This is the story of Orpheus and Eurydice as told in Anaïs Mitchell's album "Hadestown" and stage adaptation.
In depression era New Orleans, young Orpheus and Eurydice fall in love but Eurydice dreams of a better life than the poverty she grew up i...
When Orpheus returned home in the morning, he stopped at a flower shop a bought a small bouquet of gardenias. It cost most of the money he had in his pocket but the possibility of making Eurydice smile again seemed more important. Walking up to their apartment, he thought about what he was going to say to her. They hadn't been able to see each other the much over the past couple months and when they had, he had tended to avoid her. She was tired and irritable all the time and he hadn't wanted to deal with that. He didn't know how to deal with it. Damn, he was such a fool. It was still early and Orpheus imagined that his wife might still be home. Inside the apartment, it was quiet and the lights were off. Perhaps Eurydice was still asleep? She was usually awake by now and getting ready for work. He should wake her, or else she would be late. Walking into the bedroom, he noticed the bed had already been made. Several of the drawers in the dressers were open and empty. Eurydice's things had been contained in those drawers. A piece of paper had been left on the nightstand. Orpheus picked it up and read it. Like his own, Eurydice's education had been deficient. Her hand writing was erratic and unformed. The note read: ...Orpheus, my heart is yours, it read, Always was and will be. It's my gut I can't ignore... Orpheus crumpled up the piece of paper and threw it on the floor. His first instinct was to rush over to Marie's apartment to see if his wife was there.
Marie appeared in the doorway wearing a peach colored rayon dressing gown.
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"What do you want boy?" She demand, her arms crossed in annoyance. Her voice sounded groggy and Orpheus could tell that she was hung over. "Is Eurydice with you?" he asked her. "No, she's not." "She wasn't there when I came home this morning. Do you know where she might have gone off to?" "I haven't heard anything from her since the celebration last night. She didn't seem in the mood for celebrating." "I'll go to the cafe, maybe they'll know where she is there." "Go to Hell for all I care!" Orpheus began to walk down the hallway. "Boy!" He turned around to look at Marie. "My little sister always deserved better than you."
Eurydice was usually at work that time of day. Orpheus dropped by Hestia's Cafe and asked Miss Hestia if she had seen Eurydice. "She never showed up for work today," Miss Hestia replied, she folded up her arms like Marie had, "What's the matter, can't you keep track of your wife?" Walking out of the cafe, Orpheus was stopped by Mr. Hermes. "Hey, the big artiste," Mr. Hermes called with a big grin on his face, "Ain't you workin' on your masterpiece?" "Have you seen Eurydice?" Orpheus asked him. "What do you care? You'll move on to the next muse soon enough." Mr. Hermes began to walk away but Orpheus stopped him. "Please, wherever she is, is where I want to go." Mr. Hermes put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "What if I told you she's somewhere where it'll be hard to get her back?" "Tell me the worst." "I saw her get on the train to go to Hadestown, so Hades has her now," Orpheus's shoulders slumped and his jaw dropped, "She called your name before she went but I guess you weren't listening." "No!" Hermes stood over the boy, who had fallen to the ground. "How far would ya go to get her back?" "To the end of the world. To the end of time." "Well, that's a start. Do you have money for a ticket?" Orpheus searched around in his pockets. Finding them empty, he shook his head no. "That's what I thought. But there's always my way."
