Interview: DEATHLESS Composer & Lyricist Zack Zadek Opens Up on Creating 'A Life' for Jeremy Jordan

Last year Ghostlight Records released the studio cast recording of the new musical Deathless, starring Jeremy Jordan, Nicolette Robinson, and more. Now, the show’s composer and lyricist discusses the story behind the song “A Life,” a highlight of the score performed by Broadway star Jeremy Jordan.

How does the song “A Life” fit into the context of your musical Deathless?

“A Life” is in many ways the culmination of the entire journey of the show (and by extension, the album). We’ve watched our characters take this road trip from Kansas City to Niagara Falls as they process the loss of this character’s wife, despite living in a world where one could take a pill that prevents natural death. Kevin has been incredibly shut down about the loss for most of the trip (particularly because of how incongruous it is to lose somebody under these conditions), but in the climax of the piece, he finally breaks open and tells the entire story of his relationship: meeting his wife, falling in love, getting married, starting a family, and ultimately having to accept letting go.

You can hear it on the album, but there’s an enormous instrumental section of “A Life” – in the show, we’re tracking an entire life gone by through movement and some other stage magic. All the highs, all the lows – it’s a bit like the montage in the Pixar movie “Up,” except at a very different point in our story.

 Once Jeremy Jordan signed on to record the role of Kevin cast album, did you tailor “A Life” to his voice?

Oh absolutely. What’s funny about that question is, Jeremy is one of, if not the best, singing actors on the planet - so he could sing basically anything and make it sound perfect. But given what he can do – we really opened up the final refrains of the song to let him soar in that “I was so young, I was so young” section. It’s supposed to be this sort of repressed masculine dude, absolutely letting himself crack open and emote and Jeremy brings the fullest level of vocal release to that section.

The other thing, Jeremy makes the first take sound like the final take. So we had tons of time to try all sorts of different ideas on everything because every option could have been the one that goes on the album.

How did you craft the song’s arrangement?

Much as the song is the climax of the story, it’s also designed to be climax of the sound of the score. Deathless starts very intimately with these indie folk songs that are somewhat whispered in your ear, but by the time we get to “A Life,” the idea is it has a full technicolor explosion of sound. All of the instruments that we’ve been using in very restrained ways earlier are allowed to break open to their loudest and fullest. And as we track this guy’s entire life, it becomes more of an indie rock thing.

Because we had a full string section, one of the last things I wrote musically for the score was that big legato string line that goes along with the “I was so young” section – I really wanted the strings to have a melody that was as much the main hook as Jeremy’s vocal was. I think of records like “Your Ex Lover Is Dead” by the Canadian band Stars, or some of the Arcade Fire stuff, or “Chicago” by Sufjan Stevens – where the strings are allowed to trade in counterpoint with the topline.

What special qualities do you think Jeremy brings to the song?

I mean, this record is what it is because of Jeremy. Nobody else could have done what he did with it. He simultaneously tells this entire life story in a way that hopefully lets a listener feel like they’re watching the full musical, but also makes it a normal record, not just a musical theater one. That was the goal with this whole album – we wanted it to be able to crossover and live in both spaces at once, and there’s nobody else who could have done it like Jeremy Jordan.

What’s next for Deathless as a whole?

Nothing to announce right now, but I think audiences in NYC will have the chance to see the full show in the not-too-distant future. And what I will say is, it’s been really cool to see folks get so invested in the story from the songs first.

 What else are you working on?

Well, another original musical of mine called The Turning is premiering CTG’s Mark Taper Forum in LA next year that I’m beyond stoked for. It’s a thriller about two friends that go to a wellness retreat and what they find once they get there, being directed by my amazing friend Sammi Cannold. We’ve been working on it for a long time and I can’t wait for folks to see it in a few months. And who knows, there could be an album of that too…

I have another high concept show called Satellites that will happen soon. And in terms of new writing projects, I’m in the thick of adapting two movies into stage musicals right now, which is a totally different challenge. They’re both studio films that a lot of people, myself included, really love – so my job is to not screw them up!

Stream or download Deathless from Ghostlight Records HERE