‘FLOYD COLLINS’: (collage, left): Jeremy Jordan & (collage, right) Lizzy McAlpine & Jeremy Jordan. Photos: Joan Marcus.

FLOYD COLLINS
Book by Tina Landau
Music & lyrics by Adam Guetell
Directed by Tina Landau
Through June 22, 2025
Lincoln Center Theatre
at the Vivian Beaumont
150 West 65^th Street
https://www.lct.org/

By Scott Harrah

A century ago in 1925, the news of a cave explorer trapped in Mammoth Cave in Kentucky became a media sensation. This true story is the basis for the narrative of the Broadway musical Floyd Collins.  The show was originally produced off Broadway in Philadelphia in 1994 and later in New York at Playwrights Horizons in 1996. Now, this latest iteration starring Jeremy Jordan as Floyd has received six Tony Award nominations, including Best Revival of a Musical .

Golden-voiced Jeremy Jordan

Broadway star Jeremy Jordan, with his golden voice and kinetic stage presence, is the perfect actor to bring Floyd Collins to life. The historical saga of a man who went spelunking in a Kentucky cave, hoping to find a new tourist attraction, and ended up pinned 55 feet below ground under a rock is not exactly a recipe for a great musical. Regardless, Mr. Jordan actually makes the concept as riveting and sensational as possible. Mr. Jordan charmed Broadway audiences last year with his Tony-nominated role in The Great Gatsby. As Floyd, he is consistently outstanding with such solo songs as “The Call, “ “And She’d Have Blue Eyes,” and “It Moves.”

Media hasn’t changed much in a century

The show is ultimately a tragedy, and the media circus that surrounds him is, of course, unfortunate but it simply shows that the press a century ago were just as ruthless as they are today. Floyd Collins might remind some of Kander and Ebb’s long-running Broadway phenomenon Chicago simply because it also shows how the media will often sensationalize any unfortunate news story to sell to a voracious public. The second act opens with “Is That Remarkable,” a song about how the media indulges in exploitative journalism. However, while Chicago is a dark yet upbeat musical full of irony and derisive frivolity, Floyd Collins is simply dark.

Floyd’s family, townsfolk & the press

We also meet a number of characters above ground, all of whom are supposedly trying to help Floyd. His younger brother Homer (Jason Gotay) leads the quest to rescue Floyd. His younger sister Nellie (Lizzy McAlpine) is quite concerned about Floyd. She has just been discharged from a mental hospital and is often misunderstood. Nonetheless, she thinks rationally when trying to help her brother and has unique insight about his emotional state.

Marc Kudisch plays Lee, Floyd’s devastated father who has trouble coping with his son’s dangerous situation.  His wife Miss Jane (Jessica Molaskey) is also Floyd’s stepmother, but she spends most of her time trying to console her husband. Local townsfolk include Bee Doyle (Wade McCollum), a land owner who is the first to see that Floyd is trapped in the cave. He is the first one to seek help and eventually he gets quite wrapped up in the rescue attempts, along with Ed Bishop (Clyde Voce), another town cave explorer.

‘FLOYD COLLINS’: Taylor Trensch. Photo: Joan Marcus.

Taylor Trensch plays Skeets, a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal. He becomes deeply involved in the story of Floyd Collins and ends up winning a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting. Mr. Tresnch imbues the character of Skeets with a profound sense of concern and altruism. He starts out as simply a newspaper reporter.  Eventually, we see a wonderful arc to the character of Skeets.  He becomes more like a concerned friend of Floyd’s.  It is no surprise that Taylor Trensch has received a Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical Tony nomination.

Book & direction

Writer-director Tina Landau’s book is not always perfect. The characters are all well written, but there is often too little detail about each one’s backstory. As a director, however, Ms. Landau extracts many great performances.

It’s great to see Broadway veteran Marc Kudisch back on stage again as Floyd’s father, Lee. Mr. Kudisch does his best with the limitations of the character and material.

