No Way Out, and Yet... ‘Floyd Collins’ Echoes Beyond the Cave
The true story of a man getting stuck in a cave doesn’t sound like it’d be a good musical. But this production is far from trapped.
In 1925, Floyd Collins went underground searching for a big discovery—a cave. He found it, but on his way out, he got stuck under a rock for days, a predicament that would soon become fatal.
This somber history fact isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you’re dreaming up musical ideas. It’s no “Hamilton” or “1776.” But “Floyd Collins” is less about historical fact and more about the human story. Instead, it takes what could be a small, literally contained artifact, and expands it with a lot of heart.
The first expansion is in the show’s music (written by Adam Guettel). It’s not your typical Broadway sound; instead, it takes the rural Kentucky setting as an influence, bluegrass and acoustic, complete with banjos and harmonicas. And that sound actually expands as Floyd Collins enters and starts to yodel.
Floyd, here played by a plucky, likable Jeremy Jordan, finds the cave as quickly as the song’s first official song. The yodel is what clues us into his discovery—as he yodels, it echoes back, and he sings in loops, letting the walls of the cave reflect back at him and us. It’s catchy and haunting enough to keep you yodeling for hours after the show (at least my sister and I were yodeling the whole subway ride home).
The rest of the score is folky and unconventional, with chromatic harmonies that are beautifully sung by an all-star cast. Even though there are no big “Santa Fe” tenor moments, Jordan’s tone is consistently rich and engaging, most expertly navigated in strength as his character loses physical and mental capacity. Lizzy McAlpine—the pop star in a thrilling Broadway debut—shines in piercing harmonies, always light but purposeful. She plays Nellie Collins, Floyd’s sister who has just returned from a mental institution. Jason Gotay rounds out the sibling trio as Homer Collins, effortlessly climbing up to high notes, always executed with passion. The three of them don’t get to sing together much, but when they do, it’s a force, hitting deep.
It’s not just the sound that expands the show, but what these characters sing about. Most of the time, that’s things far beyond the underground and the cave. Instead, everyone is dreaming. Dreaming of getting Floyd out, dreaming of what they’ll do together when he does. Dreaming of finding their own way out of their small town and out what they feel are small lives. The songs don’t always advance the plot, partly because there’s not too much plot development: Floyd gets stuck in a cave, people try to get him out, and it’s all over the news. That might mean a snooze fest for some, but I loved how the songs instead illuminated and reflected on the themes of Floyd’s situation, of luck and escape, of wanted and unwanted attention.
The set (by the design collective dots) and staging of this production helps us visualize that, too—for the most part. While the show starts with a completely empty stage and black backdrop, a tower erupts from the ground for Floyd to climb, jump, and swing from as he’s first finding the cave. Once he gets stuck, elevated platforms funnel down into gaps in the stage, creating an illusion of the above and below. And when the media circus comes down to report on Floyd’s entrapment, the show explodes into a carnival of color, a fittingly overwhelming scene.
Where the set doesn’t succeed is in helping us visualize Floyd’s entrapment. When Floyd gets stuck, they’ve sat Jordan on a wooden chair, and he remains there for the majority of the show. People climb near and around him, but it was hard for me to conceptualize how far below he really was and how the rock had trapped him. It’d be difficult to try to create a rock set that allows us to see the character—and it’s a hard, claustrophobic balance to strike—but the windy parts of the cave itself were left to the imagination. For a show focused on Floyd being stuck, I didn’t necessarily see how he was.
Instead, we rely on the frustration, agony, and eventual worry of the ensemble of men trying to get Floyd out. At first, the group of joking men are convinced this is just a typical rescue mission for the annoyingly adventurous Floyd. Then, none of them are able to reach him.
It’s not until Skeets Miller, a reporter sent to cover the story (the nimble and lovable Taylor Trensch), is small and brave enough to slither in. He has to shove himself through invisible walls before popping right above Jordan’s chair. For most of Floyd’s entrapment, Skeets is his only connection to the outside world, able to feed him sandwiches and give him water, to bring lights down so he could see, and to keep him company. When the cave’s ceilings and floor shift to cut off the pathway, Skeets breaks down with us. He shouts to Floyd that he’s sorry for turning him into a story. There’s no echo.
The show may take place in the depths of a cave, but its story, now, in this format, effectively goes deeper—if not within the characters themselves, in their relationships to human questions and themes. Who gets to be lucky enough to strike gold? How much are we willing to sacrifice to help someone else? What is the power of faith, of believing? And who, in the end, gets to get out?
How to See ‘Floyd Collins’
How I found out about it: Some mix of online news! Likely a Broadway social media account posting about Lizzy McAlpine’s Broadway debut or Lincoln Center Theater’s emails.
Why I went: Lizzy was definitely a huge pro, and I love Jeremy Jordan, Jason Gotay, and Taylor Trensch, too. I was also just curious about this one! How would they turn such a dark story into what I heard was a beautiful musical? It felt worth it to find out.
How I got tickets/how you can get tickets: If you’re under 35, you can get $35 tickets to Lincoln Center Theater shows with their program called LincTix! The tickets were a bit of a Ticketmaster situation to snag, but now that the show is well into its run (and isn’t selling out), there have been more available. This show is also regularly on TDF and has a $49 lottery.
I shared my LincTix hack on TikTok and may have accidentally gone a little too far. Now I’ll be competing with the 250 people who saved this for “Ragtime” tickets. (The New York City Center “Encores!” production of “Ragtime” is coming to Lincoln Center this fall!)
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Other Theater I’ve Seen...
Last week, I officially completed my Best Musical nominees viewings as I saw “Operation Mincemeat” and “Dead Outlaw.” Reviews incoming for both, as well as “Real Women Have Curves” (which, spoiler alert, I really loved and if you are thinking of going you should definitely go now before it’s too late).
Really excited to write about these and the upcoming Tony Awards (June 8th!).
Stay tuned,
Zoe :)