The new production at Lincoln Center is a luminous reading of Adam Guettel’s Floyd Collins, a musical inspired by the true story of the titular Kentucky caver who found himself trapped, while a media circus sprang up above ground. Lighting by Scott Zielinksi catches Floyd in follow spots as he spelunks; backlighting sharply delineates townspeople in silhouette tableaux against the cyc.
Guetell’s twisty music likewise follows Floyd up, under, over, and around during “The Call” sequence. When Floyd (Jeremy Jordan) is joined by his younger brother Homer (Jason Gotay) for the duets “Daybreak” and “The Riddle Song,” the results crackle with electricity. The Reporters’ patter song “Is That Remarkable” is all one could wish for.
Floyd’s set contrivance on which he spends much of his time supine has perhaps been modified: it doesn’t quite resemble the lounge chair that bothered some critics. Maybe a lounger as designed by Gerrit Reitveld.
Monochrome costumes (Anita Yavich) and props for “The Dream” foretell Floyd’s demise.
- Floyd Collins, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, book and additional lyrics by Tina Landau, orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin, directed by Tina Landau, Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont, New York
TK: Notes on differences in the performed music from the recorded original cast album.