Posted: 4/5/25 at 9:26am
Regardless of the quality of this particular production, I don't think there is anything particularly weird in LCT choosing it for a revival. It is consistent with the types of shows often in their seasons, it features some gorgeous songs, and it has a strong pedigree.
Posted: 4/5/25 at 3:35pm
It's not that I don't believe people, but I'm just shocked it's so disappointing.
Do we think the reviewers are going to ape what most people here are saying or do we see a scenario where they're kinder?
This was my top pick this year. I was about to shell out for it.
Posted: 4/5/25 at 3:40pm
Posted: 4/5/25 at 4:56pm
bwayphreak234 said: "I don’t have anything new to add. I fled this at intermission (along with several others). Wildly uneven performances, no set, poor sound mix, and the book score are absolutely dire. If there’s one show to skip this season, Floyd Collins is it."
I say this as a fan - Jeremy Jordan is fascinatingly successful for someone who’s had a lot of bombs. He needs someone to help him pick better shows.
Posted: 4/5/25 at 5:03pm
Bombs? He's really had no other bombs besides Bonnie & Clyde. Perhaps you're thinking of Corey Cott?
That being said, this show is extremely embarrassing for Lincoln Center. Since 2021, they just can't get their sh*t together and give us a fantastic Spring musical.
Updated On: 4/5/25 at 05:03 PM
Posted: 4/5/25 at 5:29pm
I guess I’m considering Gatsby a bomb because I, many people I know and many critics hated it. I guess you’re right though; monetarily it’s not a bomb.
Posted: 4/5/25 at 6:51pm
DramaTeach said: "I guess I’m considering Gatsby a bomb because I, many people I know and many critics hated it. I guess you’re right though; monetarily it’s not a bomb."
I’m not saying this applies to the majority of the people here, but a lot of the Floyd Collins negativity is from Gatsby crazed Jeremy fan girls who had zero clue what they were getting into with this show. That said, I’m not seeing it until June, and I’m sure it has many faults- but is it really as bad as people are saying?
Posted: 4/5/25 at 6:56pm
Except most of them were already fans, thus the success of Gatsby.
Is it that bad? Well, to those that disliked it, yes. I've also seen lots from people that liked it.
Posted: 4/5/25 at 11:34pm
Sutton Ross said: "
That being said, this show is extremely embarrassing for Lincoln Center. Since 2021, they just can't get their sh*t together and give us a fantastic Spring musical."
I know it flopped, but I found plenty to like about Camelot
Posted: 4/5/25 at 11:47pm
The previews are getting a far better reception at Show Score, with many finding this site’s negatives stylish positives. A handful of reports are glowing raves.
Posted: 4/6/25 at 12:18am
I haven't seen this production, but I have a funny feeling it's going to be one of those scenarios where the majority of BWW hates the show, while critics and other audiences respond better to it.
Updated On: 4/6/25 at 12:18 AM
Posted: 4/6/25 at 10:13am
inception said: "I know it flopped, but I found plenty to like about Camelot"
Same. Camelot was the last show I saw the Beaumont before seeing act 1 of Floyd Collins yesterday, and I enjoyed that MUCH more. At least Camelot had some interesting performances (I, personally, LOVED Burnap, Soo, and Donica - I thought they were a terrific trio in a love triangle fraught with fragile tension) and it was visually appealing.
Posted: 4/6/25 at 10:42am
ljay889 said: "I haven't seen this production, but I have a funny feeling it's going to be one of those scenarios where the majority of BWW hates the show, while critics and other audiences respond better to it."
It's always been more of a critics, or a theatre snob's, darling than a hit with the public.
I liked the one production I've seen (at NYU a while back), but the story is told much more effectively in Billy Wilder's movie "Ace In The Hole" and Guettel seemed far more at home with his scores for "Light in the Piazza" and "Days of Wine and Roses" than he does with Americana.
But I hope the production gels. It's an admirable show and LCT needs a hit.
Updated On: 4/6/25 at 10:42 AM
Posted: 4/6/25 at 3:24pm
I say this as about as big of a Floyd Collins fan as you can get – this production is a mess right now.
