhagen. The signother, in spite of his joking inbred Swedish hatred for the Danes, gave full approval when I mentioned that it's near water and looks like Amsterdam, knowing that I would probably be happy there. So I've booked it and gotten myself a bed in a hostel.

Now, I've stayed in hostels before but I've never had to share a room with anyone other than the signother. While there's obviously the fear of thieves (I literally have nothing worth stealing though), murderers (that'd be a hard murder to get away with), and loud people (ugh), I'm actually pretty excited for this. I've had good and bad roommates before, I'm pretty friendly and very quiet, and I'm pretty shameless and don't get uncomfortable easily. Maybe I'll even make a friend who will hang out with me. 

And this got me thinking about all the amusing strangers who have passed through my life in brief moments while traveling excluding family of friends, friends of friends, and tour guides. This is my ode to these people.

My First London Cab Driver

The first time I went to London was a big deal: I met my signother for the first time in person (we had met online a little more than a year prior) and it was my first time ever visiting another country. The signother and I met at the airport and then traveled by train and then tube to his hood in Wimbledon where we then needed to take a cab to get to his house. This craziness was all because he didn't have his license yet and I was insistent on the fact that we need to meet before I meet his parents. So we got into the cab and when the driver noticed my suitcase he said enthusiastically, "Ah, a suitcase! I'm jealous. Coming here or going somewhere else?" I told him I had come here. He said, "Oh, for the tennis or for the handsome guy sitting next to you?" Next ensued a long pause before he exclaimed jokingly, "I've made you uncomfortable! Great way to start my morning!" Eventually I answered with, "Both" even though I obviously didn't care about the tennis. When we told this story to my signother's mom, she said, "Oh, so you got a real London cabbie then!"

Katrina From Germany

This one isn't really a tale of my travels so much as a tale of hers. I was in New York City which is only a two and a half hour trip for me and I go there every few months but I was mostly going to be on my own. I had come down to see my friend Alex but I stayed around to go see "Once" by myself right before the Tonys. Courtney, another friend, kept me company waiting in line for tickets and, because Courtney's really friendly, we talked a bit to the girl behind us about my and her odds of getting tickets. Luckily, she ended up getting the last one and I was sitting next to her during the show. At intermission, we talked the whole time about how she had just graduated college and was going on a trip around the world. This was her one day in New York before heading to DC and seeing "Once" had been get biggest wish. We talked about places we love and the show and then settled in for the second half. When the show was over we parted ways on the street and I asked her name, realizing then that I never had before.

The One Employee At The Dublin Writers Museum

On our first trip to Ireland, the signother and I stayed with a friend of his family's and after going to his office and eating lunch with him, we headed out on our own. Our first stop on an unusually warm day was the Dublin Writers Museum where there was a guy standing outside in the sun. He told us the museum was closed and then admitted he was joking and motioned us inside. It turned out he was the only person working there and there was no one else in the museum so he had been trying to enjoy the rare rain-free day. He gave us our audio guides and I walked over to the door to look at a drawing of James Joyce, accidently setting off the alarm on the guide that is meant to keep people from stealing them. The guy motioned to me with a look of joking disgruntlement as he reset my guide and told my signother to keep an eye on me. Later, I dropped my camera on the ground and looked over to see the guy shaking his head at me. He kept the act up the whole time we were there.

The Two American Girls On The Tube

I lived in Boston for three and a half years. This is important for understanding my behavior. During my second trip to London the signother and I were trying to make our way to St. Paul's Cathedral and had just gotten onto the platform when the doors of the subway were closing. I did what seemed natural: I made a running dash for it. I ran and jumped and the doors tried to crush me to death. Now, in Boston, if there's an obstruction in the doors, they open again so I did this thinking 1.) they would only tap me and 2.) they would then open so he could get on. Instead I had to wiggle my way onto the car with horrified onlookers. Two girls asked if I was okay and I assured them I was fine and that my partner knew the way and we'd meet up when he got there. In the excitement, it took me a few seconds to say, "Oh, hey, you're American!" They said they went to school in DC and it was their first day there and they were on their way to St. Pancreas to see platform 9 3/4 (although they obviously said King's Cross). I told them I had never been and they asked if I was familiar with London and what would I recommend. I tossed out a few obvious suggestions because, heck, I don't know what they like, and got off before them, meeting up with the signother when the next train arrived. What a welcome to London.