Newcomer Lizzy McAlpine shows a lot of promise as Floyd’s sister Nelly. Ms. McAlpine’s unique vocals can be both high and low, and there is sometimes a country twang heard and that fits the indie folk-style songs in the show.  Jason Gotay is engaging as Homer, Floyd’s baby brother.

It’s no wonder that Floyd Collins received Tony nominations for Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Dan Moses Schreier) and Best Orchestrations (Bruce Coughlin). The Vivian Beaumont stage is gigantic, and in so many productions actors something appear as if they are being “swallowed” by the stage. Yes, there are some rare moments like that in this show, but making 1920s Kentucky look vivid and lively is no easy task. The lighting and sound here is superb. Bruce Couglin has done a splendid job with the orchestrations, and he has added great depth to the score.

The score & vocals

It would be inaccurate to say that Floyd Collins is an uplifting evening of theater. The show is essentially an historical American tragedy, but it’s worth seeing thanks to Adam Guettel’s richly textured music and lyrics. In addition, the performances by Jeremy Jordan and Taylor Trensch are two of the spring’s best.

Published May 11, 2025
Reviewed at press performance on May 10, 2025

‘FLOYD COLLINS’: Jason Gotay & Jeremy Jordan. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘FLOYD COLLINS’: Marc Kudisch & Jessica Molaskey. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘FLOYD COLLINS’: (left to right) Cole Vaughan, Wade McCollum, Clyde Voce & Jason Gotay. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘FLOYD COLLINS’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘THE GREAT GATSBY’: The cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

THE GREAT GATSBY
Based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Book by Kait Kerrigan
Music by Jason Howland
Lyrics by Nathan Tysen
Directed by Marc Bruni
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway at 53rd Street
(212-239-6200), www.BroadwayGatsby.com

By David NouNou

Hallelujah! I can finally say that an extravagant, splashy, glitzy musical has landed at the Broadway Theatre by the name of The Great Gatsby.  The show surprisingly sticks to the facts and styling of the way F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote this timeless classic American tale from the late teens and 1920s Jazz Age.

Set in 1917 in both New York City and Long Island, there is the established old-money rich and the nouveau riche. Nick Carraway (Noah J. Ricketts) has just arrived from Minnesota and needs a place to stay, but Manhattan is expensive. He finds there is a little cottage to be rented out by Jay Gatsby (Jeremy Jordan). Gatsby would be new money and he has done everything in his power to reclaim his former love Daisy Buchanan (Eva Noblelzada), now married to Tom Buchanan (John Zdrojeski) who represents old money. Daisy’s father refused to let Daisy marry Jay because he was penniless. So, he went and fought in World War I. Although Tom is very abusive and has constant affairs, including the one with Myrtle Wilson (Sarah Chase)—the local floozy in Queens, who is married to gas-pump jockey George Wilson (Paul Whitty). He thought he was a better match for Daisy. In the mix is also Jordan Baker (Samantha Pauly) who befriends Nick.

Life on the outside is luscious parties galore, champagne is flowing and it was the Jazz Age. That party lasted the whole summer of 1917, when all things and disillusionments started setting in. All the rich people were really quite evil, life and death were meaningless and love was just bounced around as a plaything not to be taken seriously. Jay Gatsby was the best of the best of them and the ultimate loser. He even built that eternal “green light” for Daisy that only he could see from his balcony.

The book by Kait Kerrigan follows F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous narrative almost perfectly. The score by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen is melodic, grand and lush. Marc Bruni’s direction is a delight but some of the comedic segments could have been left out.

Which brings us to the two leads: Jeremy Jordan has never been in finer voice and his stage presence was never felt so profoundly. Eva Noblezada has outshined all her screen predecessors, portraying Daisy with the right mix of strength and vulnerability. They make a dynamic duo indeed.

What gives lushness to the proceedings is Paul Tate De Poo III’s scenic and projection designs. They transform you to other worlds, and Linda Cho’s costumes are innovative and a delight.

