Floyd Collins' Broadway debut is nearly 30 years in the making. The cult hit musical first premiered in 1996. Now it's finally running on Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont. Creators Adam Guettel and Tina Landau say the show's material is not for the faint of heart, but the Broadway cast has risen to the occasion. Opening night is set for April 21, with a run slated to continue through June 22. Meet the company in the video above.
Jeremy Jordan is starring in the title role, alongside Jason Gotay as Homer Collins, Sean Allan Krill as H.T. Carmichael, Marc Kudisch as Lee Collins, Lizzy McAlpine as Nellie Collins, Wade McCollum as Bee Doyle, Jessica Molaskey as Miss Jane, Taylor Trensch as Skeets Miller, Cole Vaughan as Jewell Estes, and Clyde Voce as Ed Bishop. The cast also includes Dwayne Cooper, Jeremy Davis, Charlie Franklin, Kevyn Morrow, and Zak Resnick, with understudies Kristen Hahn and Happy McPartlin; and swings Kevin Bernard, Justin Showell, and Colin Trudell rounding out the company. Casting is by The Telsey Office's Patrick Goodwin.
The show’s plot is based on the horrifyingly true story of a Kentucky cave explorer (played by Jordan) who got stuck inside what he’d thought would be his major discovery. Ultimately (spoiler alert), he died there—it's not exactly what one tends to think of when imagining a typical night out to watch a show. Floyd Collins first ran Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, eventually winning an Obie Award for music and a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical—with its ending song "How Glory Goes" becoming a standard in many singers' repertoires.
READ: Floyd Collins' Upcoming Broadway Debut Isn't About Why Now—It's Why Always
While some of the company say they were not too familiar with the material before this production, others, like Molaskey, have been invested in the show from the start. "I saw the very first preview of Playwrights Horizons," Molaskey says. "And I chased Tina Landau into the ladies' room during intermission, and said, 'Whatever this circus is, I would like to join it.'"
"I was at that first performance of it," adds Kudisch. "And I can honestly say I've had maybe two experiences going to the theatre where I was actually able to lose myself in the show, and one of them was Floyd Collins."
See production photos in the gallery below.
Cole Vaughan, Wade McCollum, Clyde Voce, and Jason Gotay in Floyd Collins
Marc Kudisch and Jessica Molaskey in Floyd Collins
Jeremy Jordan and Jason Gotay in Floyd Collins
The company of Floyd Collins
Taylor Trensch in Floyd Collins
Lizzy McAlpine and Jeremy Jordan in Floyd Collins
Jeremy Jordan in Floyd Collins
The production features sets by dots, costumes by Anita Yavich, lighting by Scott Zielinski, sound by Dan Moses Schreier, and projections by Ray Horng Sun, with dance sequences by Jon Rua, orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin, and music direction by Ted Sperling. Bonnie Panson serves as stage manager.
Lincoln Center Theater is producing Floyd Collins in association with Creative Partners Productions and Mark Cortale & Charles D. Urstadt.
Visit LCT.org.
