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June 10, 2004
• 'Floyd Collins’ 'Floyd Collins’ A dark, intriguing musical opens the Unicorn season Stockbridge On a rainy day in January 1925, Floyd Collins, an avid cave explorer, set out to explore Sand Cave. He was hoping to unearth a treasure -- a new cavern or series of tunnels that linked all the caves in his region of Kentucky that he could operate as a major tourist attraction. This was the era of the "cave wars" in which landowners and farmers competed to find and operate the largest caves in this region of Kentucky. Collins, who lived on his family's farm, already had opened Crystal Cave but the operation had fallen far short of his expectations. Collins' exploration of Sand Cave, with only a small oil lantern to guide him, led him into increasingly tighter places. As he attempted to squeeze through a narrow passageway 150 feet below the earth’s surface, a rock fell on his foot, wedged in between Collins and the ceiling, and trapped him. The rescue operation began with a small group of locals but, for a variety of reasons, early efforts failed. Collins' situation became a national story, fueled by a series of personal interviews with Collins conducted underground by a diminutive cub reporter for the Louisville newspaper who was able to navigate the narrow spaces and sit with Collins in his narrow prison. Above ground, the site became a media circus choked with press and a crowd that swelled to 20,000 who arrived from all across the country -- some wanting to help, some simply curious, some looking to cash in. The rescue was hampered not only by the crowds but also by a series of cave-ins that blocked the passageways leading to Collins. A shaft finally was started but by the time it reached Collins 17 days after he had entered the cave, it was too late. Collins had died. It's not the happiest of materials for a musical but the possibilities intrigued composer-lyricist Adam Guettel and his collaborator, playwright-director Tina Landau. Their music-theater piece, "Floyd Collins," premiered in 1994 at the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia and made its New York bow a year later under the auspices of Playwrights Horizons. Last night, "Floyd Collins" began performances at the Berkshire Theatre Festival's Unicorn Theatre -- the opening production of BTF’s 76th season. Jared Coseglia, who directed last summer's BTF production of "The Who’s Tommy," also in the Unicorn, was approached by BTF executive director Kate Maguire. "I hadn't heard of the show," Coseglia said during a recent pre-rehearsal interview at Dunlap Rehearsal Hall at BTF’s Lavan Center on Route 7. As soon as he heard the score, he says, he was intrigued. "It's easy to digest," Coseglia said, "but it digests slowly.” In preparation for this production, Coseglia and some of his actors traveled to Floyd Collins country in April where they visited Mammoth Cave and spent time with the Collins family. The trip included a six-hour underground excursion.
"We crawled around on our bellies," Coseglia said. "It felt familiar and we realized it was because of Adam's music. He really captures the cave in his score. There is a mother earthiness that gets to a level of human consciousness. It’s a real head trip. "So many of the songs are inner monologues. Among the challenges is how to physicalize what [the characters] are vocalizing. It means getting everyone to think non-literally, especially in the second act." Movement, Coseglia said, is the key to his production. He believes that one of the reasons "Floyd Collins'" original New York production was only a modest success is because Collins was kept relatively immobile -- confined to a board. "We've moved away from that," said Coseglia, whose models for theater -- chief among them the Experimental Theater Wing, Ann Bogart, and the great Polish director Jerzy Grotowski -- all emphasized the physical nature of theater. "What attracts me are things that allow actors to move and dance in ways that are extensions of a character's psychology, that teeters [on] that fine line between stage movement and interpretive dance. "At its most physical, theater is the most exciting art." Guettel is among a group of young composers who are seen as THE next generation of composers and lyricists whose work is likely to dominate the American musical theater stage -- the post-Sondheim generation. It's in Guettel’s pedigree. His grandfather was the late Richard Rodgers. His mother, Mary Rodgers, is best known for "Once Upon a Mattress." "Floyd Collins" thrust Guettel into the limelight. It won him an Obie Award in 1996, a Lucille Lortel Award that same year and the ASCAP New Horizons Award in 1997. In 1990, he won the Stephen Sondheim Award. His most recent work, "The Light in the Piazza,” had its premiere earlier this year at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. "Because of his heritage and his passion, I think the future of American musical theater is important to him," Coseglia said of Guettel, with whom he has been in touch. With "Floyd Collins" up and running, Coseglia will spend the next two months in New Orleans working on a new project with a friend and collaborator, David Ozanich, called "The Lightning Field." Set in an outdoor art installation that actually exists in New Mexico, “The Lightning Field” is about what Coseglia describes as “the new American family” -- a gay couple and their divorced parents. Coseglia is hoping to tryout the play -- which he has been workshopping for the past year -- in the Unicorn in September. Meanwhile, he says he will be interested in seeing how audiences here will respond to this unconventional musical. "I think this is a show for artists who are willing to take risks. For audiences," Coseglia said, "well, I think it's for people who are willing to broaden their horizons.” "Floyd Collins" runs through July 3 with performances nightly, Monday through Saturday, at 8, and matinees June 19 and 26, and July 1 and 3 at 2. Ticket information is available by phoning 298-5576 or online at www.berkshiretheater.org. |
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