The biggest issue is that the sound mix is just terrible, which hopefully they can fix soon. Whoever is running the board is struggling to mix the actors’ mics, and from where I was sitting the band was overpowering the vocals and it was difficult to hear the lyrics. If I didn’t know the show like the back of my hand, I would’ve been pretty confused. Additionally, it seems like the actors were struggling to hear the band and there were more than a few times when actors fell off the beat.
They also definitely prioritized singing over acting with the casting. It sounds great, but the acting is pretty dull. Additionally, I found the singing way too “MT” for this bluegrass score, especially compared to the original cast recording, and the whole thing feels too “Broadway” for this show. It’s also over-choreographed and I found the dancing very unnecessary and distracting.
Contrary to others, I enjoyed the minimalist set and found the way the space continued to transform and open up (literally) as it went along very cool. Landau’s use of the scrim is also quite stunning at times. The biggest issue the show faces is actually just being in the Beaumont! As someone who has thought for many years that the cavernous quality of the theater would suit the show perfectly, it’s just too big of a space. Filling the stage is a challenge and the intimacy is totally lost when Floyd feels so far away.
Across the board, I don’t like the changes they’ve made to the show. The reprise of the Ballad is especially awkward, I strongly prefer it being a solo for Jewel. And not a huge deal, but Guettel rewrote the final bars of the show and the slow total disappearance of Floyd’s echo is missed.
Some of these problems can be fixed and others can’t. I’ll be back later in the run and I hope it sees some serious improvements. It’s definitely still worth seeing because the material is strong and any chance to see the show live is a good enough reason, but this show deserves a stronger Broadway bow.
Updated On: 4/6/25 at 03:24 PM
Posted: 4/6/25 at 5:21pm
I have long been a member here but haven’t posted in years - so much so that I needed to reset my password! I rely on the board for the range of opinions to inform my choices but hardly feel the need to post.
That said, having seen the original production of this show, I felt compelled to post because I was surprised at some of the responses to the revival I have been reading. I sense that maybe many people knew the reputation of the show but not the show itself terribly well, but what is being presented at the Beaumont is a first class production of Floyd Collins.
It has the benefit of being guided by its living authors and original director who conceived it, wrote it, and brought it to life then and now. This was both Adam’s and Tina’s major breakthrough in New York and part of what was exciting was that they were not constrained by convention. It is not largely tuneful in a traditional sense, it is mostly sung through in a complex and sometimes unmelodic score, and it was regarded as a work of unique form and vision that felt like a next generation’s continuation of the progressive work that others, including Adam’s mentor Sondheim, had been doing.
None of that may be persuasive to people who aren’t enjoying it - including older patrons who I also saw leave the theater mid-show - but this is the show that was birthed then and reborn now thirty years later by the very people who created it. And truth be told I thought most elements of this production were stronger than the original. What Jeremy is doing is wildly impressive - his legs didn’t move a hair! - yet he sang in beautiful voice and created a character who was filled with heartbreaking emotion. I can’t imagine anyone not being moved by the second act scene between him and Taylor. There are certainly some quibbles - a bit with sound, I didn’t think Jason Gotay was a strong as Jason Danielely was originally, and Lizzy is sometimes captivating and sometimes plain awkward to watch. But none of that undermines the high quality of so much of the work being done.
As for the physical production, the absence of a cave on stage is not because of cost. It is not more costly to build a cave on stage than it is to implement some of the design elements that they are using. And I thought it was a beautiful use of the Beaumont space to consistently focus on the breadth and expanse of the world above - especially with some of the most stunning stage pictures and silhouettes - in contrast to the smallness of Jeremy confinement downstage.
So for better or for worse - in my opinion, the better - this is a major and very worthy production of the fabled show. It very well may be that those who were looking forward to it based on its lore expected something different and don’t care for it. But I for one left the theater thrilled to see and hear the show on this scale. And I can’t imagine anyone who hears and sees the last fifteen minutes of the show - from the newly moved reprise of The Call, culminating in a gorgeous How Glory Goes - not being invigorated by seeing this early work from two theater makers whose careers we have gotten to see evolve over these decades, and who will continue to surprise us and provoke us. For anyone with an interest in the history and evolution of the modern American musical, I highly recommend this.
