SPOILER ALERT: This story mentions plot developments in Season 1, Episode 4 of “Agatha All Along,” currently streaming on Disney+.
Although “Agatha All Along” 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 wishes come true. The importance of “The Ballad” resonates throughout the show; each episode title comes from the song’s lyrics, and, as executive producer Mary Livanos explains to Variety, “the song will continue playing an incredibly significant role in the show.”
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Case in point, Episode 4, titled “If I Can’t Reach You / Let My Song Teach You.” Once they reach the road, the coven — comprised 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-or-death trials that test their witchcraft knowledge and skill, and in Episode 4, they’re forced to sing “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” again to free Alice from a curse that has had her family in its (quite literal) clutches 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 keep the curse from destroying Alice’s life.
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To create a song that could support so many different meanings 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 Along,” 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 Along” discussed how they shot their performance in Episode 4 and what it is like signing alongside a Tony-winning Broadway legend like Patti LuPone.
How was this song initially developed?
Mary Livanos (Executive Producer): During the writing of this show, Jac kept wrapping her head around 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,” then the Lopez’s came in and wrote off her original concept. They wrote so many easter eggs and so much detail that it bloomed throughout development.
Jac Schaeffer (Showrunner): I was chasing the song so hard, and it became a thing of, like, the song is the thing. I had this notion of the song working as a spell that gets you, the audience, to watch the show. I’m trying to entice you in the way that entertainment does, and to me, the song entranced me like a spell would. That then fed into the idea that the song could be used as a literal spell in the show. I was really drawn to the song’s multifaceted purpose. And then, of course, I knew the Lopez’s would be up for that very specific challenge.
We had sort of a temp song for a while because 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, “Please, please, please take these ideas and turn them into the iconic earworm you’re capable of producing.” And they did just that.
Writing a song that needs to serve both a thematic and a narrative purpose within the context of the story and to make it rhyme, catchy, and melodically rhythmic is very challenging. 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, it wasn’t intimidating anymore. When we were recording 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 like, “Oh my God, I’ve got to go in and follow Patti LuPone.” Then I was like, “Oh, there’s no way in hell I can ever beat that or top that or get anywhere near that. So it’s fine.” You’re not even in the same arena when someone is so much of an icon. So, like, it doesn’t matter. It’s fine.
Did you guys actually play your instruments during the Episode 4 performance?
Sasheer Zamata (Jennifer Kale): I did take bass lessons, so I learned to the best of my abilities.
Ali Ahn (Alice Wu-Gulliver): I am actually playing. It was a very cool moment for me. I’m not in the recording, but I am actually playing in the scene.
We heard the cast would sing together for fun backstage. What are some of the songs that Patti would make you all sing?
Ahn: She made us sing this Chuck Mangione song that I still play. It’s so good.
Locke: A lot of Broadway stuff. There was one song she accidentally put on. It was this really old, really sexist country song about marrying up. She didn’t mean to put it on, but then she started listening to the lyrics and said, “Oh, that’s awful. I love it.”
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
