New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Adam Guettel's 1996 musical Floyd Collins - for which Nonesuch released the original cast recording in 1997 - will be given its Broadway premiere production at Lincoln Center Theater (LCT)'s Vivian Beaumont Theater next spring, LCT announced today, with previews beginning on March 27 and an official opening night on April 21. Guettel wrote the music and lyrics for Floyd Collins, with additional lyrics by Tina Landau, who wrote the book and will direct the LCT production. Cast and ticket on-sale details are still to be announced.
Applauded by both music and theater critics following its off-Broadway premiere at Playwrights Horizons in 1996, Floyd Collins, a richly inventive "folk musical," was hailed as the dawn of an important new voice in American theater. The music, a synthesis of bluegrass, country, and Broadway, ranging from tuneful ballads to up-tempo ensemble numbers, was performed by an eight-piece band that includes piano, violin, viola, cello, bass, banjo, harmonica, and percussion, and a 13-member cast. The Wall Street Journal called it a "masterpiece."
Floyd Collins is based on a 1925 incident involving a Kentucky spelunker (pictured above) in search of his fortune who was trapped for several days in a cave. Collins's tragic ordeal spawned a national media frenzy, and the ensuing circus-like atmosphere created by the media, rescuers and curious onlookers captivated the entire nation.
Adam Guettel's new musical, Days of Wine and Roses, has been nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Original Score for Guettel, Best Leading Actress in a Musical for Kelli O'Hara, and Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Brian d'Arcy
James (who can be heard on the Floyd Collins cast album). The original cast recording was released on Nonesuch earlier this year and is available here.
Guettel and O'Hara and Days of Wine and Roses book writer were reunited after having collaborated on the six-time Tony Award-winning musical The Light in the Piazza, which opened at Lincoln Center Theater in April of 2005.
