Encore

In 2010, Carlisle Floyd, one of American opera’s most titanic talents, found himself at an impasse. Caring for family and with few leads as to his next project, he unexpectedly found a spark of inspiration in the story of Edward Kynaston. This seventeenth-century British actor had his star turn on the stage unceremoniously ended by a ban on male actors performing women’s roles. Centuries later, his misfortune gave this brilliant composer a way back onto the stage he valued so much.

In this companion to Falling Up: The Days and Nights of Carlisle Floyd, Thomas Holliday follows Floyd through his creatively fruitful final decade, focusing on his relationship with family and the production of his final opera, Prince of Players, inspired by the life and work of Kynaston. Told through reminiscences from those closest to him, the book is an intimate portrait of the composer’s creative process. Encore is a testament to Floyd’s work and enduring influence, a portrait of an icon still innovating and creating until the end.