Monday Media Musings - 6/13/22

[owlmoose]

Hadestown: I've long been curious about this musical, and after a couple of postponements, it's finally come to San Francisco. I don't usually listen to album versions of musicals I don't know (Hamilton being the big exception), so I wasn't familiar with the music at all, and knew very little else beyond it being a retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. It's a brilliant show -- strong cast, both acting and musically, excellent music, beautiful production values. It's interesting watching this so close on the heels of playing Hades, which isn't really an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling, but it does focus strongly on the romance between Hades and Persephone, which is the main secondary plot of Hadestown. To be honest, I think I prefer how the game set up their story and resolved it. In the musical, I thought Hades's redemption came a little too easily, especially since his sins were much worse -- forcing Persephone to come home before she was ready, setting all the souls to hard labor, luring Eurydice into his domain. But then Orpheus sings his song and it's all better? I'm not entirely convinced. Whereas in the game, Hades lets Persephone go, and when she does come back, it's clear that they're having a slow reconciliation with a lot of negotiation and compromise. I should do some reading on Hadestown and what the storytellers were intending their message to be, as well as other takes on how people read it.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: I've watched the first episode. It was good, and yet somehow I'm not compelled to pick up the next one. Am I done with purely episodic Trek? But I liked Lower Decks. I've heard so much positive buzz about this one that I'm sure I should just keep going. Anyone have thoughts (no spoilers please)? Not sure why I'm so uninspired by it. (I do know why I'm not super inspired by the first two episodes of Picard Season 2, but that's a different topic, and I'll get back to it later.)