BoHo Theatre to Present FLOYD COLLINS, 6/15-7/15

BoHo Theatre brings its 2011/2012 season to a close with Floyd Collins by Adam Guettel, composer/lyricist of The Light In The Piazza, and Steppenwolf Ensemble-member Tina Landau.

The production runs June 15th through July 15th, 2012, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue, and is directed by BoHo’s Artistic Director Peter Marston Sullivan. Sullivan has directed such hits as BoHo Theatre’s Big River, Pippin, and I Am My Own Wife (co-director). The production’s music direction is headed by multiple Jeff Citation winner Alan Bukowiecki, whose credits include Parade and Dr. Sex (Bailiwick Repertory), Altar Boyz (Drury Lane), Route 66 (Paramount Theater), and the recent national tour of Hair. Floyd Collins represents the bohemian pillar of Freedom in BoHo Theatre‘s 2011/2012 Season.

In January of 1925, Kentucky explorer Floyd Collins was searching for an underground cave system spectacular enough to become a tourist destination and make his family rich. Instead, he became trapped in a narrow crawlway 55 feet below ground. His family’s rescue attempts quickly created the nation’s first media circus as reporters flocked to the scene, and rescue began to take a backseat to profit. This true story features a musical style drawn from authentic bluegrass, folk, and Americana.

BoHo’s production of Floyd Collins explores freedom across multiple realms, from Floyd’s quest for financial freedom that leads him into the cave, to the literal need to escape from a claustrophobic cave-in, and finally to the emotional and spiritual freedom Floyd discovers when the fear and isolation give way to inner reflection. At the heart of this story is the contrast between the cynicism in the media whirlwind above ground and the real emotions and family dynamic between Floyd and his family. In an age of constant news bombardment and media spin, Floyd Collins is a reminder of what truly matters when the rest of the world disappears.