NEW YORK—Floyd Collins (Jeremy Jordan) may have been a dirt farmer, loving brother, and enthusiastic spelunker, but as the Broadway musical which bears his name makes clear, he was first and foremost, a dreamer. Firmly believing he possessed a special kind of luck, he was determined to make an important discovery.
Making its Broadway debut more than 30 years after its initial premiere, “Floyd Collins” is told from perspectives both above and below the Earth’s surface. It was Collins’s dream that caused him to undertake a solo underground expedition in 1925, not far from his family’s Kentucky farm, to find a cave formation he was certain existed there.
Find it he does, but after getting caught in a rock slide, his foot became trapped, and he was unable to free himself. For the next 14 days, as word spread and the media got wind of the story, his name became a cause célèbre as a carnival-like atmosphere sprung up aboveground, with music, food, balloons and souvenirs stands while Floyd waited below for rescue.
“Floyd Collins” is a story of the human condition and what drives people to act in ways others might look at with disbelief. For Floyd, it is the need to find something better, the land above no longer able to support him or his kin, so he goes looking for what he hopes will become a tourist attraction and an income stream.
This premise also holds true when factoring in his family and friends. When Floyd’s brother Homer (Colin Trudell, substituting for Jason Gotay) takes his father (Marc Kudisch) to task for selling photos of Floyd when they have no idea if he will be pulled out alive, the elder Collins reacts angrily, saying he is doing what he has to in order to put food on the table and feed his family, a family that includes Homer. Homer also has no reason to complain as he is considering an offer to appear in films or go on the vaudeville stage and tell Floyd’s story.
Production Highlights
Other standouts include Trensch as Skeets, who gets too close to the story he is covering; Trudell, as the brother who refuses to give up hope; and Kudisch and Jessica Molaskey as Floyd’s father and stepmother. The elder Collinses, each carrying the weight of a life hard lived, share a bond forged by grief, understanding, and companionship.
The score by Adam Guettel, with additional lyrics by Landau, while not something you’ll come out of the theater humming, is quite powerful. Jordan’s first solo number, the enthusiastic “The Call,” introduces the audience to who Floyd Collins is and what drives him, while his final song, the somber “How Glory Goes,” allows him to come to terms with what has happened. The anger fueled “Get Comfortable” crystalizes Homer’s frustration on finding himself on the sidelines of the rescue efforts, while the ditty “The Riddle Song” captures Homer and Floyd’s efforts to keep their respective spirits up as they wait underground together, partially separated by a wall of rock.
A story that makes you desperately care about those it portrays, “Floyd Collins” presents a riveting tale of dreamers, realists, and those caught in between.
