Kentucky Press book inspires Tony-nominated musical ‘Floyd Collins’
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 7, 2025) — “Floyd Collins,” a musical based on the true story of small-town farmer and cave explorer Floyd Collins who became trapped in a southern Kentucky cave in 1925, has been nominated for six Tony Awards.
The musical draws from the book “Trapped! The Story of Floyd Collins,” a 1982 University Press of Kentucky title by Robert K. Murray and Roger W. Brucker. The updated version, released by Kentucky Press this April to honor the 100th anniversary of Collins’ descent into Sand Cave, includes a foreword by Tina Landau, who created and directed the musical production, and an afterword by Brucker.
The book follows the sensationalism and hysteria of the rescue attempt that generated America’s first true media spectacle, making Collins’ story one of the most prominent of the 20th century. The crowds that gathered outside Sand Cave turned the rescue site into a carnival. Collins’ plight was front-page news throughout the country, hourly bulletins interrupted radio programs, and Congress recessed to hear the latest word.
The “Floyd Collins” musical received six nominations in the following categories:
- Best Revival of a Musical
- Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical — Jeremy Jordan
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical — Taylor Trensch
- Best Lighting Design of a Musical — Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun
- Best Sound Design of a Musical — Dan Moses Schreier
- Best Orchestrations — Bruce Coughlin
More than 30 years ago, Laudau found a photo of Floyd Collins in a history book. She was compelled and determined that the story would be the basis of her next musical with her writing partner and collaborator, composer-lyricist Adam Guettel. During her research, she discovered “Trapped! The Story of Floyd Collins,” the only comprehensive and vividly detailed account of the narrative she could find.
“The book was (and is) impeccably researched and beautifully written, and it quickly became my most valuable resource and inspiration in developing our musical,” she said.
Since its Off-Broadway debut in 1996, “Floyd Collins” has enjoyed more than 100 additional productions, both in the U.S. and abroad. The revival of the musical, which debuted April 21, has been praised as an “inspired-by-real-life story” by the New York Times, who said it “reaches the sublime, and that is a rare achievement in any work of art.”
The 78th Annual Tony Awards will be televised live at 8 p.m. ET Sunday, June 8.
The “Floyd Collins” musical performs at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, which is part of the Lincoln Center Theater in New York City, through June 22. Copies of the new edition of “Trapped!” are available in the Lincoln Center gift shop.
The University Press of Kentucky is the statewide nonprofit scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Serving all Kentucky state-sponsored institutions of higher learning as well as nine private colleges and Kentucky’s two major historical societies, it was organized in 1969 as successor to the University of Kentucky Press. The Press is dedicated to the publication of academic books of high scholarly merit as well as significant books about the history and culture of Kentucky, the Ohio Valley region, the Upper South and Appalachia.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.