Customer Reviews

Floyd Collins (1996 Original Off-Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Much has been written about Adam Guettel's place in the future of musical theatre -- however, FLOYD COLLINS is an important piece of composition for any serious music lover. Mr. Guettel bursts beyond current style and form to develop a musical architecture all his own; many Guettel fans have said that no composer -- theatre composer or otherwise -- has ever affected them so deeply. I'd recommend FLOYD COLLINS to not only Sondheim fans, but to anyone who enjoys the composition of Copland, Stravinsky, William Bolcom, John Addams, or Kurt Weill.

I've met many musicians who've been injected with Guettel euphoria -- once this music gets under your skin, it refuses to leave. The coolest thing: the drug never wears off.

Like all good composition, FLOYD COLLINS appreciates with time. It's rich in detail and meaning; even two years later, I still notice something new each time I hear it. This is an ideal Christmas gift for any modern classical, or contemporary musical theatre listener!

Floyd Collins is a wonderfully passionate, innovative and inspiring score. One of the things that delights me greatly, is Guettel's complete lack of predictabilty - take "It Moves" in this song, the melody takes twists and turns so taht the listener never knows where it is going. Guettel is truely a great melodist, along with all the other qualities that make him a great composer of musical theatre. There are momenst of biting humour in this score - as in "Is That Remarkable" - a song sung by the press coming to "cash in" on Floyd's situation. There are moments of anger, and biting disonance - as in "Git Comfortable", and there are moments which are truly touching and spine chilling - as in "How Glory Goes" where Floyd finally accepts his death (this scene inparticular was wonderful to see on stage.)

Stephen Sondheim has said that Guettel is the future if the modern musical and I, in turn, would agree with him. Adam Guettel gives me hope for the future of the modern musical. I have always been disapointed in the past with the so called "new Sondheims", with this one, I am not - and I look forward to hearing very much more of his work.

Sometimes you can go to your local music store (or amazon.com, if that tickles your fancy), buy a soundtrack to a show you have never seen before, listen to it, and immediately fall in love with the show and really dont care that you havent actually seen a production of it. Unfortunately, Floyd Collins does not happen to be one of those shows. I have found that people who see the show and run out and purchase the soundtrack are much happier than those who pick up the CD without having see the show. I was one of the people who never saw Floyd Collins, but heard about Adam Guettel in a roundabout fashion and emptied my piggy bank to risk it on this CD. The results were mixed.

When you first listen to Floyd Collins, a few things make themselves immediately clear. First is that their accents are dumb. There is no way getting around the fact that some music and lyrics that had the potential to be timeless are dragged down by silly Southern backwater twangs. While it may have given the show some sort of realism, it does nothing but hamper the recording. Next. There are no "tunes". By that I mean that there are no clear memorable melodies (with the one obvious exception being the ballad of floyd theme that is eerily catchy), and you probably wont suddenly start whistling one of the songs the next day as you are knitting or driving to work or whatever. The songs are made up of notes that dont fall on the beat and dischordant harmonies. It is beautiful, but unconventional, which really sets the tone for the entire show.

The main thing that really took away from the Floyd Collins experience by not having seen the show was matching the songs up with some actual storyline. We all know that the show is about a guy who gets trapped in a cave, but a lot of the songs revolve what is happening above ground versus below ground, and I never really picked up on any of the changes between reality and Floyd's fantasy. I just recently saw an excellent amateur production, and I have a newfound appreciation for the actual storyline which drives the intense songs and plot along. If you ever have a chance to see a production of this show, take it, because it is an invaluable opportunity to making this soundtrack amazing.

