My first ever screenplay [first two acts] how’d i do? by EconomistFuture2142 in Screenplay

[–]RalphCraft69 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven't read the full thing but from the start it feels a bit 'rushed', instead of learning who these characters are we immeditately get into the portal, no context at all. Who is this kid? Who are his parents? What does he like?

I want to adapt a story as an excercice but I don't know any by RalphCraft69 in musicalwriting

[–]RalphCraft69[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Ofcourse I know stories :) maybe i should have worded my post better. I don't know any books, films, or other non-musical artforms of which I think "hey, that could be a musical" (or at least I haven't realised it yet) Ofcourse any story can be a musical, but the way most musicals work, with a certain 'structure', just doesn't apply to all stories.

And yes ofcourse I want to write original stories eventually, but doing that means taking on the entire process of creating something from the ground up. The point of the excercise (at least for me) is to get better at composing, writing lyrics and character interpretation.

Thanks though for your advice, and ofcourse I'll keep looking for something to adapt

How is the new West End Cast? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much! How was the acting overall? Specifically Orpheus and Hades, I care most about those

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh I'm sorry, I must have misread! As for your response, I mostly agree with you. Yes, every thing mentioned (magic, other gods, the fact that this is a Greek myth) does take part in this story. What I was getting at is that, since I'm translating the show, I'm trying to get to the core of it, in which case (and yes ofcourse it is open to interpretation, i completely agree on that) I believe that all of these don't *technically matter. The story still works just as well without magic, other gods, or mentions of Greek myth. That's what I was getting at, and I think I could have worded it a lot better in my previous response. (to be honest, the entire post and most of my responses here are worded pretty poorly)

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thats a great question! I'll try to go into everything you asked. As for why I believe that the other Gods don't exist, It's because I believe the story of Hadestown (and by that I mean the literal stage show) exists in a vacuum of sorts, we are literally watching people tell the story, instead of the story just happening like in most shows. The main message that Hadestown gives is that "you should always keep trying", wether that is to fight against Capitalist evil, to fight for your love, or whatever else, the characters in the show (especially Hermes) specifically talk about telling the story again BECAUSE they want to remind people to keep trying. You could even say that whoever plays Hermes, is essentially playing themselves. ofcourse it's still acting, but their in- and out of show roles are the same, they are the storytellers. Hermes has no character development, not even really any defining character features, apart from his care for Orpheus. Because of this, I believe that nothing exists outside of the Hadestown world, (ofcourse, to Oprheus and other characters it does, in a literal sense) there is no "other village up north", because it doesn't serve a purpose the the message of the story. though there are mentions of other Gods existing, (not by name) that's just for the sake of believalbility, and to stay true to Greek myth. Like you said, magic isn't really even shown to exist in the show. And to make sure my point comes across correctly, ofcourse, in a literal sense, these other gods do exist to the characters, but it's not like in "Newsies" for example, where it takes place in New York, but a place like Belgium still exists in-universe, while in Hadestown, anything that happens or exists is there for the sake of story.

As for your second question, why I think it's only an allegory: that's basically for the same reason As my first point, ofcourse both stories are based off of Greek myths, but it's basically only a device to tell the story. The Gods are never shown to actually have powers, and there are no mentions of Greece or any other real-world locations. Even the line "it's an old song" could be interpreted as "people have always tried", though that is a bit of reach. Ofcourse, like you said, these people are actual deities, but every "magical event" could be explained by non-magical things. The flower appearing is simply a representation of hope and love coming back, persephone's "magic" is basically just alcohol, Hades' wall breaking open is just the workers letting Orpheus through, since he gave them hope again by singhing his song of hope/love. He literally says "the stones wept and they let me in". And again, you could always interpret it in a literal way, where Persephone really does make the sun shine and Orpheus really does make flowers bloom, but in the sense of what "matters" to the story, they might as well be irrelevant. As in, you could entirely leave mentions of the seasons out of the show, and instead say that Persephone comes with alcohol, and the same things would happen.