For a grand musical and a fun night at the theatre, The Great Gatsby is the ticket. It is a rare gem and one of the 2024 season’s best new musicals.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 25, 2024
Reviewed at April 23, 2024 press preview performance

‘THE GREAT GATSBY’: Samantha Pauly (center) & cast. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘THE GREAT GATSBY’: Eva Noblezada & Jeremy Jordan. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘THE GREAT GATSBY’: Jeremy Jordan & Eva Noblezada. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘THE GREAT GATSBY’: (left to right) Noah J. Ricketts, Sara Chase, & John Zdrojeski. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘THE GREAT GATSBY’: Paul Whitty. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘THE GREAT GATSBY’: Eva Noblezada. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

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‘AMERICAN SON’: (left to right) Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale & Jeremy Jordan. Photo: Peter Cunningham

AMERICAN SON
Written by Christopher Demos-Brown
Directed by Kenny Leon
Through January 27, 2019
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.americansonplay.com

By David NouNou

Topical and timely, American Son shows the disparity, anguish and complexity of an unexplained incident involving a teenager and the intense impact on his parents as they await answers.

Set in present-day Miami, Florida at 4:00 AM on a stormy night in a police station waiting room, Kendra Connor (Kerry Washington) is anxiously waiting to get any form of news on her missing son Jamal. Kendra is being placated by Officer Paul Larkin (Jeremy Jordan) by being evasive, tolerant but ingratiating. She is desperate and often belligerent due to the lack of any real forthcoming information.

In walks Scott Connor (Steven Pasquale), an FBI agent and Kendra’s estranged husband. In no time at all Officer Larkin—thinking agent Connor is heading the case of the missing teen—divulges all the information that Kendra has been desperately asking for. Larkin berates Kendra to Connor, only to find out that Kendra is his wife and Jamal is Connor’s son as well. The triangle here is Kendra is an African-American woman with a white husband and in the middle is white Officer Larkin.

From the onset we learn that Jamal is a well-educated, polite young man who, upon his father’s insistence, will be attending West Point Academy in the fall. From this point the play tackles myriads of issues: a biracial marriage, a black boy in an all-white high school, the boy’s confusion of which world he belongs in, and the revolt of the status quo of his family life. There is also the issue of how a desperate black woman can’t get any information on her missing son, while her white husband is handed the information without even asking for it. In turn, this makes everything in Kendra and Scott’s marriage topsy-turvy, with each seeing things from their own standpoint.

Finally, Lieutenant John Stokes (Eugene Lee) comes to sort things out, only to have Scott arrested for assault and refusing to cooperate with the law for wanting information on his son. Scott is taken away and Stokes sits Kendra down and gives her the facts of the situation. Stokes is an African American himself and knows how the system works.

The exceptional performances of the four people involved raise the bar here. Kerry Washington displays a wide range of emotions, from rage and aggression to anger and submission. Her tears are genuine because what she feels is raw and real. Steven Pasquale has never been better. He plays a conflicted father—who only knows right from wrong and good and bad—but is now caught in the crossfire of a rebelling son. His outrage at the system and how it treats people is a highlight in his career. The chemistry between Ms. Washington and Mr. Pasquale is palpable because it is so real.

Jeremy Jordan is very good as the affable Officer Larkin, with nothing more to do than be ingratiating. The real scene-stealer here is Eugene Lee, as the lieutenant who indicts Connor and then tries to explain things to Kendra. Mr. Lee is top notch; there is so much strength and dignity to his performance that it solidifies the proceedings.

The proceedings may not feel all that new, but the story certainly reflects today’s grim news, and the evening of sterling performances grounds the show to sustain one’s interest. It might make some people uncomfortable, but if you are a theater lover, you should put this down as a must-see show.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 8, 2018
Reviewed at November 7, 2018 press performance.

‘AMERICAN SON’: Kerry Washington & Steven Pasquale. Photo: Peter Cunningham

‘AMERICAN SON’: (left to right) Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale & Eugene Lee. Photo: Peter Cunningham.

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