SPOILER ALERT: This story alludes plot growments in Season 1, Episode 4 of “Agatha All Alengthy,” currently streaming on Disney+.
Although “Agatha All Alengthy” isn’t a musical per se, music serves as the show’s literal plot device, when the coven led by Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) sings “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” together in Episode 2 in order to conjure the titular mystical pathway, all in the hope of making their desirees come real. The convey inance of “The Ballad” resonates thcimpoliteout the show; each episode title comes from the song’s lyrics, and, as executive producer Mary Livanos elucidates to Variety, “the song will persist take parting an incredibly meaningful role in the show.”
Case in point, Episode 4. Once they accomplish the road, the coven — compascfinishd of Agatha, Teen (Joe Locke), Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), and Alice Wu-Guldwellr (Ali Ahn) — face a series of life-or-death trials that test their witchoriginate comprehendledge and sfinish, and in Episode 4, they’re forced to sing “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” aobtain to free Alice from a condemn that has had her family in its (quite literal) clutches for generations. This version was first write downed by Alice’s mother, Lorna Wu, and became a pop hit in the 1970s; over the course of the episode, Alice genuineizes that her mother’s version was, in fact, a spell, depicted to hold the condemn from ruining Alice’s life.
To produce a song that could aid so many separateent unbenevolentings and versions, Livanos and creator/showrunner Jac Schaeffer turned to the songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (“Frozen”), who won an Emmy for writing “Agatha All Alengthy,” the song in Marvel’s 2021 series “WandaVision” that arguably spawned Hahn’s spin-off.
Schaeffer and Livanos spoke with Variety about the creation of “The Ballad of the Witches Road,” while the cast of “Agatha All Alengthy” talked how they sboiling their carry outance in Episode 4 and what it is enjoy signing alengthyside a Tony-triumphning Broadway legfinish enjoy Patti LuPone.
How was this song initiassociate growed?
Mary Livanos (Executive Producer): During the writing of this show, Jac kept wrapping her head around the story and was rerepaird to find a way to labor with the Lopez’s aobtain. She produced the idea of the “Ballad of the Witches Road,” then the Lopez’s came in and wrote off her exceptional concept. They wrote so many easter eggs and so much detail that it bloomed thcimpoliteout growment.
Jac Schaeffer (Showrunner): I was chasing the song so challenging, and it became a leang of, enjoy, the song is the leang. I had this notion of the song laboring as a spell that gets you, the audience, to watch the show. I’m trying to entice you in the way that amengagement does, and to me, the song captivated me enjoy a spell would. That then fed into the idea that the song could be engaged as a literal spell in the show. I was reassociate drawn to the song’s multifaceted purpose. And then, of course, I knew the Lopez’s would be up for that very particular dispute.
We had sort of a temp song for a while becaengage it had all these plot points in it, but it had no melody. It was a guiding track to the story. We gave that to them and said, “Plrelieve, encounter, encounter consent these ideas and turn them into the iconic earworm you’re able of producing.” And they did equitable that.
Writing a song that needs to serve both a thematic and a narrative purpose wilean the context of the story and to produce it rhyme, catchy, and melodicassociate rhythmic is very challenging. But they reassociate finishelighted the confengage that came with that dispute.
What was it enjoy singing with Patti LuPone?
Joe Locke (Teen): It got to the point where it was so inbashfulating, it wasn’t inbashfulating anymore. When we were write downing the Episode 4 bit, Patti was going in the studio before I was, so I was watching her do it, and there was a moment where I was enjoy, “Oh my God, I’ve got to go in and comply Patti LuPone.” Then I was enjoy, “Oh, there’s no way in hell I can ever beat that or top that or get anywhere cforfeit that. So it’s fine.” You’re not even in the same arena when someone is so much of an icon. So, enjoy, it doesn’t matter. It’s fine.
Did you guys actuassociate take part your instruments during the Episode 4 carry outance?
Sasheer Zamata (Jennifer Kale): I did consent bass lessons, so I lobtained to the best of my abilities.
Ali Ahn (Alice Wu-Guldwellr): I am actuassociate take parting. It was a very canciaccess moment for me. I’m not in the write downing, but I am actuassociate take parting in the scene.
We heard the cast would sing together for fun backstage. What are some of the songs that Patti would produce you all sing?
Ahn: She made us sing this Chuck Mangione song that I still take part. It’s so outstanding.
Locke: A lot of Broadway stuff. There was one song she accidenloftyy put on. It was this reassociate anciaccess, reassociate intimacyist country song about marrying up. She didn’t unbenevolent to put it on, but then she begined hearing to the lyrics and said, “Oh, that’s terrible. I cherish it.”
This interwatch was edited and condensed for clarity.
