In 2006, Vermont singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and a handful of local actors, musicians and artists staged the very first production of her so-called "folk opera," Hadestown, at the Old Labor Hall in Barre. An inventive and at times abstract retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, the musical was conceived, written and produced in a matter of weeks in collaboration with artist Ben T. Matchstick and composer Michael Chorney. Its original cast and crew included Mitchell herself in the role of Persephone alongside a ragtag cadre of friends. The show was weird and wonderful, with a steampunk aesthetic and indie-folk musical sensibilities. And the story of what's happened to it since is the stuff of legend — or maybe mythology. Over many years and revisions, the production evolved in scope and style. In 2007, a more developed version of Hadestown toured Vermont, with a stop in Somerville, Mass. A concept album released on Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe records followed in 2010. Six years later, a revamped Hadestown debuted off-Broadway to rave reviews in the New York Times and the Village Voice. It was mounted in Canada and England before landing on Broadway in 2019. That year, it won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score. Following a pandemic hiatus, the play returned to Broadway in 2021 and is still running there, as well as at the Lyric Theatre in London's West End. At heart, Hadestown is a love story. Its central hero is a musician, Orpheus, who travels to the underworld to bring his beloved Eurydice back from the dead. But it's also a parable whose themes have deepened against the backdrop of a fraught political landscape. That's particularly thanks to the musical's central villain, Hades, a billionaire tyrant obsessed with building a wall to keep people out. A touring production of Hadestown is currently making its way around the U.S., including a sold-out four-show run this Tuesday to Thursday, October 15 to 17, at the Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. Mitchell will be in the audience for one of those shows with cast members, musicians and crew from the original Vermont productions. She answered questions by email about the nearly two-decade-long journey of Hadestown and what it means for the show to come home. Let's say you struck a deal with Chronos to send you back in time to opening night…