Posted: 4/6/25 at 8:41pm
I savored bwaybaby12's response, which whetted my appetite anew (going Wednesday). It sounds like the only liability everyone agrees on is the sound mix, which is arguably the one thing that's entirely fixable. But I loved bwaybaby's appraisal of the space and how it creates the fixed vertical/horizontal geography of the show. I've been besotted with the score since circa 2010, when I saw an excellent college production. It's haunted me, and I listened on long walks during the quarantine; it seemed an oddly perfect piece for our confinement, and broke my heart, repeatedly. Fingers crossed for my renewed experience.
Posted: 4/7/25 at 11:07am
I, too, logged-in after a long time to echo bwaybaby12's post. I saw the production last week and think that their reaction and analysis is spot on. I had never seen a production before, though I've listened to the OCR many times over the year. I didn't always understand the context of most of the songs so it was wonderful to finally understand how the show works.
The bare/conceptual set did not bother me at all. In fact, it was quite intriguing to me that Jeremy Jordan had to stay there, on stage, not moving for the entire show. He was STUCK. (as a performer myself, I was initially worried he'd be without water for the whole show as well, but Floyd is eventually given a bottle so he was able drink) In other productions, is the actor able to be off-stage during the "up-top" scenes? When he finally got to stand in Riddle Song, it felt like such a relief and release that I started to tear-up.
I loved the staging of The Call. The stage is completely dark except for a spotlight on Floyd as he climbs up and slides down platforms that arise, unseen, from the stage floor. We, the audience, can't see more than a few feet in front of him, in that big black expanse, just like how it would feel down in a cave! (at the performance I went to, Jordan actually stopped in the middle of his climb because there must have been a technical issue. The show was paused for a few minutes and then they re-started from the middle of the song. No one else has mentioned this, so I'm assuming they have fixed the issue. Gotta love live theatre!)
I was initially disappointed in Jordan's singing, though he got much stronger throughout the show and his How Glory Goes was, well glorious. I was also impressed with how his speaking voice got weaker and hoarse towards the end, like someone who had been screaming in a cave for weeks would.
Jason Gotay was fine. Taylor Trensch was fantastic (Tony nom. for supporting?). Marc Kudisch and Sean Allan Krill were wonderful in mostly thankless parts, as always. Jessica Molasky seemed weak vocally. Perhaps she was sick? The only disappointing casting was Lizzy McAlpine. There wasn't much there acting or singing-wise and I truly don't understand how she got this job.
There have been a lot of negative reactions here, but that's clearly not the universal audience experience, so I hope that you will still check it out, if you are interested.
Posted: 4/7/25 at 11:50am
First time seeing FC and I was entranced by the score and enchanted by the production. To say there is no set is ridiculous. It is spare, yes, but combined with Landau’s staging it creates some gorgeous stage pictures. My only dissatisfaction with the show is that there is just not enough story to fill out Act II and it ends up a bit repetitious. Jeremy was outstanding and I found him much more at home here than in Gatsby.
Sunday matinee bonus: Groff was in the audience and knew just where to sit for maximum Jeremy impact.
Updated On: 4/7/25 at 11:50 AM
Posted: 4/8/25 at 2:07pm
Also saw the show on Sunday and ended up enjoying it a lot. I think if they'd written the show now as opposed to years ago, this would be a one-act -- the story gets a bit thin in parts (why did the parents have a song?), but there's a really resonant theme in there about how we sensationalize and profit from tragedy and by doing so distance ourselves from it. Jeremy Jordan and Taylor Trensch were both great. I hope that Trensch can get a Tony nom for this. Sean Allan Krill didn't have much to do but he was excellent as well. Not sure why they cast Lizzy McAlpine in this because she was terrible, and she's not really a big enough name to sell a ton of tickets (maybe two years ago she would have been). Overall happy with my LincTix purchase, ended up with fantastic seats even on the far right orchestra.
Posted: 4/8/25 at 2:41pm
I'm happy others have been enjoying this, but I thought this was absolutely dreadful and a waste of space on the Beaumont stage. It was a chore to sit through.
