This musical surfaced off-Broadway in 1996, winning a Lucille Lortel Award, and is now having its British premiere at the small enterprising Bridewell Theatre. The work deals with a piece of real history: spelunker Floyd Collins (Nigel Richards) in the winter of 1925 is exploring Sand Cave in Kentucky when a falling boulder pins his leg 150 feet below ground. Some 30,000 people flood the site and the press turns the situation into a nationwide story while futile attempts are made over two weeks to free the victim. Landau's book has some problems -- notably her unconvincing handling of a bossy engineer's supervision of rescue attempts, and Collins' fantasy leap to freedom at the end of the first act. Floyd's brother Homer (Craig Purnell), against their father's orders, valiantly descends into the cave, as later does Skeets Miller (Jeremy David), a Louisville reporter who laudably is concerned with more than just getting a good story.
It is hard for director Clive Paget to cope with Louise Belson's awkward set -- some large curved steps at stage right leading to a stage-left "cave" of metal pipes -- though, given the available space, I don't know how the challenge could be satisfactorily overcome. There is no denying the musical talent of 35-year-old composer Adam Guettel, although he is as yet no match for his grandfather, Richard Rodgers. He has imparted a Southern flavor to his score (the eight-man band makes use of guitar, banjo, and harmonica).
Occasionally the music rises to true distinction: in act one, "Daybreak" is a wonderful duet for Homer and Floyd; and in act two, "Is That Remarkable?" is an inspired, perky and rhythmic ensemble for a group of reporters phoning their newspapers. There is too much self-analytical soloizing by Floyd, though Richards is a really excellent singer -- as is Purnell. Would that all the rest matched them.