Now that I have walked a bit on top of Floyd, some highlights. The one thing that always amazes me, that I can listen to twenty times in a row and still be stunned, is the echo. Floyd Collins must be the only show in which a person sings in three and four part harmony with his own echo, and does so with such beauty... The best example of it is in Part 1: The Call, but throughout the show, Guettel infuses this self harmonization, which is original and, in my personal opinion, genius. Other peaks in the soundtrack include the reprise of the Ballad of Floyd Collins, which is a repeat of the haunting melody, sung with real raw passion, and the Riddle Song, which demonstrates the vocal prowess of the leading men and the ability for Guettel to write complex yet fun music. The rest of the album is filled with strong songs sung by a strong cast (Christopher Innvar really stands above the rest as a spectacular singer). As a side note, all of Adam Guettel's productions come packed exceptionally well, and I was very impressed Floyd Collins' large accompanying booklet thing. Just for people who care about those sorts of things. Anyway.

Hopefully, now that The Light in the Piaza (or however you spell it) is getting so much acclaim, people with revisit Floyd Collins and find something new and exciting. And while Floyd has its flaws, it really is a remarkable album that I highly suggest people purchase.

I live in West Virginia, only seventy miles from where this story takes place. I've been exposed to Appalachian rhythms since I was born.

And right off the bat, as soon as the beautiful melody kicks in on "The Call", it's immediately apparent that Guettel knows what he's doing. The gorgeous orchestrations sweep carefree from tempo to tempo, making brilliant use of Appalachian fiddle, banjo, and acoustic guitar, in addition to more traditional musical theater instrumentation. The melodies in each song careen along, bouncing off different musical genres, taking bits and pieces here and there, and with seemingly no regard for traditional song structure. The end result is genuinely American - Guettel can evoke more emotion and history in a single piano line or fiddle sting than any other composer currently working. I realize this is pure, fawning adulation, but listen to Floyd harmonize triumphantly with his echo on the wrenching final track, How Glory Goes, and tell me you're not moved.

The cast is perfect, every member displaying a rangy and powerful voice. Christopher Innvar's rich, earthy baritenor rings clearly in all of his songs, bringing all of Floyd's emotion and yearning to life. It doesn't hurt that his acting is without flaw, either. As Floyd's little brother Homer, Jason Danieley navigates the stratospheric upper ranges of his tenor with ease. His voice is strong, crystal clear, and possesses astounding range. Theresa McCarthy, Don Chastain, Cass Morgan, Jesse Lenat, and Martin Moran are uniformly excellent in their supporting roles, and look for a young Brian D'Arcy James as one of a group of muckraking reporters.

There is not a single bad song to be found. From the giddy yodeling of "The Call" to the enchanting, yearning beauty of "Daybreak" to the exhilarating "Riddle Song" to the comforting "Heart an' Hand"... actually, I should stop, because I'll just wind up naming every song on the album. Suffice it to say, Guettel's little slice of Americana never fails to amaze, revealing beautiful ballads, rollicking folk songs, duets, and quirky character numbers - sometimes within the same song.

Floyd Collins is one of my favorite shows of all time.

Every once in a while a musical comes along that makes lovers of the genre stand up and take notice. FLOYD COLLINS is one such musical and Adam Guettel is one such composer. What they have done here is take the real life of cave explorer Floyd Collins and how his dreams of having "Floyd Collins Great sand cave!" thrust him and the small town of Cave Citey Kentucky in to the national spotlight. You see, Floyd finds what he thinks is his ticket to the big time, but he becomes trapped in the cave. Once he is trapped a circus ensues and reporters from all ove the country show up to see first hand how Floyd's fate will be decided.

An intersting ides for a musical for sure. In the American Musical Theatre we have fallen in to the habit of taking true life and musicalizing it. This is obviously no exception to that. But what Guettel has done with a book by Tina Landau is transport you perfectly back to Cave City 1925 and let you go for a wonderful musical journey.

The syle chosen is a folky, country, bluegrass sound blended perfectly with a definate need for legit voices. As the title character Christopher Innvar gives a bold performance conveying the inner energy and surge of electricty that Floyd has. He is perefect in "The Call" and the brilliant yodel section is pure and heartfelt. But for me one of the best songs is "The Riddle Song." After Floyd is traped in the Cave his brother Homer, played enthusiactly by Jason Daniely, gets as close to his brother as he can and tries to keep his mind on other things. Guettel gives these actors a wonderful vehicle and they do not dissapoint. The rest of the cast shines as well including Martin Moran as the reporter Skeets and Theresa McCarthy as Nellie, Floyd's younger sister.

