Light in the Floyd Collins- Page 2

[gwalke4]

Posted: 6/13/05 at 3:30am

A brief history of me and Mr. Guettel:

Of course, I cannot discount ever the influence of "Way Back to Paradise," which, true to Audra McDonald's stated intent, really DID get me to explore the writers that she recorded on that brilliant CD. It is STILL my favorite recording of hers - and how!

I wanted Floyd Collins very badly, but could never find it, even at my local B&N, where one of their super-swift friendly employees finally found it one day under like folk/country-western music. I then attempted to explain to him for almost twenty minutes that it was a theatre score, that it belonged at least under soundtracks (we now have full "show" section). He was obstinate that it was folk/country-western. Dumbass.

At first I just DID NOT GET IT. I was much younger then... It was difficult music. I, too, had never heard of the story before, had no idea what was going on. It was unlike anything I had ever heard.

Then I found Myths and Hymns, which I guess I "got" much more easily. I love that piece still and think it is brilliant. My favorite track on the entire CD is "There's A Land," which sort of puzzles other people. I think that one track is what holds the entire song cycle together.

In that vein, I feel like in every well-constructed score there is a song, a moment, a passage(way) that is the seed, the genesis, the defining point for the rest of the score. And until I find that, I really feel lost in the score. I could not find it in Floyd Collins.

Then, that summer, I went to this French immersion program in Nova Scotia, was terribly isolated and depressed, and despite the rules against it, pulled out Floyd Collins (English music!) and listened to it in my room. When finally I hit upon:

"The Dream"
(Nellie)

We all go somewhere
And that's how we get along
If folks just don't understand it
Why that ain't nothing wrong

You and me
We follow a sound
That is whistlin' around in the air

Since momma's gone
We've heard it callin'

And it's kind of restful
When you see that you're not alone
We're finally together
Here in the unknown

We're always wonderin' and wantin' to know
Why we are
What we are

We always have that whistlin' question
When there ain't an answer
But only the askin'
Forever

And, I don't know, something in the passage finally said to me, this is what this musical is about. That sort of extended, distended melody that all comes home of "When there ain't an ANswer/But only the askin'/Forever" It was such an incredibly moving experience for me, being where I was, and as alone as I was at the time. With careful listening, and with time, the rest of the score revealed itself to me.

And all of this was before I'd even heard of Stephen Sondheim. I really went backwards, in a way, in my exposure to, what Ira Weitzman referred to me personally as "musical theater of substance."

For this reason, I still am drawn to Floyd perhaps the most b/c there was so much there for me to experience, to explore. Piazza is so well-made, so clean-cut, as to seem an entirely new experience after the influence ALW and the 80's/Wildhorn/Rent. It is not even the same type of score as Floyd. And it doesn't require that same work, I believe. I was surprised at how accessible the score was even upon the first hearing. But I am also much more educated now in my musical tastes. And I think the brilliance of Piazza lies in its ultimate simplicity, honesty, and sureness of self, of what it's trying to say and be.

And, obviously, the seed-genesis passage of Piazza is "The Light in the Piazza":

I see it
Now I see it everywhere
It's everywhere
It's everything and everywhere

Fabrizio
The light in the piazza
My love


I love it. And, personally, I think it's incredibly interesting that how the lyrics are type-set (ostensibly by Mr. Guettel) are different from they are arranged/sung. Not:

Now I see it
Everywhere

but:

Now I see it everywhere
Updated On: 6/13/05 at 03:30 AM