Soon after we meet Floyd Collins (played by Jeremy Jordan), the title character of Tina Landau’s musical, we hear his first of many yodel-like notes stretching for echoes. He hopes to find new limits in the underground cave system he is exploring. It’s Floyd’s belief that somehow the caves are all interconnected. When the echo returns to him he breaks in a thankful smile. He has faith that he will be able to convert this newfound cave find into a thriving commercial enterprise that will give him and his farm family an escape from their down-on-luck existence.
Hope…belief…faith… These are the themes that ribbon through this musical from beginning to end, when we get our last glimpse of Floyd Collins as a silhouette shadow that could be mistaken or taken for Jesus on the Cross.
Not a religious play per se, the story of Floyd Collins and just about every character that hits the stage, is one or another permutation of hope personified. When Floyd Collins gets trapped in the cave he is hoping to cash in on, a prolonged hope against hope rescue mission ensues. Skeet (played by Taylor Trensch), the reporter whose diminutive frame allows him to make his way down the cave, works overtime to help his newfound friend to freedom above ground. H.T. Carmichael (played by Sean Allan Krill) believes his engineering prowess will save the day. Floyd’s sister (played by Lizzie McAlpine) hopes to help rescue her brother with a song. Floyd’s brother Homer (played by Jason Gotay) hopes to make his getaway from the confines of the family farm as soon as the rescue ordeal is over. Their father (played by Marc Kudisch) will pay anything and do anything to keep his son alive. But most of all it is Floyd himself, who braves his fate with faith by believing that his recently deceased mother will meet him on the other side.
Rock Star Talents
Floyd Collins is a musical made for triple threats— and you too will likely think that the casting agent landed the talent needed to bring it to life.
We quickly come to love the sound of Jeremy Jordan’s yodel-like song, and long for its return like seeing an old friend anew. We not only get the rock star power of Jordan’s voice— and he is a rock star in the real world— but we get it on instant replay that he sings along with to create a Jeremy Jordan chorus.
In this writer’s view, Jordan’s compelling voice is a cornerstone of this production. It amazes all the more in Act II when you realize Jordan rarely gets a chance to use his body to augment his songs’ affect, as he remains in an imagined semi-buried state underground for most of his performance.
You too might also love Jason Gouty’s talent coupling with Jordan’s in brotherly duets. It’s the catchy Adam Guittel songs that glue the story together, often beginning with a glide to and fro from spoken word to melody. Lizzie McAlpine’s voice sends us scrambling to our program notes to discover that she too is a rock star, now taking a break from her album world tours to do this part.
Stagecraft More Typical of Dance Performance Than Broadway
Thankfully, Tina Landau didn’t saddle this production with elaborate cave sets. Instead we get to use our imagination, augmented by spot-on sound design (Sound: Dan Moses Schreier) to put us in the place of the cave below, or the carnival scene above.
Better, the frequent freeze of characters in backlit poses (Lighting: Scott Zielinski) helps us feel that the story jumped out of an oldie-timey postcard into our now. Floyd Collins’ demise was in fact a big deal story back in the day. It reminds that it won’t be too long before Michael Jordan has just about the same name recognition as his fellow athlete Seabiscuit. We can credit Landau though for realizing that the dramatic story of hope at the center of Floyd Collins has evergreen appeal.
RECOMMENDED
MUSICAL NUMBERS
ACT I
“The Ballad of Floyd Collins”……………………………………………………Company
“The Call”………………………………………………………………..…………...Floyd
“‘Tween A Rock”………………………...………………...Bishop, Jewell, Doyle, Locals
“Lucky” ……….……………….....…………..……………….……..Nellie and Miss Jane
“Daybreak”.……………………………………………………………...Homer and Floyd
“I Landed on Him”………...…………………………..………….. ………………..Skeets
“And She’d Have Blue Eyes…………………………………………………………Floyd
“Heart and Hand”………………...…………………………………..…Miss Jane and Lee
“The Riddle Song”……………………………………………………….Homer and Floyd
ACT II
“Is That Remarkable”………………………………………………...Reporters, Company
“The Carnival”………………………………………………..…………..Floyd, Company
“Through the Mountain”.………...…………………...……………………………...Nellie
“Get Comfortable”……………………………………………………………...…...Homer
“It Moves”……………………………………………………………………………Floyd
“The Ballad of Floyd Collins” (Reprise)………………………..Jewell, Homer, Company
“The Dream”……………………………………………..Floyd, Nellie, Homer, Company
“How Glory Goes”………………………………………………………………….. Floyd
WHEN:
Thru June 22, 2025
WHERE:
Vivian Beaumont Theater
150 W 65th St
New York, NY 10023
TICKETS:
$35+
For more information and tickets visit the Lincoln Center Theater website.
Photos Joan Marcus
CAST:
Jeremy Jordan
Jason Gotay
Sean Allan Krill
Marc Kudisch
Lizzy McAlpine
Wade McCollum
Jessica Molaskey
Taylor Trensch
Cole Vaughan
Clyde Voce
Kevin Bernard
Dwayne Cooper
Jeremy Davis
Charlie Franklin
Kristen Hahn
Happy McPartlin
Kevyn Morrow
Zak Resnick
Justin Showell
Colin Trudell
CREATIVE TEAM:
Tina Landau - Book
Adam Guettel - Music & Lyrics
Tina Landau - Additional Lyrics
Tina Landau - Director
Ted Sperling - Music Director
Anita Yavich - Costumes
Scott Zielinski - Lighting
Dan Moses Schreier - Sound
Ruey Horng Sun - Projections
Jon Rua - Dance Sequences
Bruce Coughlin - Orchestrations
The Telsey Office, Patrick Goodwin, CSA - Casting
Tom Watson - Hair and Wig Design
Kyle Krueger - Makeup Designer
Rachel M. F. Kenner - Props Supervisor
Kenneth Ferrone - Associate Director
Bonnie Panson - Stage Manager
About the Author: Amy Munice
Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.