If you are a fan of the musical theatre you need this recording. In Guttel, giant has been born.

We saw Floyd Collins in Chicago at Goodman Theater -- and saw it again and bought the CD. This confluence between Sondheim and country (?)/folk (?) music is just so remarkable, that it takes my breath away every time I hear it.

If I hadn't seen the New York production of this show (twice) I admit that I probably wouldn't have bought the CD or even cared about the story; however, the bluegrass strains are so delicate and true and the lyrics so personal and touching that I find myself listening to it a lot.

I disagree with the other reviewer than Guettel was trying too hard to be clever. I think that he was trying to make appealing a time and place that most of us will never know and to let us understand and feel affection for people the likes of whom many of us (especially post-Modern New Yorkers)will never meet. With his lyrics he shows us life's dreamers, the what-iffers, the if-onlyers around us, so like us in many ways if only we stop to look and listen.

Probably seeing the show helps, but the brotherly affection of "The Riddle Song", the laughable repugnance we feel for the reporters of "Is That Remarkable", the desperation of "I Landed on Him", and the haunting beauty of "The Ballad of Floyd Collins" are not contrived.

No matter how you feel about the actual Floyd Collins (as another reviewer mentioned), the layers of the music and the depth and the poingnancy of the lyrics make him nearly irrelevant. He was only the inspiration for a work of art, after all. However, his dramatic alter ego seems real and well worth knowing.

Adam Guettel's new work of Floyd Collins is absolutely remarkable! The mix of Sondheim and bluegrass makes for a wonderful musical atmosphere that relates perfectly with the theme of the Kentucky based caver. Listening to the CD is not enough though. The brilliance of Guettel's work is truly experienced only when the wondrous music is set in with the beautifully written script. It's odd for a musical to have such a good script, but Guettel pulls it off with flying colors. I partly say this because well it's the truth and partly because I just finished playing Nellie Collins in the Southeastern premier of the show. I fell in love with it as well as Guettel's "Myths and Hymns." I recommend for any real theater watcher to go and see Floyd Collins if it comes to your town. And even if it doesn't, it's still worth a trip to see.

I can understand how those who only give "Floyd Collins" one or two listens may write it off as poor Sondheim imitation...but those with the patience and persistence to give Guettel's revolutionary score the attention it deserves will be well pleased with what they find. I've owned the CD for over a month and I'm still only learning to discover it's beauty and power. How refreshing it is feel that the music you listen to for recreation is teaching you something new about life and art! Those unfamiliar with Guettel's work may want to test his turbulent musical waters with "Myths and Hymns"...a somewhat more accessable sampling of this important new composer. If you can take some time to really listen to his work, Guettel will bring you to a corner of the musical theatre world that has, until now, gone unexplored. Join him for this journey...you won't dissapointed!

I bought Floyd Collins on a lark. I remembered reading something about the show, but couldn't remember if it was good or bad (see what extra money in your pocket can do!). Took it home, put it in the player, listened through it, felt disgusted by wasting money, put it away. A week later, I put it on again just to listen and couldn't stop playing it for over a month. Give this recording some serious attention: do NOT relegate it to background music or you'll be disappointed. You will find a thoroughly original musical with influences of both time and place that still retains theatrical storytelling ability. You'll be hard-pressed to find someone with such an original voice who is capable of writing both music and lyrics that are not only enjoyable, but appropriate and plot-specific. Even when launching into the poetic (as Floyd Collins often does), the lyrics always maintain the same tone as the book. As enjoyable as this CD is, it can't come close to comparing with the score in a live theatre. This is, in the end, a show that must be seen, not just heard.