This November, Firehouse Theatre takes you deep underground with Floyd Collins, the exhilarating musical based on the true story of a Kentucky cave explorer whose dream of fame turns into a fight for survival. Music and lyrics by Adam Guettel and book by Tina Landau. Directing this musical will be Firehouse Theatre’s new Artistic Director Katrinah Carol Lewis.
Fresh off its 2025 Broadway run, Floyd Collins is filled with gorgeous folk, bluegrass, and Americanainspired music. It’s a powerful story of family, ambition, hope, and the strange spectacle of tragedy. This musical will take you on a journey into the darkness while still finding light in the most unlikely places.
Leading the cast, in his Richmond professional musical theatre debut, is Erik Grendahl as Floyd Collins. Johmichael Tarleton joins as Homer Collins, and Maria Carpinelli as Nellie Collins. They are joined by an outstanding cast featuring Gordon Bass, Katherine Ferranti, Josh Polk, August Hundley, Nathan Whitmer, William Vaughn, Dale Heiskill, Wayne Parker, Ian Page and Milo Roscoe Jones.
Floyd Collins will open on Friday November 13th, 2026, on the Carol Piersol Stage at the Firehouse Theatre, 1609 West Broad Street. Prior to opening, Firehouse will host two Pay-What-You-Will preview performances on Wednesday, November 11th and Thursday, November 12th. The production will run through Sunday November 29th, 2026.
This haunting musical, featuring a glorious folk and bluegrass-inspired score, tells the transcendent tale of a true American dreamer. In 1925, while chasing fame and fortune by turning a Kentucky cave into a tourist attraction, Floyd Collins himself becomes the attraction when he is trapped 200 feet underground.
Adam Guettel is a composer, lyricist, and teacher living in New York City. He wrote the music and lyrics for The Light in the Piazza, with a book by Craig Lucas, which premiered on Broadway at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater in 2005, and won 6 Tony Awards, including Best Score and Orchestrations for Guettel. In 2019, his work on Aaron Sorkin’s To Kill a Mockingbird was nominated for a Tony Award for best score. His musical Floyd Collins, with a book by Tina Landau, won the Lucille Lortel Award for best musical, and the Obie Award for best music- It ran on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre Spring 2025. His musical, Saturn Returns (recorded as Myths and Hymns) was produced at the Public Theater in 1998. His musical, Days of Wine and Roses had its world premiere in 2023 at the Atlantic Theater Company’s Linda Gross Theater in New York City, and opened at Broadway’s Studio 54 in 2024. For Days of Wine and Roses, Adam was nominated for best score at the Tony Awards and won the Frederick Loewe Award. He has several shows in the works, including Millions, directed by Bartlett Sher, with a book by Bob Martin- it is making its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre Spring 2025. He has won the Stephen Sondheim Award (1990), the ASCAP New Horizons Award (1997) and The American Composers Orchestra Award (2005). He attended Yale University, and received an honorary doctorate from Lehman College in 2007. He was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in 2019. Adam is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
Tina Landau is an acclaimed writer, director and teacher, and has been a Steppenwolf ensemble member since 1997. Recent work includes directing/conceiving The SpongeBob Musical and directing ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Head of Passes (The Public, upcoming at Mark Taper Forum), among others. On Broadway, Landau has directed Tracy Letts’s Superior Donuts and the revival of Bells are Ringing. For Steppenwolf, she has directed The Wheel, Hot L Baltimore, The Brother/Sister Plays, The Tempest and more. Tina co-authored The Viewpoints Book with Anne Bogart and has taught regularly at such schools as Yale, Columbia, Harvard, and Northwestern.
Katrinah Carol Lewis is a multifaceted theatre artist dedicated to creating compelling theatre in service of a more empathetic world. Directing Highlights: A Strange Loop** with Richmond Triangle Players/Firehouse Theatre; Water by the Spoonful* and Fires in the Mirror with Firehouse Theatre; Pass Over* with Yes, And!; Topdog/Underdog* with TheatreLAB and numerous historically based one-act plays for Colonial Williamsburg, most of which she authored or coauthored. Katrinah is Artistic Director at Firehouse Theatre and an Artise nominee (*) and winner (**) for her acting and directing work. She is deeply grateful to do the work of her heart.
