#adamguettel

Talk about circuitous journeys. Here is a question for you – where were you in 1994? Or 1996? Do you remember ANYTHING from those years? Well, if you are Tina Landau and Adam Guettel, you would know that the premiere of Floyd Collins was presented in 1994 in Philadelphia, and 1996 was the year it premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. Its Broadway premiere was a mere 29 years later and has now taken a bow at Lincoln Center. It’s a good thing they waited so long, because Jeremy Jordan (Floyd Collins) clearly needed to grow into a man and be ready to take on the title role. This part ain’t for sissys.Actually none of these parts are made for sissies. This is one of the most challenging and complicated collections of characters, music, lyrics, and choreography I have ever encountered. And this is one of the most exquisite ensembles I have ever seen.It is 1925 of a farm in Kentucky. The story centers around Floyd Collins who was a spelunker, which is a fancy name for a person who likes to go exploring below ground. I have only gone caving once, and let me tell you, it is crazy down there. People wedge themselves into spaces that look uninviting and impossible. But our boy Floyd was enchanted by the whole deal, until he got himself stuck a few hundred feet below ground.Did he make it out? I cannot tell you. And if you go on and cheat, you will lose out on discovering the community that surrounded Floyd in his time of need. They are glorious and worth the wait.Floyd’s sister Nellie (Lizzy McAlpine) and brother Homer (Jason Gotay) are a tag team of hope. Floyd has been in these situations before, and he will get out. Nellie, in particular, has a haunting melodic connection to her brother, who is known to serenade himself in the caves he visits. Gotay shines as the kid brother with gumption and adventure running through his veins. On a personal note, it is wonderful to hear Jessica Molaskey (Miss Jane) singing again. Her voice is reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, and she has the experience to know when and how to use it. Taylor Trensch as Skeets Miller is the new character on the scene. It is his journey that most guides us through the layers of family, friends, and memories, and he never lets us go.Taylor Trensch and members of the cast of FLOYD COLLINS; Credit Joan MarcusAs I said, the ensemble is tremendous. A special note must be made for the “Reporters” (Dwayne Cooper, Jeremy Davis, and Charlie Franklin), a trio of newsmen who flock to the cave site and lead off the second act with “Is That Remarkable?” This is a three-part harmony report on the Collins situation combined with choreography by Jon Rua that is nothing short of dazzling.The difficulty of this piece is that Guettel’s writing leads more toward an operetta style than what we think of as an American musical. Each piece moves the action obliquely. The music has its own life and often serves to pause and focus the action rather than move the pilot forward. It is more recitative – somewhere between music and dialogue – and his style never waivers. Songs appear to pop out of the air, and singers must grab them without hesitation and release them with little more than a flick of the wrist. Tina Landau’s direction gives the piece structure and depth.Thank goodness for us all that this cast handles everything that is handed to them with grace and skill. They wear you down with their perfection. They take no prisoners. In the end, the story of Floyd Collins lifts you up. Out of the darkness into the light.FLOYD COLLINS – book by Tina Landau, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, additional lyrics by Tina Landau, and direction by Tina Landau.WITH Jeremy Jordan as Floyd Collins, Jason Gotay as Homer Collins, Sean Allan Krill as H.T. Carmichael, Marc Kudisch as Lee Collins, Lizzy McAlpine as Nellie Collins, Wade McCollum as Bee Doyle, Jessica Molaskey as Miss Jane, Taylor Trensch as Skeets Miller, Cole Vaughan as Jewell Estes, Clyde Voce as Ed Bishop as well as Kevin Bernard, Dwayne Cooper, Jeremy Davis, Charlie Franklin, Kristen Hahn, Happy McPartlin, Kevyn Morrow, Zak Resnick, Justin Showell and Colin Trudell.Sets by dots, costumes by Anita Yavich, lighting by Scott Zielinski, sound by Dan Moses Schreier, and projections by Ruey Horng Sun, with dance sequences by Jon Rua, orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin, music direction by Ted Sperling. Bonnie Panson is the stage manager. Lincoln Center Theater is producing FLOYD COLLINS in association with Creative Partners Productions and Mark Cortale & Charles D. Urstadt.Through June 22, at Lincoln Center. Tickets Here RELATED https://youtu.be/0_2WVfmNN4g?si=EU2isDPI9pfhY_b- Read the full article

