Adam Guettel (/???t?l/; born December 16, 1964) is an American composer-lyricist of musical theater and opera. He is best known for the musical The Light in the Piazza, for which he won two Tony Awards, for Best Score and Best Orchestrations, and two Drama Desk Awards, for Best Music and Best Orchestrations.
Since my 20s, I've tried to learn a new instrument every couple of years. And when I say learn, I mean own. I'll buy one and then out of guilt I start trying to learn it. And I often find that some of my best music comes from the early stages with that new instrument, because I'm not bringing the great history of Paganini to the violin when I pick it up. Instead, I'm bringing some kind of scratchy, hanging-on-by-my-fingernails attempt to gain entry into that musical language.
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[observation, 2014] Being the grandson of Richard Rodgers and taking up a career in musical theatre seems a little bit Sisyphean. I'm perfectly sanguine about that at this point, perfectly comfortable. But when I was writing 'Floyd Collins' I think I was really trying to sort that out; 'What if I don't do as well as he did?'. I mean, he did so extraordinarily well - and when you're in your twenties you think you might actually do justice to that. Now I'm forty-nine, and I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. But I love the work.
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Fact
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He was awarded the 2006 Back Stage Garland Award for Musical Score for "The Light in the Piazza" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
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Craig Lucas and his musical, "The Light in the Piazza" at the Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois was awarded the 2012 Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Musical Production.
His musical, "The Light in the Piazza," at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was awarded the 2004 Joseph Jefferson Award for Production-Musical.
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Has said that, as a boy alto at the Metropolitan and New York City Operas, his biggest fear was that his voice would crack during a performance.
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The scion of one of America's most distinguished musical families (Grandson of Richard Rodgers, son of Mary Rodgers), Adam Guettel has already established himself as a talented, original composer, primarily for the musical stage, where his play "Floyd Collins" has already won several prestigious awards.
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Last name rhymes with kettle.
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Began his career as a boy alto at the Metropolitan Opera (1975-1979), singing the roles of Yniold on Debussy's "Pelleas et Melisande" and Feodor in Mussorgsky's "Boris Godonov."
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