Rounding out the creative team is Musical Director Elle Meerovich, Choreographer Tippi Hart, Associate Director and Dialect Coach Nicole Cowans, Movement Assistant Milo Roscoe Jones, Dramaturg Monica Booker and Directing Observer Jack Paone. The design team includes scenic design by Matthew Allar, lighting design by Michael Jarrett, costume design by Willa Piro, and sound design by Grace Brown LaBelle. Isabel Stone will stage manage, alongside assistant stage manager Keegan Ferrell.
Tickets can be purchased by calling the Box Office at (804) 355-0999 and are available online at www.firehousetheatre.org. Tickets cost $45. A 15% discount is available to active duty military and veterans. $15 tickets available for college and high school students. Pay-What-You-Will performances will be offered for both preview performances, as well as all matinees (excluding closing weekend).
PRODUCTION TEAM
Direction – Katrinah Carol Lewis
Choreography – Tippi Hart
Music Direction – Elle Meerovich
Assoc. Direction/Dialect Coach – Nicole Cowans
Dramaturg – Monica Booker
Directing Observer – Jack Paone
Scenic Design – Matthew Allar
Lighting Design – Michael Jarrett
Costume Design – Willa Piro
Sound Design – Grace Brown LaBelle
Props Design – Tim Moehring
Asst. Lighting Design/Master Electrician – Griffin Hardy
Asst. Costume Design/Wardrobe Supervisor – Katie Dodge
Stage Management – Isabel Stone
Asst. Stage Management – Keegan Ferrell
CAST
Floyd Collins – Erik Grendahl
Homer Collins – Jonmichael Tarleton
Nellie Collins – Maria Carpinelli
Miss Jane – Katherine Ferranti
Skeets Miller – Josh Polk
Jewell Estes – August Hundley
H.T Carmichael – Nathan Whitmer*
Bee Doyle – William Vaughn
Ed Bishop – Dale Heiskill
Cliff Roney/Reporter/Hawker/Ensemble – Wayne Parker
Dr. Hazlett/Reporter/Hawker/Ensemble – Ian Page
Frederick Jordan/Reporter/Hawker/Ensemble – Milo Roscoe Jones
Floyd Collins understudy – Ben Miller
Homer Collins understudy – Wayne Parker
Nellie Collins understudy – Lucy Ellis
Miss Jane understudy – Kerrigan Sullivan
Jewell Estes/Skeets Miller understudy – Joshua Barton
H.T Carmichael understudy – Michael Bagwell
Bee Doyle/Ed Bishop understudy – Joey Gravins
Ensemble understudy – Samuel Sanders
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the labor union representing American Actors and Stage Managers in the theatre.
Musicians
Guitar – Rinatt Montoya
Bass – Bea Kelly
Percussion – Milo McAdams
Violin/Fiddle – Marissa Resmini
Cello – Joan Hovda
ABOUT FIREHOUSE
For more than three decades, Firehouse Theatre has been Richmond, Virginia’s home for the most thought-provoking, contemporary live performance. It is a thriving hub of creative activity and a center for community engagement where new work takes center stage. As an incubator of new plays, Firehouse strives to amplify the diverse voice of the New American Theatre and advance the art form and industry through innovative artistic and organizational practices. In 2024, Firehouse received an MLK Drum Major Award for addressing the systemic issues in the theatre impacting BIPOC communities and other marginalized groups, and was named Style Weekly’s “Theatre of the Year.” Firehouse also swept the major awards at the 2025 Richmond Theatre Community Circle Awards, winning for Best Play (Detroit ‘67), Best Musical (A Strange Loop, co-produced with Richmond Triangle Players), and Best Original Work (Burial Tax written by Andrew Gall).