I am trying to remember when I last saw two actors go through their paces as if they were Olympic Athletes.I have often thought there should be an event, in addition to the various theatrical awards, called Theatre Olympics. Actors would all perform the same scenes, songs, monologues or soliloquies. And they would be judged on that particular performance. Were this a real thing, Brian D’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara would walk away with every prize there was.Watching O’Hara and D’Arcy James in “Days of Wine and Roses” is both thrilling and exhausting. These two thoroughbreds navigate this difficult and overwritten score with grace and self-assurance. Every song that O’Hara sings is an aria. D’Arcy James takes on his music with the precision of a fencing master. This is a master class in every way.For those of you who don’t know, the story and this script is straightforward. It is the 1950s in New York City (Madmen era), where the men drink competitively, and the women are meant to go along or get along, or belly up to the bar themselves. Joe (Brian D’Arcy James) and Kirsten (Kelli O’Hara) meet at an office party on a yacht where he mistakes her for a call girl – odd that because she is reading a book – Draper’s Encyclopedia of Self-Culture, Volume Four. The book and its presence remain unclear other than it is a sort of chaperone for the couple’s relationship. After some sparring on the yacht, they pretty much fall for one another on the spot. She is a bright, very smart woman bursting with life who has just had her first drink because of Joe and rather likes it. He is a veteran caught between the disappointment of the Korean War and a job that demands more out of the office than it puts in. His crutch is liquor, which he defends because the boys in the office expect him to drink. What he doesn’t admit is that it also dulls the pain of living a life of disappointment. Days of Wine and Roses. Billboard at the theater.What Kirsten reminds him of is that there is love and possibility out there.Until the drinking takes over, under Joe’s tutelage, Kirsten, who has never had a drink before, begins to drink a LOT. It makes her feel dangerous, and she likes that. In one scene, Joe brings home whiskey, champagne, and tequila, and they drink all three while singing and dancing. Not believable but we go along with it. Soon, the drinking has escalated to the point that their home is set on fire. They retreat to Kirsten’s father’s house. Arnesen (Byron Jennings) owns a greenhouse (those of you familiar with the story know where this is going), and for a few months, they find refuge, even though he blames Joe for introducing his daughter to liquor. Everything goes fine until it doesn’t. The two easily slip back into drinking one night, and Joe nearly dies of alcohol poisoning.The final chapter of the story deals with Joe tackling his drinking with the aid of AA – a relatively new organization in the 1950’s. Kirsten rebels against that path, which she considers a pathetic betrayal, and leaves Joe to be a single father to their daughter Lila (the charming Ella Dane Morgan).To be certain, this is an odd choice for a musical. The writers take on a dangerous topic – and that is brave. I think they wanted to show us the underbelly of this beast of alcoholism and its ability to overwhelm the most well-intentioned among us. This show succeeds in doing so.Were it not for D’Arcy James and O’Hara, however, there would be no “there” there. To say this musical is overwritten is an understatement. It is, however, not the book that is top-heavy; it is the score. The songs are disjointed and repetitive. I don’t know how these two actors remember where they are in each because the songs have no standard locations of placement – like a beginning, middle, and end. Each number could easily be cut by 50%, and we would still get the point. But it feels as though Mr. Guettel does not trust his own writing and instead insists on repetition rather than specificity.This predicament was obvious from the start, but so compelling are the performances of D’Arcy James and O’Hara that we are willing to follow them anywhere. The straw that broke me came in the near to final scene when Joe was making a sandwich for Lila while she sang a duet of letter reading between her and Kirsten. A few bars into the song, I realized that I was more interested in what was in the sandwich than what was being sung. That is a damn shame.Days of Wine And Roses – Book by Craig Lucas, Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel, Directed by Michael Greif, Choreography by Sergio Trujillo & Karla Puno Garcia, Directed by Michael Greif, Based on the play by JP Miller and the Warner Bros. film. Produced by special arrangement with Warner Bros. TheatreWith Brian D’Arcy James, Kelli O’Hara, Steven Booth, Sharon Catherine Brown, Bill English, Nicole Ferguson, Olivia Hernandez, Byron Jennings, David Jennings, Ted Koch, Ella Dane Morgan, Elena Shaddow, Scarlett Unger, and Kelcey WatsonThrough July 16 at Atlantic Theater, Lind Gross Theater, 336 West 20th Street. Tickets HERE.Readers may enjoy reading our reviews of Flight by Mastervoices with Kelli O'Hara, Faith by Mastervoices with Kelli O'Hara, and Dreamgirls at Café Carlyle.https://youtu.be/sO1gYV8ioFk?si=AFv8c00WxmMWNba7