Spelunking is not exactly a go-to subject for a musical. Yet Adam Guettel and Tina Landau saw something in the true story of Floyd Collins, a cave explorer who famously got trapped underground for two weeks in 1925 in Kentucky, causing a media and tourism sensation. Together they turned this historical tale into a musical, “Floyd Collins,” which after initially premiering Off Broadway in 1996 is now finally making its Broadway debut.
The very premise of the musical presents a host of logistical challenges in terms of staging, pacing, and design. It may come as little surprise that Landau, who wrote the book and directs, came up with the idea — as a director she has become known for solving, or at minimum embracing, theatrical puzzles and difficult-to-stage pieces like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “Redwood.” Landau has a very clear take on the musical, albeit not the one audiences might expect. Along with the design team (primarily in the sets by dots and lights by Scott Zielinski), Landau makes excellent use of the cavernous stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center, though not to represent caves in any literal way. Instead, the design utilizes negative space, shadow, and silhouette, creating some memorably beautiful stage pictures.
Most of the stage is a blank expanse, vaguely textured and earthen, stretching upstage to a low horizon — and Zielinski takes full advantage of a hanging scrim to create some breathtaking displays, especially when Landau scatters the ensemble across the back wall, posing them into sublime tableaux. Other than dimmed lighting, there are no scenic gestures that ever make us feel like we are in the caves or underground. Lincoln Center is known for high-budget productions with mammoth sets, but here Landau has intentionally opted for a more barren, minimalist approach. While it’s hard not to yearn for that massive stage to be filled, her restraint is admirable, a directorial achievement that is impactful and worthy of respect.
In contrast with the often thoughtful use of space, the production is marred by a baffling design choice. Jeremy Jordan, our titular hero, spends almost the entire musical onstage, trapped by an invisible rock, oddly laying on what can only be described as a barely-disguised lounge chair. Jordan becomes a distraction during the above-ground scenes, reclining with his legs out on his perfectly-rectangular, deck chair-esque “rock” — though it is perhaps even more noticeable when he occasionally gets off it, highlighting the blocky, abstract design.
Thankfully, at least, the occupant of the chair gives us ample diversion. Though the role is slightly underwritten, Jordan finds depth in Floyd, taking him on a journey from a hopeful and plucky explorer to a scared, desperate, starving, lonely, and trapped man on the brink of both sanity and death. His clarion tenor soars through his many solos and duets, delivering the impressive vocals he has become so known for.
He is limited in terms of scene partners, since once he is trapped the action mostly happens above ground, where his family, local farmers, and a big-shot industrialist (Sean Allan Krill) attempt to execute his rescue. Two key figures go down in the caves and are able to converse (and sing) with Floyd: his brother Homer (Jason Gotay) and Skeets Miller (Taylor Trensch), a reporter sent to cover the story. Miller ends up deeply invested, befriending Floyd and working tirelessly by hand to dig him out while also sending off dispatches, writing stories, and even interviewing Floyd. Along with Jordan, Trensch is the heart of the musical, at once eager and tender, delivering the best performance of his career.
Trensch’s character is essential to the musical, especially in the much-stronger second half, in which Miller’s coverage of Floyd’s predicament creates a media sensation. Tourists flock, vendors pop up, and the press swarm in, as everyone gathers in anticipation. This turns out — spoiler alert from 1925 — to be a carnival of tragedy. After a lagging first act, the hullabaloo provides some much-needed stage business; tension mounts when rescue efforts get more involved and Floyd’s situation becomes more dire. The buzz around Floyd was a major historical event, and was even one of the first news stories broadcast on the radio. Landau and Guettel depict the media frenzy to offer questions about the impact of immediacy and publicity.
In his first song, Floyd dreams of discovering a great sand cave that people will travel miles to see. Ironically, his dream comes true, but he is unable to enjoy it, as he has become the attraction himself. This is touchingly captured in an emotionally affecting dream ballet, with a twist at the end guaranteed to pull your heartstrings.
Landau’s book is at times underbaked, with some characters underdeveloped and the pacing uneven. The score, however, is unquestionably stunning: It’s Guettel (“The Light in the Piazza,” “Days of Wine and Roses”) in top form, complex and layered, with a unified sound that gorgeously combines bluegrass instrumentation with wistful lyrics — particularly in the songs “Through the Mountain” and “How Glory Goes.” Unexpectedly, though quite fitting for the locale, the score includes quite a bit of yodelling, mostly for Jordan. Not merely a gimmick, Guettel makes clever use of it, as when Floyd finds his subterranean grotto by yodeling to find echoes, eventually creating a musical rondo with himself.
Despite some scattered strong elements, it’s hard to totally make sense of “Floyd Collins” or feel that it really works as a whole. The musical’s prelude, “The Ballad of Floyd Collins,” sets up the musical as a parable, though the moral isn’t ever really defined; the show does not return to this idea in the finale or leave us with a clear takeaway. So what is the message? Is it about hubris, or humanity’s plundering of natural resources, or the commodification of tragedy by press and onlookers, or, as the musical’s publicity materials claim, is it “a haunting exploration of the American dream”? There may be treasure hidden deep in the cave that is “Floyd Collins,” but it may just be too dark and difficult to fully extract it.
