In 2005, Adam Guettel, an extremely gifted and literate composer and lyricist who also happened to be the grandson of legendary composer Richard Rodgers, won the Tony Award for Best Score for “The Light in the Piazza,” a sweeping musical romance that is being revived this week in an Encores! production at City Center. Upon winning the Tony Award, Guettel said that he was working on a musical adaptation of “The Princess Bride,” and it was believed, or at least hoped, that Guettel would go on to become a major Broadway songwriter.
Unfortunately, “The Princess Bride” never materialized (allegedly due to conflicts with William Goldman, who wrote the film’s screenplay), and a new musical by Guettel did not materialize until just now, 18 years after “Piazza,” with the Atlantic Theater Company’s current production of “Days of Wine and Roses.”
With Guettel’s work being produced again, let’s take a closer look at his four musicals to date, all of which display his considerable intelligence and abilities as a composer and lyricist writing in a non-pop, complex style influenced by Stephen Sondheim and classical music.
Floyd Collins (1996): Considered by many to be a masterpiece, “Floyd Collins” is based on the real-life story of a Kentucky cave explorer who died in 1925 after getting trapped underground. Its inventive and soaring bluegrass score includes “The Riddle” (a duet between the title character and his brother that seamlessly shifts in time and space, which Sondheim himself placed on a list of songs he wished he had written) and “How Glory Goes” (Floyd’s meditative solo as he ponders his imminent death). In 2008, Jay Armstrong Johnson (“Parade”) gave an extraordinary performance as Floyd Collins in a student production at NYU. It was recently confirmed that book-writer Tina Landau and Guettel are working on a revised version of the musical.
Myths and Hymns (1998): More of an abstract song cycle than a traditional revue, “Myths and Hymns” (which was originally titled “Saturn Returns”) employs multiple musical genres to explore figures from Greek mythology and Christianity such as Prometheus, Icarus, Pegasus, and Jesus. A 1999 recording features Audra McDonald, Mandy Patinkin, Kristin Chenoweth, and Billy Porter, During the pandemic, MasterVoices created a digital film adaptation starring the likes of Renée Fleming, Cheyenne Jackson, and Norm Lewis.
The Light in the Piazza (2005): Based on a 1960 novella (which received a 1962 film adaptation with Olivia de Havilland), “Piazza” (which has a book by Craig Lucas) follows Margaret, a woman from the American South, who is traveling in 1950s Florence with her daughter Clara, a beautiful young woman who suffered physical injuries as a child that stunted her cognitive development. The score (some of which is sung in Italian) is often compared to contemporary opera, with lush arias and intricate harmonies. The Broadway production at Lincoln Center Theater starred Victoria Clark, Kelli O’Hara, and Matthew Morrison and established Bartlett Sher as a top director. The Encores! production (directed by Chay Yew, with Ruthie Ann Miles playing Margaret) will reinterpret the show by establishing Margaret and Clara as Asian-Americans.
Days of Wine and Roses (2023): Guettel’s newest musical, which is adapted from a 1962 film of the same name, depicts a married couple (played by Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James) in 1950s New York whose lives are shattered by the effects of alcohol addiction. The score, which is intended to reflect the show’s difficult emotional circumstances, is sharp, jazz-like, and jarring. Although technically an old-fashioned family melodrama, the Off-Broadway production (directed by Michael Greif) left me shaken. It is currently slated to run through July 16.
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