Lincoln Center Theater (LCT) will mount the Broadway premiere of “Floyd Collins.” The musical, which features music and lyrics by Tony Award winner Adam Guettel and book and additional lyrics by Tony nominee Tina Landau, will begin previews on March 27, 2025 and open on April 21 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Landau is set to direct the musical, which will play a limited run.
“Floyd Collins” tells the story of a real-life spelunker, who, in 1925, became trapped in a cave in south central Kentucky. The musical chronicles his experience inside the cave, as well as his community’s rescue response. The musical played Off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons in 1996, following a 1994 premiere at the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia.
Currently represented on Broadway with her staging of the 2024 Best Play Tony nominee “Mother Play,” Landau received a Tony nomination for helming 2017’s “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Landau directed the original 1996 Off-Broadway production of “Floyd Collins,” earning Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Director and Book of a Musical.
Guettel is currently nominated for the 2024 Best Original Score Tony Award for “Days of Wine and Roses.” He won dual 2005 Tony Awards for his score and orchestrations of “The Light in the Piazza,” which also played the Beaumont. Like Landau, he also received two 1996 Drama Desk nominations for “Floyd Collins,” for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics.
Casting and additional members of “Floyd Collins”’ creative team will be announced.
This mounting marks the final LCT production under the leadership of producing artistic director André Bishop, who had previously announced plans to step down at the end of the 2024-2025 Broadway season.
Additionally, LCT will produce two special benefit events in support of its productions and education programs: On Dec. 9, Bartlett Sher will direct a one-night reunion concert of LCT’s Tony-winning 2008 production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “South Pacific,” including original cast members Kelli O’Hara, Paulo Szot, Matthew Morrison, Danny Burstein, Loretta Ables Sayre, Sean Cullen, Victor Hawks, Li Jun Li, Skip Sudduth and Noah Weisberg, on the stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theater, followed by a cocktail party at the Metropolitan Opera House. On May 19, LCT’s 40th Anniversary Celebration, an evening commemorating 40 years of Lincoln Center Theater excellence and a salute to Producing Artistic Director André Bishop, will take place in the Vivian Beaumont Theater with a dinner to follow at the David H. Koch Theater. More information on these and other special events will be announced at a later date.
“Floyd Collins” is part of LCT’s 40th anniversary season, which includes the previously announced “McNeal” by Ayad Akhtar. LCT’s 2024-2025 Off-Broadway offerings at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater will include “The Blood Quilt” (Nov. 2024) written by Tony nominee Katori Hall and directed by Tony nominee Lileana Blain-Cruz, as well as a new version of Henrik Ibsen’s “Ghosts” (March 2025) by Mark Rowe, directed by Tony winner Jack O’Brien. Finally, Dustin Wills will direct Phillip Howze’s new play “Six Characters,” set to play LCT’s Claire Tow Theater in July.
