Light in the Floyd Collins

[jasonf]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 2:24pm

OK, I'm ready to get flamed here -- I've been listening to Light in the Piazza just as much as everyone else has, and it's a beautiful score (I've been listening to it so much that I haven't even gotten around to listening to Spelling Bee, Pacific Overtures, Sondheim Sings or Altar Boyz -- though I saw the latter -- which came in the same package -- I did listen to All Shook Up also, same package, but that was because I also saw that one).


I have to say that I like Floyd Collins more as an overall piece than Light... I haven't SEEN either, so I'm going solely on the recordings. I like just about every single song in Floyd Collins, about the only thing I skip are the two short musical pieces like "I Landed On Him" - and I can't remember the other one...because without seeing the show I'm not sure what's going on there. Piazza has some absolutely beautiful music - my favorite song between both CDs is La Passigatta -- I was walking around the supermarket today singing it to myself. But there are several tracks that I just don't find as interesting - maybe because I haven't seen the show yet.

The one thing I will say about both of them that truly makes Guettel stand out is his sense of place. Both pieces are so unique and fit their locations absolutely perfectly. I also think that the music on both is like Sondheim - even when it's not the best, it's still better than a lot of other stuff! Myths and Hymns is hit or miss for me, so I'm not counting that - which Guettel piece do you like better and why?

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 2:30pm

I think both are very successful in creating a distinct setting with music and lyrics; they are so different, so it's hard to compare the two, but I might have to go with Piazza solely because I saw it and I know it better. Hopefully I'll get to see a production of Floyd Collins eventually, but I'm content right now with the wonderful recording.

Do you have the Floyd Collins booklet? There's a great synopsis by Tina Landau that explains every musical number, including "I Landed On Him".

[jasonf]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 2:31pm

Hmm - the drawbacks of the iPod -- I need to FIND the book! It's around here somewhere!

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 3:31pm

I love "Lets Walk" from Piazza, I don't know why, but I love how it sounds so haunting.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 3:35pm

Choosing between them would be like choosing between my children!

A little story for you: March 18, 1997 (yes, I remember the date. I'm that weird), I stopped into a music store to browse and noticed a new cast album being put on the shelf. I wasn't as internet-savvy then, so I hadn't heard anything about this Floyd Collins, but the packaging was sweet and I figured, why not? I took it home and put it into the computer as I started to check my email. I couldn't have gotten more than 30 seconds into the intro "Ballad" before my jaw just hit the floor. I popped the CD out and took it into the next room where my father was and told him, "you have to hear this!" I played it for a friend later that day and he went to buy a copy for himself. Over the next year or two I probably got a dozen or so people into it (meaning they bought the cast album or I ended up getting it for them as a gift), some of whom don't really "do the musicals thing," but were floored by the sense of character and setting in the music. As such, I feel an almost missionary-like attachment to the show.

That having been said, I listen to Myths and Hymns just as often, and I have waited a very long time for this Piazza "craze" to come along. I even did an overnight trip to Seattle just to see its first tryout, and that was after the people at the Sundance Institute told me there was no way in hell they were going to let me peek in on their workshop. It is everything I ever hoped it would be and more. I love it in a different way, just as I love my children for different reasons and in different ways.

That's a cop-out, I know. Maybe I'll give a more thoughtful answer later.

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 3:52pm

Which recording do you most prefer: Floyd Collins, Piazza or Myths & Hymns?

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 3:57pm

Piazza has been in my player since the day I got it, but Floyd Collins was there for a long time when it was new too, as was Myths and Hymns, but to a lesser degree because I listen less obsessively when I'm not immmersed in plot. Once the novelty wears off, I think I will probably prefer Piazza overall, the reason being that Mr. Guettel spent so many years perfecting it, and it shows in the thorough, clear structure of each song and the way they relate as a whole work.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:00pm

As a package, all three are excellent, with complete lyrics and some form of a synopsis or essay, as well as a very nice sound quality. I think I would say Piazza too, but that might just be because it's new and I haven't had it for as long as Floyd.

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:00pm

Do Floyd Collins & Myths and Hymns have a structured plot or are they more of a revue?

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:01pm

"Floyd Collins" is a book musical with a clear-cut plot. "Myths and Hymns" (or "Saturn Returns") is a song-cycle.

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:04pm

Would someone be kind enough to briefly explain the plot of Floyd Collins or will everyone yell at me to do a search?

[jasonf]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:04pm

Though maybe I shouldn't tell this...

