‘Hadestown’: Thoughts and Wanderings

I tried to squeeze this show in on my last trip, but the tickets were stupid expensive, y’all, so we just went to an Off-Broadway show instead. It wasn’t great, but it made for a moment-in-time memory I will never forget, so it was totally worth it, y’all.

But I still wanted to see Hadestown, so I made it a priority this visit. Not only did I make it a priority, but I obsessively listened to the soundtrack before my trip, during my trip, and, yes, after my trip. Including my entire flight there (while re-reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics for the one billionth time.)

Now, this Hadestown passion isn’t coming from inside the house. This obsession was fueled externally by my daughter D, who has seen this show more than once and has (more than once) told me, “If you want to understand me better, you should definitely watch this show.”

So, yeah, that was one of the reasons I made this show a priority. After I listened to the OBC (and all the other supporting albums), it became an even higher priority for me.

Daily, my favorite song changed. First, “Road to Hell” tromboned its way into my heart. But then, after 10s of listens, I fell head over heels for “Chant” because it was honestly so much fun to sing.

However, once I really paid attention to the words and message of “Why We Build the Wall”, there was no other favorite song for me. I sang it veryloud every single shower.

Then I thought about how it would feel to experience that song live. I’d been stalking Broadway subreddits ever since my trip in May, so I’d read a few posts about seeing Hadestown on Broadway. In almost every single one, they said that audience members around them got actively angry at “Why We Build the Wall”… one even noticed people walk out and not return after intermission.

I was looking forward to looking around at the audience during my show during the song to see if I saw any anger or anything other than, “yeah, that’s why the evil person wants the wall.”

I didn’t. I couldn’t. I was way too wrapped up in what was happening onstage. I was too busy getting my breath taken away by the anger onstage. I was way too busy crying. I cried so much at this show; I’m kind of glad I went by myself.

Oh, yeah, I guess I gotta rewind a bit.

A Solo Tuesday

Before I get started with my Tuesday adventures, I have to mention this: When I arrived, Aubrey made me lunch! French Onion Grilled cheeses and they were quite delicious and savory and yummy. It was a real treat! We watched an episode of Australian Survivor (shout out to JLP!) while we ate, and it was a delight.

Tuesday, Aubrey had a VIC (very important client), so she gave me the option of bopping along with her or hanging out at the apartment til she was done. I chose to wake up and get out into the world, of course… I’m not in NYC to NOT experience things, you know?

So, we woke up before the crack of dawn, packed up her wardrobe supplies, and hopped on the Subway (Aubrey is a costume designer in NYC, after all). The ride was quiet, and the people watching was fantastic. It honestly always is. Even when everyone is in their own little world, I’m confronted with fashion shows and comedy or drama unfolding wherever I look.

Aubrey met her client, and I sat in a coffee shop, an Old Fashioned flavored coffee (flavored only… no booze involved, and it was honestly good and I’m gonna try to make one myself one day) by my side and my iPad in my face. I wrote for two hours with no interruption. Well, I mostly focused. It was a Brooklyn coffee shop, after all, and I had to observe the people. It’s what I DO, y’all.

Then Aubrey was done. Before heading out into the city for the rest of our day, we talked about our evening plans, which involved both Hadestown and candy. My attendance was mandatory (that’s one of the reasons I was there), Aubrey’s was optional. And she opted out, because she had piles of work to do for an upcoming event on Sunday.

This was fine with me! I totally understand life and work getting in the way of fun, especially when the work is something you truly love. I believe that Aubrey would be similarly understanding if I had to bail out of a Burlesque Show at the Slipper Room at the last minute, because I had to do a last-minute project for EngErotics that could change the course of our lives.

So, it was no biggie. We had lunch plans, though, so we had time to kill. Luckily, there were lots of clothing shops nearby.

A Hoodie + Hoopla

Our first stop was Supreme. Logan (of the 2-year-old heart) is a skate kid and has been as long as I’ve known him. When Mickey and I were exploring the neighborhood on Google maps, we saw that there was a Supreme super close by. So, that was the only must-stop of the day.

And hoo boy was it a stop. Like I said, we got started before the crack of dawn, so it was still early, so we were two of the dorks waiting outside for them to open the doors. The plan was for me to Facetime Logan so that he could pick out his own fashion, but once in the door, it was way too loud for all of that nonsense.

It was cool as hell inside, though, y’all.

So, I took some pics and sent those to Logan and asked him if he wanted detailed pics of anything so that he could pick.

While waiting for his answer, Aubrey and I looked at the fashion. I, of course, kept checking my phone for messages, shoving it in and out of the pocket of my leggings, which also housed a few business cards.

Well, one of those must have ended up on the ground, because one of the employees walked up to me and Aubrey and asked, “Are one of you a vibe curator?”

I sheepishly replied, “Yes, sorry about that,” and held out my hand to take my card back.

He turned the card over in his hand, reading every single word, and did not give it back to me.

“When you find something this good,” he said, “you keep it.”

And then the rest of the employees came over. So, hey therrrrrre to the employees at the Brooklyn Supreme store if you’re reading this!

By then, Logan had responded. “I trust your judgement.”

Good, I thought. Because I had a hoodie clocked for him the instant we walked in the door:

I got Mickey a hat… in yellow, choosing carefully after seeing Color Theories by Julio Torres. And then we bopped out the door to our next adventure.

We spent the bulk of our pizza waiting time at a stunning French vintage store, where I drooled over so many things that I would like to buy once I get my first book advance. I am realizing that it’s not that I don’t like shopping for clothes, I do not like not having money to spend on them. But if I did, I would responsibly try to spend my (lots of) money on vintage and not new stuff as much as possible. And also, I wouldn’t go crazy and would also spend way more of my (lots of) money to help my friends make their dreams come true than I would make my body look cute.

Sometimes my brain gets mean to me and is, like, “who cares about your whole ass entire day? who are you writing this for? why? why? no one cares. no one cares. just say thumbs up or down and go about your day so that people can stop reading whatever else nonsense you want to say.”

But nowadays I tell it that no one is forcing me to write this and I am not forcing anyone to read it. Though I muchly appreciate it when y’all do. Even more when you leave me a comment or whatever.

All that to say that the owner of the French vintage store came in as Aubrey and I were browsing. She noted my Supreme bag and spent a good 60 seconds talking them up as a brand, noting that we “have good taste.”

I mean, yeah, that’s what we’re (personally) famous for.

Then we got pizza, which was from the Brooklyn location of the same damn place we had pizza from last time. Look. It was GOOD. Yes, it is DETROIT-style pizza in NEW YORK, but again, y’all… it was INCREDIBLE. And the vibes are just impeccable at Ace’s Pizza Spot. However, I did notice that they did not have Faygo at this location like they do at the 30 Rock location.

They do have frosty mugs of root beer, though:

We got the same meatball pie we got last time (don’t judge, it is literally that good) and something I wouldn’t normally order… a Hawaiian pizza. I’m glad we did though. This one was exceptional, with Spam instead of ham and some sort of spicy pepper that made the whole thing really work.

Then we went back to Aubrey’s house so I could get ready for my Broadway adventure… which I didn’t even have a ticket for yet.

And On the Road to Hell

… there was a railroad line (mm)
And a lady steppin’ off a train (mm-hmm)…

The rest of this adventure is coming another day. Sorry. There are already SO MANY WORDS.