The beginning of December means holiday cheer, the hope for early snow and the arrival of Spotify Wrapped. Unfortunately, I already know what songs are going to dominate mine — and Prime’s “Hazbin Hotel” is at fault.
This so-called “animated adult dark musical horror-comedy TV series” created by YouTube creator Vivziepop is full of great, albeit sometimes funky, animation that originated as a pilot episode in 2019 and was picked up by Prime Video in 2024.
Don’t let the looks deceive you, though. “Hazbin Hotel” is vulgar, graphic and gory, dealing with heavy topics such as the portrayal of sexual assault, addiction, violence, propaganda, queerness, homophobia and religion, and boy, it does not sugarcoat anything.
I don’t know what kind of deal with the devil the casting producers made, but the show has a better cast than most recent TV shows, and the soundtrack to match.
It’s unhinged Broadway with surprisingly great storytelling, following the princess of hell who’s trying to find a way to redeem the sinners — humans who ended up in hell — through her Hazbin Hotel, therefore sparing them from heaven’s exterminations due to overpopulation.
With 16 episodes (and the aforementioned pilot that is semi-canon as a lot of the voice actors changed for the TV version) there are 36 tracks that range not only in length, but in production and genre as well.
Before we even get to the cast themselves, these songs are so great because of the production behind them, which is the courtesy of Andrew Underberg — songwriter and composer — and Sam Haft — the lead singer of The Living Tombstone.
If you are a “Five Nights at Freddy’s” fan that name is more than familiar. But even if you are not a nerd like I am, you know who this group is, as long as you have TikTok. Their song “My Ordinary Life” blew up on the app in 2020, and then in 2021, their song “Discord” rapidly gained popularity. So trust me, you’ve heard them once or twice before.
Back to the Broadway part though — quite literally, as the cast had a one-night show before the premiere of season two this past October.
There’s a lot of characters that get their chance at singing, so let’s start with the song and the voice that got me hooked on this show — “Hell is Forever” sung by the character of Adam, the first human and the leader of the exterminators, voiced by Alex Brightman, the Broadway actor best known for his recurring role as Beetlejuice.
Yes, that Tony-nominated Beetlejuice from the trending TikTok audio.
Brightman’s voice as Adam honestly shines in the rock tune that his songs fall into. He makes an especially good duet when paired with the voice actor of his right-hand Lute, voiced by Jessica Vosk, who played Elphaba Thropp in “Wicked” on Broadway.
We knew these two harmonizing was heavenly when they had all of maybe 30 seconds together in “You Didn’t Know” in Season 1, but these award-winning actors prove why they are legends with the song “Gravity” in Season 2.
This contemporary rock masterpiece is never leaving my playlist. I don’t care what anyone says.
Brightman also voices a sinner by the name Sir Pentious, who is quite literally a snake, and the fact that he can sound good while singing with a snake-like lisp will never stop astounding me.
Speaking of Broadway legends, it would be a crime not to mention Christian Borle who plays Vox, the villain of Season 2, and Lucifer Morningstar himself, voiced by Jeremy Jordan.
Borle, a two-time Tony winner, is the centerpiece of Season 2, appearing in half of the songs, somehow stealing every single one of them. And Jordan, a Broadway actor with an incredible resume, most recently as Jay Gatsby in “The Great Gatsby” was the best possible choice for the whimsical character of Lucifer. I really wish they gave him more screen time, as his duet “More than Anything” is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
Well, it is definitely up there, and it is joined by “Sera’s Confession” sung by Tony-winning Broadway actress Patina Miller and the Speaker of God, voiced by Liz Callaway, most known for her role as Anastasia in the childhood movie by the same name and adult Kiara in “The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride.” Their vocals are heavenly, no pun intended, considering they play angels, and this song is criminally underrated.
Speaking of heavenly vocals, Blake Roman’s character, Angel Dust has some of my favorite songs from this show. Even though this is Roman’s first major project, his falsetto in “Losin’ Streak” and incredible vocals in “Poison” showcase just how much potential he has, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up landing bigger roles after his performance here.
His duet “Loser, Baby” with the character of Husk is a whimsical, explicit song and his high tones contrast especially well with the deeper tones of Husk’s voice actor, Keith David.
Ever seen “Rick and Morty?” Imagine The President singing the lines “You’re a fucked up little whiny bitch / You’re a loser just like me / You’re a power bottom at rock bottom” to a jazzy tune, and that pretty much sums up this show.
His solo “Love in a Bottle” stole the show and the charts, as it is now the second most listened to song from the show.
If “Hazbin Hotel” does one thing right it is picking out the right duets — which is definitely the great work of Haft — and yet another great example is “Easy,” a fun-upbeat track sung by Charlie Morningstar (Broadway’s Erika Henningsen who played Cady Heron in “Mean Girls”) and her girlfriend/fallen-angel Vaggie, voiced by Stephanie Beatriz. Beatriz is known as the voice behind Mirabel in “Encanto,” her role as Rosa Diaz in “Brooklyn 99” and her appearance in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” as Carla.
At this point, might as well get Miranda in the cast, since Vivziepop managed to get Daphne Rubin-Vega who played Daniella in “In the Heights” and voices a sinner-overlord Carmilla in the show.
The last two names that need to be talked about more in the context of this show is TV actor Amir Talai who voices the fan-favorite radio-demon Alastor, and the new character Abel (yes, that Abel, Adam’s son) voiced by Patrick Stump, the lead singer of Fall Out Boy. His 20 seconds of screen time ate and I can’t wait for him to have a bigger role next season. Maybe I just want more of Fall Out Boy, but who wouldn’t?
There’s definitely a lot more to talk about but all I can say is open up your Spotify and go give the songs a listen. If you can get over lyrics such as “What are we even talking about / Some cracker who fucked up already / He blew his show like the cocks in his mouth / This discussion is senseless and petty” and love musicals, this show will rule over your playlists too.
