Cameron Kelsall: Let me start off with a little personal history, David. I saw The Light in the Piazza for the first time on June 4, 2005. I count that musical, by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas, among the monumental theatrical experiences of my life. And by sheer happenstance, you and I ended up seeing their latest collaboration, Days of Wine and Roses, exactly 18 years to the day later. Rather oddly, nothing new from Guettel materialized in the interim, and like many others, I began to wonder if his steady rise to the upper echelon of the American musical theater canon had crested permanently. Was it worth the wait?

David Fox: Like you, Cameron, Light in the Piazza is in my pantheon. So it hurts to say this, but I found Days of Wine and Roses cruelly disappointing. Also frustrating, since it’s so clearly the work of an exceptionally gifted team of collaborators—Guettel and Lucas, of course, but also director Michael Grief, and a fine cast led by two of our best singing actors, Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James—in what may well be the finest performances of their careers. I too welcome Guettel’s reemergence, but this deeply serious project ultimately doesn’t deliver. I should say I think we disagree about that, though…

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