Jeremy Jordan, Jeremy Jordan, Jeremy Jordan – the most beautiful sound you ever heard…I would follow this talent anywhere – even into a cave at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont’s theater. There can be no Floyd Collins without Jeremy Jordan. From the moment he stepped on stage the audience (a packed house) broke out in thunderous applause and he deserves every accolade. I loved him in Newies, The Great Gatsby and could not stop watching episodes of “Smash” and “The Last Five Years”. He is engaging, electrifying and his voice makes not just ice melt but anyone listening and he’s been taking the lead for many many years-he’s a real pro – a star.
We are taken down down down and while I know in reality that there is no cave real or otherwise it is the skill of our lead character that creates with every ounce of his body as he slithers, slides, climbs and ultimately ….well that would spoil the story…Let’s just say that the real-life story of Floyd Collins is suspenseful and has the audience captivated.
The Lincoln Center Theater production of FLOYD COLLINS is a musical with book by Tina Landau, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, additional lyrics by Tina Landau and direction by Tina Landau.
FLOYD COLLINS is based on the true story of a cave explorer in Kentucky, 1925. While chasing a dream of fame and fortune by turning Sand Cave into a tourist attraction, Floyd Collins himself becomes the attraction when he gets trapped 200 feet underground. Alone but for sporadic contact with the outside world, including his brother Homer, Floyd fights for his sanity – and, ultimately, his life – as the rescue effort above explodes into the first genuine media circus. Reporters and gawkers from across the country descend on the property, fueling the hysteria and manipulating the nation into holding its collective breath. FLOYD COLLINS, featuring a haunting exploration of the American dream by Tina Landau and a glorious folk and bluegrass-inspired score by Adam Guettel, tells the transcendent tale of a true American dreamer.
This is a musical and filled with a unique almost operatic yet down home Kentucky in the weeds flavor. Adam Guettel has composed not a traditional musical but one that has haunting melodies, and transporting lyrics to another place and time and each character is a story teller. We are treated to the vocal talents of Lizzy McAlpine who embodies the role of Nellie Collins and while I may never have been to Kentucky I feel like I have been after seeing this performance.
The entire cast filled with Broadway legends and newcomers is terrific. Under the direction of Tina Landau the company creates a town where there are little to no stuctures, a place where there is little scenary and we are taken on a journey that hits many emotions and inspires some deep thinking.
Lincoln Center is celebrating 40 years of inspirational and innovative theater. I want to share a quote by director Bartlett Sher as he contributed to an article specifically about the Vivian Beaumont Theater: “Audiences at the Beaumont surround the action on three sides. This creates a deeply intimate relationship of the audience to actors and even though the house is a large one, no audience member is more than forty feet from the stage” . It is well worth the trip to be in this theater.
FLOYD COLLINS features Jeremy Jordan as Floyd Collins, 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, Clyde Voce as Ed Bishop as well as Kevin Bernard, Dwayne Cooper, Jeremy Davis, Charlie Franklin, Kristen Hahn, Happy McPartlin, Kevyn Morrow, Zak Resnick, Justin Showell and Colin Trudell.
The Lincoln Center Theater production of FLOYD COLLINS has sets by dots, costumes by Anita Yavich, lighting by Scott Zielinski, sound by Dan Moses Schreier, and projections by Ruey Horng Sun, with dance sequences by Jon Rua, orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin, casting by The Telsey Office, Patrick Goodwin, CSA and music direction by Ted Sperling. Bonnie Panson is the stage manager. Lincoln Center Theater is producing FLOYD COLLINS in association with Creative Partners Productions and Mark Cortale & Charles D. Urstadt.
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