‘Agatha All along’ cast on ‘Witches Road’ rock song in episode 4

SPOILER ALERT: This story reports the plot developments in Season 1, Episode 4 of “Agatha All Along,” currently streaming on Disney+.

While “Agatha All Along” isn’t a musical per se, music serves as the show’s literal plot, as the coven led by Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) sing together “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” in episode 2 at to conjure the titular mystical path, all in the hopes of making their wishes come true. The importance of “The Ballad” resonates throughout the show; each episode title comes from the lyrics of the song, and, as executive producer Mary Livanos explains Variety“the song will continue to play an incredibly important role in the show.”

Case in point: episode 4. Once they reach the road, the coven consists of Agatha, Teen (Joe Locke), Lilia Calderu (Patti LuPone), Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), and Alice Wu-Gulliver ( Ali Ahn) — face a series of life-and-death trials that test their knowledge and skills in witchcraft, and in episode 4 they are forced to sing “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” again to help Alice to free her from a curse that has (quite literally) gripped her family for generations. This version was first recorded by Alice’s mother, Lorna Wu, and became a pop hit in the 1970s; Over the course of the episode, Alice realizes that her mother’s version was in fact a spell designed to prevent the curse from destroying Alice’s life.

To create a song that could support so many different meanings and versions, Livanos and creator/showrunner Jac Schaeffer turned to songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (“Frozen”), who won an Emmy for writing “ Agatha All along. ‘ the issue in Marvel’s 2021 series ‘WandaVision’ that arguably spawned Hahn’s spinoff.

Schaeffer and Livanos spoke with Variety on the creation of “The Ballad of the Witches Road,” while the cast of “Agatha All Along” discussed how they shot their performance in Episode 4 and what it’s like working alongside a Tony-winning Broadway legend like Patti LuPone to draw.

How was this song initially developed?

Mary Livanos (Executive Producer): While writing this show, Jac continued to delve into the story and was determined to find a way to work with the Lopez’s again. She created the idea of ​​the ‘Ballad of the Witches Road’, after which the Lopez’s came in and wrote down her original concept. They wrote so many Easter eggs and so many details that it blossomed during development.

Jac Schaeffer (Showrunner): I was looking so hard for the song, and it became a thing of, like, the song is the thing. I felt like the song worked like a spell that would get you, the audience, to watch the show. I try to seduce you the way entertainment does, and for me the song entranced me like a spell would. That then fueled the idea that the song could be used as a literal spell in the show. I was really drawn to the multi-faceted purpose of the song. And then, of course, I knew the Lopez’s would be up for that very specific challenge.

We had kind of a temporary song for a while because it had all these plot points, but it had no melody. It was a guideline for the story. We gave that to them and said, “Please, please, please take these ideas and turn them into the iconic earworm that you can produce.” And they did just that.

Writing a song that must serve both a thematic and narrative purpose within the context of the story and make it rhyming, catchy, and melodically rhythmic is quite a challenge. But they really enjoyed the puzzle that came with that challenge.

What was it like singing with Patti LuPone?

Joe Locke (teen): It got to the point where it was so intimidating that it wasn’t intimidating anymore. When we were shooting Episode 4, Patti went into the studio before I did, so I saw her doing it, and there was a moment where I was like, ‘Oh my God, I have to go in and follow Patti LuPone.” Then I thought, “Oh, there’s no way I can ever beat that or top that or even come close. So it’s fine.” You’re not even in the same arena when someone is such an icon. So it doesn’t matter. It’s fine.

Did you actually play your instruments during the Episode 4 performance?

Sasheer Zamata (Jennifer Kale): I did take bass lessons, so I learned it as best I could.

Ali Ahn (Alice Wu Gulliver): I’m actually playing. It was a very cool moment for me. I’m not in the recording, but I’m actually in the scene.

We heard the cast would sing together backstage for fun. What are some of the songs Patti would have you all sing?

Ah: She had us sing this Chuck Mangione song, which I still play. It’s so good.

Locke: Lots of Broadway stuff. There was one song she put on by mistake. It was a very old, very sexist country song about marriage. She didn’t mean to put it on, but then she started listening to the lyrics and said, “Oh, that’s terrible. I love it.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.