Book by Tina Landau, Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel, Additional Lyrics by Tina Landau
Peter Huntley Productions in association with Southwark Playhouse
Directed by Derek Bond
★★★★★ ‘…authentic emotional depth… thrillingly well performed by a cast led by Glenn Carter’s Floyd’ Sunday Express
Associate Director (and Movement)
Kentucky, 1925. Cave explorer Floyd Collins, dreams of finding fame and fortune underground. When a cave-in leaves him trapped 55 feet below the earth’s surface, the media circus above ground makes his personal tragedy a national sensation. Tina Landau and Adam Guettel’s award-winning musical is an examination of the media’s reaction to the events in the cave, the various attempts to rescue Floyd and a moving insight into a family’s suffering.
★★★★ ‘A grim tale produces a gem of a musical… A huge plus is the Playhouse’s mustily atmospheric railway-arch space… a 14-strong ensemble and eight-strong band who bring a zest to every vignette and song… At a time when insensitive media intrusion is under scrutiny as never before, Floyd Collins burns with peculiarly haunting relevance’ The Telegraph
★★★★ Critics’ Choice Time Out
‘It’s still only February, but we’ll be lucky if we see a better production of a better musical all year in London’ Mark Shenton, The Stage
‘Could there possibly be a better environment in which to revive a little known masterpiece of musical theatre… beautifully directed… nothing they could do at the NT’s Cottesloe Theatre could come within spitting distance of the atmosphere created in the vaults of Southwark Playhouse… get yourselves down to Southwark – Floyd Collins will, I fear, always be a collectors item and you’ve only six weeks to catch this revival’ Edward Seckerson, The Independent
‘Adam Guettel’s terrific underground musical Floyd Collins is back – in the ideal venue…the enterprising Southwark Playhouse has given it a magnificent production…’ The Observer
‘[this] new production is quite beautiful’ The Times
Glenn Carter (Jesus Christ Superstar, Jersey Boys), Robyn North (The Phantom of the Opera) and Ryan Sampson (Doctor Who, The Kitchen Sink) lead a thirteen strong cast in this production, the first revival of the show in the UK for over ten years.
Playwrights Horizons Inc., New York City, produced, FLOYD COLLINS Off-Broadway in 1996 Presented by arrangement with JOSEF WEINBERGER LIMITED on behalf of R & H THEATRICALS of New York.