Maple Candy Guy In Montreal

After quite an experience driving up to Montreal with instructions written on a paper bag, arriving late, having trouble parking and needing to call Quebec Tourism, and then finally meeting up with my friend Ana, we ended up having a good day exploring Chinatown and Old Montreal. Inside Bonsecours Market there was a gift shop we went in so Ana could get some maple syrup. The guy working there overheard us talking in English and then asked us in rapid, heavily accented English if we realized that Canada has its own white house and that they offered it to Obama when he visited but he refused and then pointed to a shirt that said "Canada's White House" with an igloo. We laughed and he asked us where we were from. On hearing that Ana was from Brazil and up visiting her cousin, he told us all about Canada's immigration laws. Then, on seeing that Ana was getting maple syrup he started explaining the different concentrations of maple syrup and gave us each a piece of maple candy. When we left Ana said he was nice but by the end she could barely understand him because he was talking so fast and admittedly I was having a hard time of it too.

Curious Border Patrol Guy

Obviously, being from two different countries makes people very curious about the relationship between me and my signother but I don't think either of us has encountered a more curious stranger than this one guy at the UK border patrol. After visiting Paris and Amsterdam, we were coming back into the UK to go to the opera for his dad's birthday and to road trip up to Scotland. While he breezed through the EU passport line, I had to talk to someone about my intentions which went something like this: "Why are you coming to the UK?" "Spending time with my boyfriend." "Is he American too?" "No, British." "Are you staying with him?" "Yes, in Wimbledon." "That's a very long distance relationship." "Yeah." "How did you two meet?" "Online a few years ago." (I have a ton of London stamps in my passport so he knew I had been there before). "That must be hard. How often do you see each other?" "Twice a year if we're lucky." "Wow. Is he traveling with you now?" "Yeah, he's right over there" (I point to him waiting behind the gates clearly wondering why I'm being interrogated when I've been to England so many times before). "Huh. Most people wouldn't be able to do that." "Well, we're not most people, I guess." (Finally stamps my book). "Well, enjoy your time together!" "Thanks."

Joe, The Australian

During a mildly conflicted trip through Ireland the signother and I stopped off in what ended up being one of our favorite Irish towns: Kilkenny. We went to Kilkenny Castle and Rothe House and then realizing we still had some time before stuff closed we looked at the free little map we got at the castle and realized there was a brewery across the street called Smithwick's. Neither of us had tried the beer before but we figured what the hell and went. We had a really fun tour guide named Shelia and the only other person on the tour was a guy named Joe from Australia. He had graduated college and was travelling through Europe and America, his journey eventually ending in Brooklyn where his sister lives. At the end of the tour we each got pints (the beer's really good by the way) and the three of us sat and chatted until they kicked us out. We gave him suggestions for what to do in New York and Brooklyn and he told us about the weirdness of shooting a gun in Texas (which neither of us have done) and then we parted ways as he went off to catch a bus to Dublin. Shelia took a bunch of pictures of us throughout the tour so Joe remains the only stranger I have pictures with.

The Two Nicest Guys In Milan

The signother and I lived a tourist's worst nightmare in Milan. After getting off the train from Verona, we headed over to where the hotel we were staying at was supposed to be only to find an office building. Multiple attempts to call the hotel wouldn't work from his phone and we realized we were stuck with no plan. He asked a janitor in Italian about the hotel, which he had never heard of, and then soon an accountant whose office was in the building joined in. It would take too long to explain the full story but ultimately, the accountant let us use his phone to call the hotel, let us store our bags in his office, and recommended a great, really cheap restaurant nearby. The janitor let us sleep in his office for two hours (we were both sick) and then went with us to check out the room we were given (which sucked) and to help us deal with the guy who "ran the hotel" and screwed over both us and many other travelers. Both the guys kept insisting that "true Italians" would never do something like this. We tried to give the accountant money but he refused. The janitor had left by the time we came back so we slipped money under his office door with a note of thanks. The kindness of strangers can be amazing. 

Siena Bus Station Guy

While all the stories on this list are of people who I encountered who were nice or funny and who I chatted with for some amount of time, this guy did not fall into any of these categories but was very memorable. After a seemingly neverending bus ride from San Gimingano to Siena, we finally got to the station and realized we had no time to explore Siena because we had dinner plans with friends of the signother's parents and we needed to find a bus to the nearest stop to their house in nowhere Tuscany. On asking the guy working at the station when the next bus was he told us it was departing from the other station in a few minutes. We asked if there was any way we could get there in time and he said with more laughter than I have ever heard in the voice of someone who wasn't actually laughing, "it's impossible!" At this point I was so broken and tired I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Things worked out all right. The friends picked us up from Siena and we had an hour to explore the signother's favorite Italian city but I will always remember the guy who made no attempts to hide his schadenfreude.

Here's to meeting more interesting people in Denmark!