Something truly extraordinary is taking place in the secluded amphitheater
on an isolated farm about two miles off Maryland's Indian Head Highway.
The folk-tinged musical by Adam Guettel and Tina Landau, based on the true
story of a spelunker trapped in a cave in Kentucky in 1925, is being mounted
on a tiny stage in the middle of the woods by a company that has never done
a musical before and they are succeeding admirably. Both the concept of the
story and the scope of the musical score are challenging for even the most
accomplished company with a strong reputation for adventurous musicals.
Here, at a company taking up its first musical, not all the singing is first
rate but much of it is altogether acceptable. Not all of the acting is
superb but much of it is satisfactory. The amazing thing, however, is that the
acceptable seems to be multiplied by the satisfactory to create a fascinating whole.
Storyline: The true story of a cave explorer
who became trapped underground in 1925. The effort to rescue him became a
major news story across the nation as people followed on radio, in
newspapers and in newsreels the two-week struggle to go down the way he had
gone, and then, later, to drill an escape shaft without causing a further
cave in which could kill him. The musical also deals with the scene above
ground where thousands of would-be-rescuers, sightseers, hucksters and just
plain tourists descended on his family and neighbors.
At first glance, the show shouldn't feel so
right in this venue. The show takes place in the dead of winter (a reporter
details the "patches of snow clinging to the ground") and much of it in the
confining space of a nearly lightless cave, yet it seems right at home in
the heat of a Southern Maryland summer evening with heat lightning flashing
in the sky visible through the trees over your head. Partially, this is a
tribute to the staging concept of the original with contrasting under and
above ground scenes. But it is also a tribute to director Brooke L. Howells
who spreads her forces out above ground, constricts the space for the cave
sequences, and uses a remarkable set designed by John Merritt. It seems just a ramshackle collection
of old timber, but it is solid enough that there isn't so much as a wobble
as the cast struggles through tight spaces and clambers over a wooden paths.
Perhaps the best singing comes from Jeff
Paden as the title character. He begins by singing a duet with his own echo
as he climbs through extremely constricted spaces and then is immobilized as
he's caught underground. For the rest of the show he doesn't leave the stage
and, with the exception of two dream sequences, never leaves the spot where
he's been trapped. His predicament is a constant and he has the stage
presence to pull it off. Michael Mortensen's contribution is a very close
second. He's a reporter who happens to be slender enough to squirm through
in search of a story, only to become committed to the rescue effort. His "I
Landed On Him" is nearly operatic in structure, although it doesn't call for
any semblance of an operatic sounding voice, and he delivers it with just
the right feeling of shock, while his duet with Paden, "The Carnival" works
well too.
The connection between the entrapped Floyd
Collins and his sister became clear in the nice performance of Kristen
Page-Kirby, and, while Michael Margelos didn't have the same strength of
performance as Floyd's brother in the preview we saw, he may grow into the
role. So, too, Mitch Foreman needs to find his way to feeling in command
when he sings "The Ballad of Floyd Collins."
Music and lyrics by Adam Guettel. Book and
additional lyrics by Tina Landau. Directed by Brooke L. Howells. Musical
direction by James D. Watson. Design: John Merritt (set) April Weimer (lights)
Brian Donohue (sound) Janet Zavistovich (photography). Cast:
Brian Donohue, Mitch Fosman, Lars Peter Highby, Craig Hower, John Kirby,
Jeff Paden, Kristen Page-Kirby, Derek Pickens, Mike Margelos, Brian
Merritt, Mike Mortensen, Gary Richardson, Marina Sanchez, Lanny
Slusher, Rob White.
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