I am a language arts middle school teacher, and every year after all our standardized tests are done (don't get my started on the evils of those) I have my two honors classes each write, produce, star in, even partially direct (I do the main job there) a class play. The kids do everything from writing to sets to lights to music to - well everything...

Anyway, this year, one of the classes decided that they were going to do an Old West show, but they couldn't agree on the genre. Some kids wanted to do a comedy, some wanted to do it as a straight-forward play, and some wanted to do a musical. I said why not do all three? We'll tell the same story from three different perspectives and three different genres. As the kids developed their idea, they found that they needed something to link the stories together. We had a "shady guy" character who was in all three scenes, who we had decided would "win" the girl in the end. One of the kids came up with the idea of making the shady guy kind of a narrator - that he would introduce each scene to the audience -- and the kids wanted it done in song. So we thought and thought about what would be a good song to use (altering lyrics, yes; writing our OWN melodies - not enough time or talent). I thumbed through my 5,000+ songs on my ipod and came up with the Ballad of Floyd Collins. We took the melody, and changed the lyrics around to fit our show. This was all done just as a school project, no money was made or anything -- but here's the payoff-- the kids LOVED the song. We had a girl playing the shady guy (due to a lack of male actors/singers in the class) and she still walks down the halls singing "Oh my Lord, have mercy on my soul..." One of my MANY goals with the project is to get the kids interested in theater in general, if I get them interested in a musical or two along the way, I'm happy! :) Jason

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:13pm

Floyd Collins concerns a young man named Floyd who is searching for the perfect cave to open up for tourism in Kentucky. One night while caving, he gets trapped underground. His family and friends are sure that they'll be able to get him out, but they soon discover that he is too far down, and they are too afraid to try to get him out. A media circus arrives to cover the story, and thousands come to watch. His brother, Homer, and a reporter named Skeets Miller are two of the only ones who can crawl down and talk to Floyd, so they relay how he is doing to the crowd. It all leads up to the ending, which I won't spoil. "The Riddle Song" at the end of Act 1 was named by Stephen Sondheim as a song he wishes he wrote.

[shira467]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:21pm

The song "How Glory Goes" is just breathtaking to me - also, Audra sings it on one of her CDs.

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:33pm

gee, please don't spoil the ending of "Civil War" for me either. I just can't wait to see who wins!!

Where are people going to school who aren't taught about Floyd Collins? I certainly knew the story all my life, at least 4 decades before the musical was written. He's a regular topic on History Channel and Biography.

Has anyone ever heard of Scott Joplin? how about Robert E. Lee?

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:33pm

ooops why did that double post?

Updated On: 6/12/05 at 04:33 PM

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:40pm

Obviously not in the South...honestly, I hadn't heard of Floyd Collins at all until this show came along, but a couple of my friends from Tennesee, Alabama, etc., were like "oh that cave explorer guy's got a show about him now?" I think American folk heroes (and failures) are taught more heavily in the areas they're from. I mean, do any of you know all about Chief Wakara?

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:41pm

Oh, please. I'm sure you know that Floyd Collins' story isn't nearly as well known as the Civil War. I would bet that a lot of people on this board aren't familiar with it. But fine.

*SPOILER*


He dies.
Updated On: 6/12/05 at 04:41 PM

[shira467]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:42pm

I'd actually never heard of Floyd Collins prior to the theatre scene about it...sorry.

But yes, Scott Joplin (didn't he write a song or something...the music to STING, in addition to many others) and Robert E. Lee (Confederacy, right?) were covered.

[jasonf]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 4:48pm

I'd never heard of Floyd Collins either before the show. I guess you have to be from the area.

[broadway betty]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:48pm

I've been obsessed with Piazza since I first saw it and haven't stopped listening to the cd then I got Floyd Collins and Myths and Hymns on Friday and I can't stop listening to them. Adam Guettel's music is unlike anything I've ever heard. All I can say is that he's a musical genius. Simply gorgeous music.

[Princeton78]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 10:52pm

I found Piazza to be a bit cold in the theatre, but the OBC is leaving me a bit cold.

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 11:15pm

yeah Scott Joplin is the guy contracted to write the soundtrack to "The Sting"

**sighs***

[Hairspraydoll]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 11:22pm

Having seen Floyld Collins and having only listened to Light, I LOVE FC. It's so different and I love that it's based on a true story.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 6/12/05 at 11:35pm

i'd never heard of floyd collins before the show...