Floyd Collins (musical)

Floyd Collins is a musical with music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, and book by Tina Landau. The story is based on the death of Floyd Collins near Cave City, Kentucky in the winter of 1925.

The musical opened Off-Broadway on February 9, 1996, where it ran for 25 performances. There have been subsequent London productions as well as regional U.S. productions.

The show will premiere on Broadway for the first time in 2025 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater as part of Lincoln Center Theatre’s 2024-25 season.

Synopsis
The musical tells the story of Floyd Collins during the Kentucky Cave Wars, a period where poor landowners in Kentucky were exploiting the caves found on their land in an attempt to draw business and tourism to the area that would eventually become seized by the federal government to create Mammoth Cave National Park.
 * Act One

On a brisk January day, Floyd Collins had spent the days prior exploring caves and was staying at the home of Arthur Beesley “Bee” Doyle, a neighbor who agreed to let Collins explore his land. The show opens with “The Ballad of Floyd Collins”, recounting the tale of Floyd’s ambition and plight. Floyd is shown excited to enter the cave in hopes he can find one that will bring wealth to the family. He uses his voice by yodeling to determine the size of the space ahead (The Call).

When Floyd fails to return to Bee Doyle’s home, a young man named Jewell Estes finds Floyd’s jacket outside the cave he was exploring and tells the locals. Floyd has fallen through a tight passageway when his foot became trapped, wedged in position by a large rock and becoming encased in from debris after struggling to wedge himself loose (It Moves) (Time To Go).

At first hearing of the news, his family is not worried and are hopeful it will be easy to free him. His sister Nellie, recently released from a mental asylum, tells Miss Jane, their step-mother, that Floyd has been stuck before and she shouldn’t be worried (Lucky). Miss Jane tells Nellie that before Floyd left home, he has been having nightmares about being trapped.

His family and his fellow cavers discuss Floyd’s love of exploring and the dangers involved (Where A Man Belongs).

It becomes clear that his rescue will not be easy, his brother Homer spends the night in the cave with him (Daybreak). The locals continue to worry about Floyd’s condition. (The Ballad of Floyd Collins (reprise).

William Burke "Skeets" Miller, a small man who works for the Louisville Courier, is able to squeeze through and visit with Floyd, interviewing him for his paper. The story gets picked up by the national news and is broadcast on radios across the country telling about a man trapped in a cave in Kentucky (I Landed on Him). Becoming desperate, Floyd sings a song about a love he may never find (And She’d Have Blue Eyes). Floyd’s father Lee Collins is distressed about his son’s situation and Miss Jane tells him she married into the family and considers his kids as hers and they will get through this together (Heart an Hand). Homer returns to visit Floyd and tries to keep his spirits up by playing a game of riddles with him (The Riddle Song).

A collapse in the passageway cuts Floyd off from contact completely. A deep divide in strategy develops tension between the locals and the outsiders brought in, lead by H.T Carmichael, an engineer. Carmichael and Homer fight over what the best rescue attempt is. On a Sunday known as “Carnival Sunday”, people travel from around the country to the remote area to celebrate Floyd being rescued, an event later deemed as a “Deathwatch Carnival” when his rescue failed. A group of reporters sing about the sensationalism of the news (Is That Remarkable?) (The Carnival).
 * Act II

Nellie becomes upset she isn’t allowed in the cave and may never see her brother again and dreams to free him (Through The Mountain). Homer ponders his future and what will happen next (Git Comfortable). A filmmaker named Cliff Roney tells Homer he could be in motion pictures, conflicting Homer with his responsibilities at home and his dream to see the world. The locals become increasingly disparaged (The Ballad of Floyd Collins (reprise).

As he lay dying, Floyd has visions of Nellie and Homer and being able to see them one last time. Nellie tells Floyd it’s time to let go (The Dream). Near death, he considers what heaven is like and being reunited with his mother (How Glory Goes).

Origins
Adam Guettel and Tina Landau were students at Yale University when they first met and decided to collaborate on a project together. Looking for inspiration, Landau proposed to Guettel a musical about Floyd Collins after reading about the story in a Reader's Digest issue. The project was originally called Deathwatch Carnival before it was decided to name the musical after the titular character. After a series of research, small readings and workshops, the completed piece premiered at the American Music Theater Festival, in Philadelphia, in 1994.

Off-Broadway (1996)
After revisions in 1995, the show next opened Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, New York City, on February 9, 1996 and closed on March 24, 1996 after 25 performances. Directed by Landau, the cast included Christopher Innvar as Floyd Collins, Martin Moran as Skeets Miller, Jason Danieley as Homer Collins, and Theresa McCarthy as Nellie Collins, Cass Morgan as Miss Jane, and Brian d'Arcy James, Matthew Bennett and Michael Mulheren in the ensemble.

