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

Although “Agatha All Along” is not a musical per se, the music serves as a literal plot device in the series when the coven led by Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) sings “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” together in Episode 2, the mystical path of the title to conjure, all in the hope that their wishes will come true. The meaning of “The Ballad” is reflected throughout the show; Each episode title comes from the song’s lyrics, as executive producer Mary Livanos explains diversity“The song will continue to play an incredibly important role in the show.”

Case in point: Episode 4. Once they reach the street, the coven – consisting 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 witchcraft knowledge and skills, and in Episode 4 they are forced to sing “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road” again, to free Alice from a curse that has held her family in its clutches (in the truest sense of the word) for generations. This version was first recorded by Alice’s mother Lorna Wu and became a pop hit in the 1970s; As the episode progresses, Alice realizes that her mother’s version was actually a spell intended 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”) to write “Agatha All Along” won an Emmy. ” the song in Marvel’s 2021 series “WandaVision,” which arguably spawned Hahn’s spinoff.

Schaeffer and Livanos spoke diversity about the making of “The Ballad of the Witches Road,” while the cast of “Agatha All Along” talked about filming their performance in Episode 4 and what it’s like working alongside a Tony-winning Broadway legend like Patti LuPone to sign.

How did this song originally come about?

Mary Livanos (Executive Producer): While writing this show, Jac kept revisiting the story and was determined to find a way to work with the Lopez’s again. She came up with the idea for Ballad of the Witches Road, then the Lopez’s came along and copied her original concept. They wrote so many Easter eggs and so many details that it blossomed throughout development.

Jac Schaeffer (showrunner): I was looking for the song so much, and it kind of became the song that it is The Thing. I had this idea that the song would act like a charm that would make you, the audience, want to watch the show. I try to seduce you the way entertainment does and for me the song captivated me like a magic spell. This then led to the idea that the song could be used as a literal spell in the show. The multi-layered purpose of the song really attracted me. And then of course I knew that the Lopez’s would be up to this very special challenge.

We had kind of a temporary song for a while because it had all these storylines but no melody. It was a guide to history. We gave them that and said, “Please, please, please take these ideas and turn them into the most iconic catchy tune you can produce.” And that’s exactly what they did.

It’s a big challenge to write a song that has to serve both a thematic and narrative purpose in the context of the story and make it rhyme, catchy and melodically rhythmic. But they really enjoyed the puzzle that came with this 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 recording the part of Episode 4, Patti walked into the studio before me, so I was watching her and there was a moment where I thought, “Oh my God, I have to go in there and follow Patti LuPone.” Then I thought, ‘Oh, there’s no way I’m ever going to beat that or top that or even come close to it.’ So it’s fine.’ You’re not even in the same arena when someone is that iconic. So it doesn’t matter. It’s okay.

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

Sasheer Zamata (Jennifer Kale): I took bass lessons and learned as best I could.

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

We heard that the cast would be singing together backstage for fun. What songs would Patti have you all sing?

Ahn: She had us sing this Chuck Mangione song that I still play. It’s that good.

Locke: A lot of Broadway stuff. There was a song that she accidentally put on. It was this really old, really sexist country song about getting married. She didn’t really want to put it on, but then she listened to the lyrics and said, “Oh, that’s terrible. I love it.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.