Posted: 4/8/25 at 5:26pm
bwaybaby12 put it far more articulately than I could, but I totally agree. It's a tough show and I get that it's not for everybody, but I thought the production was wonderful. Yes there are still some sound issues. (Second act was better than first in that regard.) I agree that Lizzy McAlpine was the weakest in an otherwise strong cast. But I thought it was beautiful and I'm so glad I saw it!
Posted: 4/9/25 at 6:06pm
I just got back from the Matinee.
Wow. I have never seen a production or heard the score. I am a big fan of Light in the Piazza so I was really looking forward to it.
I thought it was sublime theatre. It is very dense musically and dramatically. I can see why some people are not going to like this. It's not easy to sit through. It exists to tell a story. It's not there to "entertain" in the usual sense.
Jeremy Jordan is such a great performer. He should have won the Tony for Newsies. He deserves one. He is wonderful in this. I am glad he did this role.
I didn't detect any sound problems. ALL of the cast was great. I wasn't totally won over by his sister. I think that could have been cast better.
Like i said, it was difficult at times to zone in. At times I wanted it to end, and at times it swept me out of my seat. But I never once thought it wasn't worthy of my attendance or the wonderful production. It is.
It's sometimes difficult to watch. It is a slow story. But there is nothing "bad" about this production. It's a wonderful production.
Whether or not you like this show is another thing.
Updated On: 4/9/25 at 06:06 PM
Posted: 4/9/25 at 8:05pm
Back from the Wednesday matinee.
Baffled by so much of the commentary in this thread that finds the design elements lacking or underthought. It's a simple yet elegant kind of minimalism, evocative in mood, and though miles from photorealism (mercifully without a single projected image or video), able to conjure time and place. Some of the openings and closings of sequences are breathtaking. This is decidedly visual - theatrical - storytelling. And to my eyes, the show fits beautifully into the Beaumont, played down center on the thrust but fully utilizing the depth, most notably in the very final image in the production, which will haunt me. (When people speak of wanting "more," I question what that might be? A simulated cave? With moving pieces of faux rock -- they always look like Neverland in Peter Pan to me.) Will this Floyd Collins make fans of Guettel's score? Certainly of its signature numbers, so gorgeously sung. I know the show and found the Sperling-led orchestra perfectly balanced with the vocals (those sound mix issues resolved?)
As for Jordan: this is such a fully acted, dimensional Floyd, the tragic man so emotionally captured, I was stunned by his nuance and achingly realized humanity. He's touching, eloquent, and heartbreaking. This is a maturing actor with a rich voice, and this role might be the turning point in his career.
Updated On: 4/9/25 at 08:05 PM
Posted: 4/10/25 at 8:40am
I totally agree about Jeremy Jordan. His performance is really wonderful in Floyd Collins. I think this role will elevate his career. He has found material equal to his immense talent. He is going to be a great leading man. I also agree that the show fits beautifully in the theatre.
Posted: 4/10/25 at 11:20pm
Enthusiastic audience response tonight with a lot of whooping from presumably Jordan groupies. I understand why some may feel the set is bare bones, but there actually is quite a bit brought in at different times. I think overall the staging works fine and the production team sprinkles some beautiful visual moments throughout.
Maybe some stone built up around where Jordan is trapped might have helped, but it also could come off looking quite fake.
Sat in 203c and loved being so close to Jordan as you could see the details in how his physicality subtly changed the longer he was trapped. His vocals were soaring as expected and I thought he acted the part quite well. I'd go for tickets in 200 first, then 100 or 300, since all three bring you closest to Jordan.
Found Lizzie McAlpine somewhat underwhelming in general and was disappointed in much of Jessica Molaskey's vocals. Not sure if Molaskey was a bit ill or having an off night, but she often sounded quite strained. Gotay was a great Homer and the miners' and reporters' ensemble numbers were quite good.
I'm a huge fan of the music in the show, but left thinking the book is quite creaky and some of the dramatic moments just didn't land. Glad I got to see another production, but don't feel the need for a repeat visit.
Updated On: 4/11/25 at 11:20 PM
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