Floyd Collins, the 1994 musical that has built an enduring popularity due to an Off Broadway cast recording, will finally receive a Broadway staging: The Adam Guettel-Tina Landau musical will be part of the just-announced 2024-2025 40th Anniversary Lincoln Center Theater season.
The musical, based on the true and tragic story of a 1925 cave explorer in Kentucky that has long since passed into folklore, joins the previously announced play McNeal starring Robert Downey Jr. on the LCT season Broadway line-up. Floyd Collins will being previews on March 27, 2025 at LCT’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, with an opening night of Monday, April 21.
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LCT also announced its Off Broadway season line-up, which will include The Blood Quilt by Katori Hall, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, and Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts, featuring a new version by Mark O’Rowe, directed by Jack O’Brien, both at LCT’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.
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At LCT’s smaller Clair Tow Theater, the season will include an LCT3 production of Six Characters, a new play by Phillip Howze, directed by Dustin Wills at the Claire Tow Theater.
Additionally, LCT will produce two special benefit events in support of its productions and education programs: On Monday, December 9, Bartlett Sher will direct a one-night-only reunion concert at the Vivian Beaumont of LCT’s Tony Award-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 Monday, May 19, LCT’s 40th Anniversary Celebration at the Beaumont will take place, commemorating 40 years of Lincoln Center Theater productions and featuring a salute to Producing Artistic Director André Bishop.
Floyd Collins is one of the more unusual musicals in recent history, and not just because of its offbeat subject. The musical premiered in 1994 in Philadelphia and in 1996 was staged Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, where it ran for just 25 performances. Despite its abbreviated run, the musical was hailed by critics and has endured as something of a cult favorite among a fervent fan base. Although there have been subsequent staging in London and regional theaters, the LCT production will be its first major New York staging in 28 years.
The real life story of Floyd Collins was also an inspiration for the 1951 film Ace in the Hole starring Kirk Douglas.
Complete casting and design teams for all productions will be announced at a later date.
Here’s LCT’s 40th anniversary season line-up:
McNEAL
Performances begin Thursday, September 5
Opening night is Monday, September 30
At the Vivian Beaumont Theater
Academy Award-winner Robert Downey Jr. will make his Broadway debut in this world premiere play by Ayad Akhtar, directed by Bartlett Sher. Good writers borrow, great writers steal. Jacob McNeal (Robert Downey Jr.) is a great writer, one of our greatest, a perpetual candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. But McNeal also has an estranged son, a new novel, old axes to grind and an unhealthy fascination with Artificial Intelligence. Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar’s new play is a startling and wickedly smart examination of the inescapable humanity – and increasing inhumanity – of the stories we tell.
McNEAL will have sets by Michael Yeargan & Jake Barton, costumes by Jennifer Moeller, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Justin Ellington & Beth Lake, and projections by Jake Barton. Jennifer Rae Moore will be the stage manager. McNEAL is produced by Lincoln Center Theater in association with Team Downey. Tickets for McNEAL are on sale now, visit http://www.LCT.org for more information.
Lincoln Center Theater gratefully acknowledges Lynne and Richard Pasculano’s visionary leadership support for McNEAL. McNEAL is made possible in part by the generosity of Dasha Epstein in honor and admiration of Ayad Akhtar’s work. This play is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and evolved with support from the LCT Daryl Roth Play and Musical Theater Development Program. McNEAL was commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater through the support of Laura Speyer and Josef Goodman.
Floyd Collins
Performances begin Thursday, March 27, 2025
Opening night is Monday, April 21, 2025
At the Vivian Beaumont Theater
Floyd Collins had its world premiere at the American Music Theater Festival in Philadelphia in 1994. It was followed by the off-Broadway debut at Playwrights Horizons in 1996 where it won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical. Due to its enduring cast recording, the musical has achieved a devoted following over the years. This Lincoln Center Theater production will mark the long-awaited Broadway debut of this modern-day classic.
Floyd Collins is based on the true story of a cave explorer in Kentucky, 1925. While chasing a dream of fame and fortune by turning Sand Cave into a tourist attraction, Floyd Collins himself becomes the attraction when he gets trapped 200 feet underground. Alone but for sporadic contact with the outside world, including his brother Homer, Floyd fights for his sanity – and, ultimately, his life – as the rescue effort above explodes into the first genuine media circus. Reporters and gawkers from across the country descend on the property, fueling the hysteria and manipulating the nation into holding its collective breath. Floyd Collins, featuring a haunting exploration of the American dream by Tina Landau and a glorious folk and bluegrass-inspired score by Adam Guettel, tells the transcendent tale of a true American dreamer.
Floyd Collins is made possible with support from Celso Gonzalez-Falla, the Henry Nias Foundation whose gift is courtesy of the Edelman Family in honor of André Bishop’s leadership, and Ida Cole.
The Blood Quilt
Performances begin Wednesday, October 30
Opening night is Thursday, November 21
At the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater
Lileana Blain-Cruz will direct The Blood Quilt by Katori Hall. Gathering at their childhood island home off the coast of Georgia, four disconnected sisters meet to create a family quilt to honor their recently deceased mother. When their reunion turns into a reading of their mother’s will, everyone must grapple with a troubling inheritance. Stitched with history, ritual, laughter and tears, will their “blood quilt” bind the family together or tear them apart forever? The Blood Quilt had its premiere at Arena Stage in Washington, DC.
The Blood Quilt is made possible with support from the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.
Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts
Performances begin Thursday, February 13, 2025
Opening night is Monday, March 10, 2025
At the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater
After several years abroad, Helena Alving’s son has returned home. He carries with him a terrifying secret. Ibsen’s Ghosts is a devastating moral thriller in which ideas of love, duty and family are mercilessly put to the test. This spectacular new version, written by one of Ireland’s leading playwrights, Mark O’Rowe, and directed by Jack O’Brien, grabs you by the throat from the outset and refuses to let go – all the way to its electrifying climax.
Ghosts is made possible with support from the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation.
LINCOLN CENTER THEATER/LCT3
Six Characters
Performances begin Saturday, July 13
Opening night is Monday, July 29
At the Claire Tow Theater
When some trifling citizens storm a renowned cultural center where they’re not meant to be, all hell breaks loose. Wigs go flying. Wounds get opened. An archive explodes. Will the audience make it out alive? Directed by Dustin Wills, abolition takes on fresh meaning in Six Characters, Phillip Howze’s new play on power, belonging, and the institutions we build.
Six Characters will have sets by Dustin Wills, costumes by Montana Levi Blanco, lighting by Masha Tsimring, and sound by Christopher Darbassie. Victoria Whooper will be the Stage Manager.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Reunion Concert
One-night-only, Monday December 9
At the Vivian Beaumont Theater
On Monday, December 9, Bartlett Sher will direct a one-night-only reunion concert of LCT’s Tony Award-winning 2008 production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific, starring 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, and additional cast members to be announced. The concert will take place on the stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theater, followed by a cocktail party with the South Pacific company at the Metropolitan Opera House. The evening will support Lincoln Center Theater’s productions and education programs. Further details about the evening, including ticket prices, will be announced shortly. 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the musical.
LCT 40th Anniversary Celebration
One-night-only, Monday May 19
At the Vivian Beaumont Theater
On Monday, May 19 LCT’s 40th Anniversary Celebration, a one-night-only event, commemorating 40 years of Lincoln Center Theater excellence and a salute to Producing Artistic Director André Bishop, will take place on the stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theater, followed by a dinner at the David H. Koch Theater. The evening will support Lincoln Center Theater’s productions and education programs. Further details about the evening, including table and ticket prices, will be announced shortly.