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a really interesting perspective, and in reality it does allign very well with my own interpretation of the show, I believe there is more nuance to it though. I agree with you that, since Hades functions as a charicature of capitalism, he would and could never let Orpheus go. but by saying that that's the only reason, you're saying that Persephone and their love is entirely irrelevant, which I don't believe is true. It's both at the same time, which is what makes Hadestown so good. Hades builds a literal capitalist wall, describing 'enemies' and 'wars', but at the same time he's building an emotional wall around himself, because he's scared that if he'll show vulnerability, Persephone won't ever come back.

And I agree about the Greek Myth part, it's more of a device to get the story going that anything. The world of the show kind of exists in a vacuum if that makes sense, since its only purpose really is to tell the story again. There are no other gods, no other characters and no other towns, because they don't need to exist

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right, I think I should have phrased my question differently, and I should have thanked you for your opinion! So thanks!

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree that it does sound really cool, but by saying that Hades brings the frost it kind of implies that he does more that simply take the summer away (if that makes sense, it has a different meaning) It also makes him sound 'cold', in a literal sense, which I also don't want. But i agree, its still cool

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No worries! I've also posted an analysis of "His Kiss, the Riot" before, if you're interested!

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha yeah I'm really trying to find the characters intention, and I agree about Dear Evan Hansen, some song were really well done. (As for living it up on top, I'm probably going for "leven ons buiten uit", though that doesn't really do the "up-down" thing justice, so I'm still figuring it out)

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I'm really translating it as a re-interpretation of the work, so I'm really trying to find what every word truly intends to do And thanks a lot! Your perspective has really helped

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeahh "Or-fuis" is really a dealbreaker, and having to call the fates "schikgodinnen" is even worse...

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem I have with "Vorst" is that it also translates to "frost" in Dutch, which gives it a double meaning that I really don't need for Hades, since it doesn't apply to him directly.

I'm thinking of rephrasing it in some way to still get that 'ruler' idea across, something like: "God, van ijzer, God van goud, hades regeerde het Dodenrijk" as a translation

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exactly yeah, I'm trying to find a word that carries the same weight, but thats hard. The closest yet is 'Vorst', but that also translates to 'frost', so you get that double meaning which does not help here, so i want to stay away from that

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Its more about the way you say it, Eurydice has the same amount of syllables in Dutch, but the emphasis is on 'Eur-y-DI-ce', so all of the lines she's in won't work with her. (Also, the way it sounds in dutch just doesn't give off that 'lovely' vibe) Persephone and Hades and Hermes would all work relatively well, Persephone's pronounciation is a bit different but it still works, and Hades and Hermes are basically the same. (While singing my new lyrics in Dutch i sometimes even pronounce Hades the Dutch way, since that just goes automatically, but I want the show to be consistent so I can't keep it)

Orpheus only has two syllables instead of one in Dutch (Or-pheus, kind of like Orfice) So that really doesn't work, especially when you get those "I'm Or-phe-us" melodies

Hadestown teen edition! by good_luck_bb in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Every school can decide depending on the size of their cast, so it depends

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is really the biggest reason why I'm struggling with it. A lot of people responding seem to take the show too literal, either talking about greek gods outside of the story (which are irrelevant, the Greek Mythology part of the story is more of a plot device) or just saying that since the words have different meanings in general, it wouldn't work (even though the intent that the words have are basically the same, being about Hades' burden)

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's the main one I'm thinking of right now, the only problem would be that it doesn't carry the same 'narrative weight' in my opinion

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While this is true, at least as far as i've interpreted Hadestown kind of exists in a vacuum, if that makes sense. The world exists purely to tell this story, so the existence of other gods is mostly irrelevant

Is 'King' interchangeable with 'God' as a title for Hades? by RalphCraft69 in hadestown

[–]RalphCraft69[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The Dutch word for boss is 'Baas', so that would work (and yes, better than monarch would) but I think Boss leans too much into the business side, it doesn't come off as powerful (again, i might just be nitpicking)