‘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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‘REDWOOD’: (left to right) Khaila Wilcoxon, Michael Park, Idina Menzel, Zachary Noah Piser & De’Adre Aziza. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

REDWOOD
Book by Tina Landau
Music by Kate Diaz
Lyrics by Kate Diaz and Tina Landau
Directed by Tina Landau
Nederlander Theatre
208 West 41^st Street
https://www.redwoodmusical.com/

By Scott Harrah

Idina Menzel is back on Broadway, starring in the new musical Redwood—a show that is anything but standard musical-theater fare. The story is set in the redwood forests of Northern California and revolves around a troubled woman, Jesse (Ms. Menzel).

Jesse has a career and is a wife and mother. The trouble is, she’s grieving the recent loss of her only child to a drug overdose and has left her wife Mel (De’Adre Aziza) behind back east after an argument. She has traveled to Eureka on the California coast to explore the redwoods.

Deep in the forest

Jesse meets two dendrologist scientists in the forest: Seasoned climber and aging hippie Finn (Michael Park) and his young colleague, Becca (Khaila Wilcoxon), a tough, no-nonsense young woman. Jesse also meets the real stars of the show: scenic designer Jason Ardizzonne-West’s high-tech California redwood trees, enhanced by video designer Hana S. Kim’s curved LED columns, lit by lighting designer Scott Zielinski.  The central large redwood tree is theatrical high-tech at its best.

The other main attraction here is, of course, Idina Menzel and her incredible vocals. The 105-minute one act features 17 songs, of which Ms. Menzel sings 13, and seven of hers are solos. Her voice is as pure, powerful and soaring as it was 21 years ago when she debuted as Elphaba in Wicked.

Redwood has a running theme of the importance of finding oneself, but the musical is often too heavy-handed and comes across as contrived at times. Creating a musical based on drama instead of comedy is no easy task. Although Tina Landau and Kate Diaz have constructed a thought-provoking tale and composed many solid songs, Redwood is hardly in the same league as Hamilton, Sunset Boulevard or Wicked. A musical about a woman with a troubled marriage and a recently deceased child is not exactly lighthearted material. However, Ms. Landau is a gifted musical-theater creator and director—as anyone who saw the excellent and underrated 2017 musical SpongeBob SquarePants can attest.

Extraordinary cast

Despite the show’s shortcomings, Redwood features an extraordinary cast. Standouts include Khaila Wilcoxon as Becca. Her performance is consistently intense and engrossing, and she is in fine voice. De’Adre Aziza as Jesse’s wife Mel, and Michael Park as Finn, are both great in their roles. The real surprise of the show is Zachary Noah Piser as Jesse’s late son, Spencer. Mr. Piser is touching and poignant when he sings the musical’s best song, “Still.”

Redwood will certainly thrill Idina Menzel fans simply because she has so many songs. Although not all  the songs are memorable, her voice is consistently mellifluous and exhilarating. In spite of the often-awkward premise of Redwood, Ms. Menzel truly shines whenever she’s on stage, belting her heart out.

Published February 24, 2025
Reviewed at press performance on February 20, 2025

‘REDWOOD’: Idina Menzel & Khaila Wilcoxon. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘REDWOOD’: Zachary Noah Piser & Idina Menzel. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘REDWOOD’: Idina Menzel. Photo: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman.

‘REDWOOD’: Khaila Wilcoxon & Michael Park. Photo: Matthew & Evan Zimmerman.

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‘MOTHER PLAY’: Jim Parsons & Jessica Lange. Photo: Joan Marcus.

MOTHER PLAY: A PLAY IN FIVE EVICTIONS
By Paula Vogel
Directed by Tina Landau
Second Stage at The Hayes Theater
240 West 44th St.
(212) 541-4516
https://2st.com/shows/mother-play

By Scott Harrah

A stellar cast and outstanding performances make Mother Play: A Play in Five Evictions one of the year’s must-see dramas. Paula Vogel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright best known for her masterpiece How I Learned to Drive, delves into painful recollections of her own family with shades of Tennessee Williams’ classic memory play The Glass Menagerie.

Like Amanda Wingfield in Glass Menagerie, the narrative centers on a single mother from the South and her unrealistic dreams for her kids. Jessica Lange stars as Phyllis, a strict and demanding mother who wields power over her two teenage children, Martha (Celia Keenan-Bolger) and Carl (Jim Parsons).

The plays opens in 1962 in suburb of Washington, D.C. Phyllis and her kids have just moved into a new apartment. Phyllis is a divorcée with a drinking problem. Son Carl, 14, is starting to realize he’s probably gay. Daughter Martha, 12, is also learning she might be gay too, and her mother makes her read—in a passive-aggressive demand—the lesbian classic novel The Well of Loneliness as a cautionary tale.

Jessica Lange gives one of the best performances of her career as Phyllis, a woman who keeps moving her kids into disheveled apartments infested with roaches and mice. Phyllis is not exactly a likable character. She is shrill, demanding, volatile and homophobic, but Ms. Lange gives depth to this villainess with her seamless delivery of rapid-fire dialogue and manic mannerisms. It’s hard to take our eyes off Ms. Lange whenever she’s on the stage, and that’s because her performance is so heartbreaking and engrossing.

