Floyd Collins has become such a legendary and beloved work of musical theater that it’s hard to believe that its original production ran for only 25 performances at Playwrights Horizons in 1996.
John Simon, reviewing the original Playwrights Horizons production and a passionate booster of Adam Guettel's work, concluded his New York magazine rave with a pun on "Ace in the Hole," Billy Wilder's black satire based on the same true story of the 1920's media circus surrounding the ultimately fruitless attempts to rescue a spelunker with $ in his eyes trapped in a collapsed cave. Like you, I admired Guettel's work more than loved it, though I was nearly converted by Audra McDonald and Kelli O'Hara's gorgeous renderings of the show's elegiac closing number, "How Glory Goes." (The theater superstars have used their stature and charisma to champion composers in the post-Sondheim era). Guettel's work, like that of Michael John LaChiusa, and Andrew Lippa, are the Alban Bergs of Broadway: revolutionary and essential to some, spinach to many. That's how glory goes, I suppose.
John Simon, reviewing the original Playwrights Horizons production and a passionate booster of Adam Guettel's work, concluded his New York magazine rave with a pun on "Ace in the Hole," Billy Wilder's black satire based on the same true story of the 1920's media circus surrounding the ultimately fruitless attempts to rescue a spelunker with $ in his eyes trapped in a collapsed cave. Like you, I admired Guettel's work more than loved it, though I was nearly converted by Audra McDonald and Kelli O'Hara's gorgeous renderings of the show's elegiac closing number, "How Glory Goes." (The theater superstars have used their stature and charisma to champion composers in the post-Sondheim era). Guettel's work, like that of Michael John LaChiusa, and Andrew Lippa, are the Alban Bergs of Broadway: revolutionary and essential to some, spinach to many. That's how glory goes, I suppose.
Yes, "How Glory goes" has taken on a life of its own thanks to cabaret and concert performers.