In 2003, a reunion concert was held at Playwrights Horizons with Romain Frugé as Floyd Collins and most of the original cast.

Regional and international productions
After a three-stop mini US tour in 1999, including San Diego's Old Globe Theatre, Chicago's Goodman Theatre, and Philadelphia's American Music Theatre Festival, where it had first premiered.

The show had its first independent regional production at New Line Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri, in November 1999.

The show made its London and European debut at the Bridewell Theatre in July 1999, with Nigel Richards as Floyd, Anna Francolini as Nellie and Craig Purnell as Homer. The highly acclaimed production was directed by Clive Paget.

A London revival was produced at The Vault, Southwark Playhouse in February and March 2012. The production was directed by Derek Bond, with Glenn Carter as Floyd, Robyn North as Nellie, Gareth Chart as Homer and Ryan Sampson as Skeets. The production was produced by Peter Huntley and was long-listed for the Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical at the Evening Standard Awards and won Best Musical Production at The Offies (Off West End Theatre Awards).

A Chicago revival was produced at BoHo Theatre in June and July 2012. The production was directed by Peter Marston Sullivan, with Jim DeSelm as Floyd, Jon Harrison as Homer, and Sarah Bockel as Nellie. Other regional productions include Actors Theatre of Louisville (2001), Aurora Theatre (2002), Carolina Actors Studio Theatre (2011), and Ophelia Theatre Group (2015).

Broadway (2025)
On June 10, 2024, it was announced that the musical would make its Broadway debut at the Vivian Beaumont Theater as part of Lincoln Center Theater's 2024-25 season. Landau will once again direct the production. Previews will begin March 27, 2025 before an opening date of April 21.

Characters

 * Floyd Collins – a cave explorer
 * Homer Collins – Floyd’s brother
 * Nellie Collins – Floyd’s sister
 * Lee Collins – Floyd’s father
 * Miss Jane – Floyd’s step-mother
 * Skeets Miller  - a journalist who won the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism in 1926 for his news coverage of the Floyd rescue mission
 * Jewell Estes – a young local boy
 * Bee Doyle – a local man who owned the land where Floyd was exploring
 * Ed Bishop – a fellow cave explorer
 * H.T Carmichael  – an engineer
 * Cliff Roney – a filmmaker
 * Dr. William Hazlett  – a doctor
 * Frederick Jordan – a farmer

Musical numbers

 * Act I
 * Ballad of Floyd Collins – Company
 * The Call – Floyd
 * It Moves – Floyd
 * Time to Go – Floyd
 * Lucky – Nellie and Miss Jane
 * 'Tween a Rock An' a Hard Place (replaced by "Where a Man Belongs" in 1999) – Family and Locals
 * Daybreak – Homer and Floyd
 * Ballad of Floyd Collins (Reprise) – Jewell
 * I Landed on Him – Skeets Miller
 * And She'd Have Blue Eyes – Floyd
 * Heart An' Hand – Miss Jane and Lee
 * Riddle Song – Homer and Floyd


 * Act II
 * Is That Remarkable? – Reporters and Company
 * Carnival – Floyd and Company
 * Through the Mountain – Nellie
 * Git Comfortable – Homer
 * Ballad of Floyd Collins (2nd Reprise) – Jewell
 * The Dream – Floyd, Nellie, Homer and Company
 * How Glory Goes – Floyd

Recordings
The original cast recording was released by Nonesuch Records on March 18, 1997.

The following songs are not included on the recording:
 * "And She'd Have Blue Eyes"
 * "The Ballad of Floyd Collins (reprise) (act 1)"
 * "Where a Man Belongs"

The finale song is the title track of Audra McDonald's 2000 album How Glory Goes and was also included on Brian Stokes Mitchell's 2006 self-titled album and Kelli O'Hara's 2011 album Always.

Critical reception
Despite having a run of only 25 performances, the show left a strong impression on contemporary theatre. John Simon, writing for New York Magazine, proclaimed that Floyd Collins was "the original and daring musical of our day." He also wrote that "Floyd Collins reestablishes America's sovereignty in a genre it created, but has since lost hold of: it is the modern musical's true and exhilarating ace in the hole." Reviewing a 2016 production, Terry Teachout, writing for the Wall Street Journal, called it "the finest work of American musical theater, not excluding opera, to come along since Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd".

Ben Brantley, in his review for The New York Times, wrote, "Mr. Guettel establishes himself as a young composer of strength and sophistication."

Awards and nominations
The 1996 Off Broadway production was nominated for six Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Director of a Musical, Outstanding Lyrics, Outstanding Music, Outstanding Orchestrations, and Outstanding Sound Design. At the Obie Awards, the show was given the award for Best Music. The show won Best Musical at the 1996 Lucille Lortel Awards. At the 1996 Outer Critics Circle Awards, the show was nominated for Best Off-Broadway Musical, losing to Rent.