Ani DiFranco Says She's Writing A Musical

Ani DiFranco revealed that she was commissioned to write a new musical on WNYC's All of It with Alison Stewart.

DiFranco tells guest host Kousha Navidar: "I have been commissioned to do a work of musical theatre, which is one of the ingredients of why I said yes to coming to do Hadestown for six months."

"It all sort of started with the pandemic, having my job stop suddenly, this touring and performing job, so I started branching out, thinking of new ways to be an artist in the world, said DiFranco. "I thought, jeez, I should show up for Hadestown, this epic, brilliant piece of musical theatre, and learn what it is... How does it go? What does it mean? ...in order to hopefully apply it to something I'm working on."

Listen to the interview here.

Her new album, Unprecedented Sh!t, is now available and 1-800-ON-HER-OWN, a documentary about her life, will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June.

DiFranco began her run as Persephone in Hadestown on Broadway on February 9, 2024. She will play her final performance on Sunday, June 30.

DiFranco’s history with Hadestown began in 2010 when she invited Anaïs Mitchell to release the original studio album of Hadestown on DiFranco's label, Righteous Babe Records. DiFranco originated the role of ‘Persephone’ on the album.

Widely considered a feminist icon, Grammy winner Ani DiFranco is the mother of the DIY movement, being one of the first artists to create her own record label in 1990. While she has been known as the “Little Folksinger,” her music has embraced punk, funk, hip hop, jazz, soul, electronica and even more distant sounds. She has shared stages with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson, Bon Iver, Brandi Carlile, Billy Bragg, Michael Franti, Chuck D., and many more. Her most recent albums include 2021’s Revolutionary Love and the June 2023 25th Anniversary Edition reissue of her seminal album Little Plastic Castle, both on her own label Righteous Babe Records. Her memoir No Walls and the Recurring Dream was released in May 2019 by Viking Books and was a New York Times Top 10 best seller. Her debut children’s book The Knowing is out now.