半岛体育

Days of Wine and Roses is some of the most difficult subject matter Adam Guettel has ever chosen to make into a musical鈥攁nd this is the same man who launched his theatrical career with Floyd Collins, a musical about a man who gets stuck in a cave and dies there.

鈥淔or me as a writer, what I can do is what feels like it has genuine energy that could perhaps even justify singing. That can鈥檛 be found completely on the rosy side of the spectrum,鈥� Guettel says, speaking to 半岛体育 in November while working on revisions for his latest musical鈥檚 Broadway bow. The work played an Off-Broadway world premiere at Atlantic Theater Company last year. It is currently in previews at Broadway's Studio 54, where the musical will officially open January 28 where it will play a limited engagement until April 28.

Adapted from a 1958 teleplay and the 1962 feature film by book writer Craig Lucas, Days of Wine and Roses chronicles Joe Clay and Kirsten Arnesen鈥檚 struggle with alcoholism. And the effects of that addiction on display here are a lot more than slurred words and broken promises. The plot has stars Kelli O鈥橦ara and Brian d鈥橝rcy James in some of the darkest scenes of their careers.

But Guettel says that anguish, or rather where it comes from, is also what makes the story sing. That鈥檚 perhaps never more present than in O鈥橦ara鈥檚 anthem sung early in the show, 鈥淭here Go I,鈥� which Guettel says was his attempt to musicalize what addiction tells its victims. It鈥檚 a haunting song about a quest for more, for a frustratingly unknowable goal that always feels just out of reach鈥攁nd how that mystery can send you down dangerous paths looking for answers.

鈥淚 think that is the great howl into the cosmos that is always just about to come out of us,鈥� Guettel says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what singing helps with, no matter where that howl is coming from.鈥�

The song is also, like much of Guettel鈥檚 writing, not so easy to sing. He famously comes from a pretty esteemed lineage鈥�Richard Rodgers was his grandfather, and Mary Rodgers his mother鈥攂ut Guettel鈥檚 musical style sits decidedly outside the 鈥�40s hit parade oeuvre that kept tunes from Oklahoma! and South Pacific on the radio. His writing is somewhere closer to art song territory, but with a streak of pop that has helped it find a home in musical theatre (Piazza won Best Original Score at the 2005 Tonys). He鈥檚 known to pick unusual intervals and rhythms that stretch the abilities of even the most adroit singers鈥攂ut there鈥檚 a reason.

鈥泪迟's not that I deliberately write things that are hard,鈥� Guettel explains. 鈥淚 write things that I hope naturally and explosively are ecstatically emotional. That requires a certain level of technique.鈥�

With James and O鈥橦ara leading the cast, no one is worried about vocal technique when it comes to Days of Wine and Roses. 鈥淲hen I go back to Adam鈥檚 music, no matter what it is, I tend to feel like I was born to sing it,鈥� O鈥橦ara tells 半岛体育. She has a fair amount of experience singing Guettel's songs, having earned her first Tony nomination originating the role of Clara in Guettel and Lucas鈥� The Light in the Piazza. 鈥泪迟鈥檚 hard to explain, but it feels easy to me,鈥� she explains, before admitting, 鈥泪迟 sounds 丑补谤诲.鈥�

Challenging music is in O鈥橦ara鈥檚 wheelhouse. Though she鈥檚 made her career on Broadway, her training is in opera. She studied at Oklahoma City University with the late, great voice teacher to the stars Florence Birdwell, who counted such Broadway favorites as Kristin Chenoweth amongst her former students. O鈥橦ara says that background gave her the toolset to rise to the occasion of Guettel鈥檚 music, no matter how tricky. And, she says, that鈥檚 what lets her gave her a home on Broadway.

鈥淲hen I hear [a Guettel song] for the first time, I think, 鈥榯hat doesn鈥檛 make sense to my ear,鈥欌�� O鈥橦ara says. 鈥淎nd then I start to sing it. And I think, 鈥極h, that鈥檚 exactly what it should be. That鈥檚 what I鈥檓 feeling right now.鈥欌�� Her ultimate goal is to get inside the character, to get to the acting. And, she says, the technique and the acting aren鈥檛 necessarily even separate goals. As O鈥橦ara says Mrs. Birdwell often used to tell her, 鈥淚f you mean it, the technique will fall into place.鈥�

But that doesn鈥檛 always mean it鈥檚 easy, or even straightforward. O鈥橦ara cites the Days of Wine and Roses song 鈥淢orton Salt Girl.鈥� In the scene, Joe has encouraged Kirsten to come with him to AA meetings and work towards sobriety, which makes Kirsten feel abandoned. She sings: 鈥淲hat about the laughing? I want to laugh. Crazy, what are you afraid of? Is it living?鈥�

To O鈥橦ara, the 鈥渃razy鈥� felt like the peak of emotion, both in terms of her interpretation of the words and in the music, which has O鈥橦ara singing pretty high. Then Guettel came up to her at a rehearsal and pointed out that those measures were marked pianissimo, or extremely quiet. At first, O鈥橦ara balked. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e like, 鈥業 made sense of it emotionally and vocally, and now you want me to sing it very quietly鈥攚ay up high?鈥� she remembers.

鈥淚 think the thing about Adam that鈥檚 different than a lot of composers is that he鈥檚 putting himself inside the character a lot,鈥� O鈥橦ara explains. 鈥淢ost of the time, if he makes a choice about something, it is so pure and true to the sentiment鈥攖he character鈥攖hat eventually, when I come around to what he wanted, it was the right choice. When there鈥檚 a melody that makes you feel a little bit unsure, I tend to realize after a while that it鈥檚 not vocally unsure. It鈥檚 human unsure. It鈥檚 how the character feels. That is wild. It feels like magic.鈥�

Between the subject matter and his unique writing, Guettel says audience reactions to Days of Wine and Roses have run the gamut. He got to be at the theatre for many of the performances during the musical鈥檚 Off-Broadway run. Sometimes he overheard people dragging the show. Other times, he saw people leaving with tear-stained faces, people that often came back multiple times.

鈥泪迟 is sort of unforgettable,鈥� Guettel says of the show. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 OK with me, if that鈥檚 all it ends up being: indelible.鈥�

close gallery

0 of

Photos: Days of Wine and Roses Stars Kelli O'Hara and Brian d'Arcy James Meet The Press

Next Slide  

You may also like

• 
  Photos: Trophy Boys at MCC Theater
• 
  Highlights From the Stephen Sondheim Collection at the Library of Congress
• 
  Photos: Heathers Off-Broadway Revival