Reportedly based on playwright Paula Vogel’s real life, Mother Play is both a dramatic confessional and a portrait of a woman with unrealistic dreams for both herself and her children. The story unfolds in five different scenes spanning the decades or “evictions” as we see the family descend into more grief and all are on the edge of madness. Each attempt by Phyllis to control her children’s lives fails, and she just becomes more domineering and despicable.

Jim Parsons as Carl and Celia Keenan-Bolger are both exceptional and demonstrate a believable brother-and-sister chemistry that truly makes the show worth seeing. They are forced to mix their mother’s drinks and find her chic outfits while they both put up with her constant criticism and disapproval.

Mother Play, performed in one act, is not an easy drama to watch despite its brevity. Ms. Vogel’s portrait of family discord is brutally real, and while the show is not always perfect, director Tina Landau gets such fine performances from the cast that the flaws don’t matter in the end. Mother Play is a trenchant American tragedy for these troubled times.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 12, 2024
Reviewed at April 30, 2024 press  performance

‘MOTHER PLAY’: Jessica Lange & Celia Keenan-Bolger. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘MOTHER PLAY’: Jim Parsons & Celia Keenan-Bolger. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘MOTHER PLAY’: Celia Keenan-Bolger & Jim Parsons. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘MOTHER PLAY’: Jessica Lange. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘MOTHER PLAY’: Jim Parsons. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘MOTHER PLAY’: Jessica Lange. Photo: Joan Marcus.

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‘SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS’: Ethan Slater, making a phenomenal Broadway debut bringing the iconic cartoon character SpongeBob to life. Photo: Joan Marcus

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL
Based on the series by Stephen Hillenburg
Book by Kyle Jarrow
Music Supervision, orchestration & arrangements by Tom Kitt
Choreographed by Christopher Gattelli
Directed by Tina Landau
Palace Theatre

Broadway & 47th Street

(877-250-2929), www.SpongeBobBroadway.com

By Scott Harrah

SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical is surprisingly one of the best shows of the season and is a welcome respite from an otherwise lackluster fall on Broadway. Based on the hit Nickelodeon TV cartoon that’s been thrilling kids and adults alike since 1999, this original musical has so much colorful, joyful glee going for it, from the effervescent newcomer Ethan Slater as the iconic SpongeBob to clever sets and costumes by David Zinn to infectious songs by everyone from Cyndi Lauper, Sara Bareilles and John Legend to Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith and the late David Bowie, all skillfully and sharply directed by Tina Landau and choreographed by Christopher Gatelli.

One doesn’t even need to have ever seen an episode of “SpongeBob” (though it helps) to enjoy this magical piece of theatrical cotton candy. From the opening moments, when Patchy the Pirate (Jon Rua) takes the stage, followed by two security guards (Vashty Mompoint and JC Schuster), we know this show is all about having fun, and will be like a party. Its originality is ingenious and the pleasure never ends, thanks to a solid book by Kyle Jarrow and tight music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal).

The story is simple: Bikini Bottom, home to SpongeBob and all the whimsical undersea creatures that inhabit the TV show, faces annihilation by an impending volcanic eruption that will destroy everything and everyone. SpongeBob and his “BFF” Patrick Star (Danny Skinner) try to come up with a plan to save the town. Along the way, we meet the many townsfolk, from Squidward Q. Tentacles (Gavin Lee) to Eugene Krabs (Brian Ray Norris), Karen the Computer (Stephanie Hsu) and Sandy Cheeks (Lilli Cooper) to Sheldon Plankton (Wesley Taylor).

Great musicals have outstanding songs, and there are so many here, from the opener “Bikini Bottom Day” to “Hero is My Middle Name” by Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman. One of the highlights is “I’m Not a Loser” (written by They Might Be Giants), featuring Squidward Q. Tentacles and his many tap-shoe-covered “feet” doing a show-stopping, razzle-dazzle production number with the tap-dancing Sea Anemones.

There are so many impeccable performances from the mega-talented cast that it’s almost impossible to mention them all, but standouts include Gavin Lee with his snarky take on Squidward Q. Tentacles; Lilli Cooper as the brilliant Sandy Cheeks, the only mammal in this aquatic land; and of course, Ethan Slater as SpongeBob. Instead of wearing a SpongeBob costume, Ethan Slater is a flesh-and-blood incarnation of the famous creature who lives in a pineapple under the sea. Sporting plaid pants and suspenders, Mr. Slater brings an exhausting, stratospheric level of both energy and humanity to the role. There is a natural guilelessness to Mr. Slater and he imbues it flawlessly into SpongeBob, adding the many layers of dimension necessary to bring a cartoon character to life onstage.

Long may Bikini Bottom have a place on Broadway, because SpongeBob SquarePants deserves to run for years and entertain and inspire many with its universal message of teamwork, inclusiveness and hope, making it a badly needed tonic for these troubled times, but it’s also just a lot of harmless merriment and so much fun.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published December 8, 2017
Reviewed at December 7, 2017 press performance.

‘SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS’: Lilli Cooper & Ethan Slater. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS’: Wesley Taylor & company. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS’: Gavin Lee & company. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS’: The cast. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS’: Danny Skinner & Ethan Slater. Photo: Joan Marcus

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