After several seasons of high-energy productions featuring familiar Broadway titles, the Philelectic Society is taking a different theatrical direction this fall. With a single set, a haunting musical score, a live orchestra, and a story rooted in tragedy, Floyd Collins offers an unusually demanding theatrical experience for high school performers and audiences alike.

For director Patrick Cragin ’06, the production is about far more than bringing another musical to the stage. It is an opportunity to challenge young performers to explore the complexities of the human experience, discover the depth of their abilities, and grow through the transformative power of theater.

Based on the true story of a Kentucky cave explorer who became trapped underground in 1925, Floyd Collins follows a desperate rescue effort that captivated the nation. Junior Thomas Hughes takes on the title role, joined by junior Liam Van Vrancken as his brother Homer and Everly Materne as his sister Nellie. Beneath the suspense lies a deeply human story exploring ambition, family, faith, sacrifice, mortality, and the pursuit of dreams. These are themes that challenge even seasoned actors, much less teenagers who may be encountering such difficult questions for the first time.

Rather than relying on elaborate scene changes or the familiarity of a well-known production, Floyd Collins places the weight of the storytelling squarely on its performers. Students must move beyond memorizing lines and executing choreography to understand the motivations, fears, relationships, and moral struggles of the people they portray.

Bringing Broadway into the Rehearsal Room

To help his students approach the emotional complexity of the production, Cragin invited friend and Broadway actor Jason Gotay, who portrayed Homer Collins in the acclaimed 2025 Broadway revival of Floyd Collins at Lincoln Center Theater.

Gotay, who earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Musical, visited Jesuit to work directly with the cast. He led warmups, read scenes alongside students, and shared insights from his experience bringing the same characters and relationships to life on Broadway.

For these young performers, the opportunity offered something that cannot be replicated through a script or classroom discussion: the chance to learn directly from a professional actor who had navigated the same emotional demands on one of theater’s most prestigious stages.

In an interview with Broadway Direct, Gotay described the production as a reflection on “the beauty and the brevity of life, and the glory of pursuing a dream.”

His perspective speaks to the heart of Cragin’s approach to theater education. By connecting students with working professionals and challenging them to explore unfamiliar emotional territory, he encourages them to develop empathy, discipline, and artistic maturity. The goal is not simply a polished performance, but a deeper understanding of their craft and themselves.

A Different Kind of Theatrical Challenge

Unlike traditional large-scale musicals, Floyd Collins unfolds on a unit set—a single scenic environment that remains in place throughout the production. Lighting, projections, sound, and movement transform that environment, allowing audiences to experience different locations and emotional landscapes without conventional scene changes.

The production’s technical design, led by DJ Galiano ’07, transport audiences deep beneath the Kentucky landscape through an immersive combination of theatrical lighting, projection mapping, sound, and scenic effects. With a unit set serving as the backdrop for the entire production, carefully coordinated shifts in light, imagery, and sound transform the environment, helping audiences experience both the vastness of the underground caverns and the crushing isolation of Floyd’s confinement.

Behind the scenes, student technicians face challenges every bit as demanding as those of the performers. From constructing scenery and programming intricate lighting and projection sequences to managing sound and executing precisely timed effects, the technical crew plays an essential role in telling the story. Their work demands creativity, problem-solving, teamwork, and remarkable precision, often producing moments that audiences experience without realizing the complexity behind them.

Music is equally central to the experience. Composer Adam Guettel’s folk- and bluegrass-inspired score draws on the sounds of Appalachia while demanding considerable musical sensitivity from its performers.

Together, the cast, ensemble, musicians, and technical crew must work in harmony to create an immersive experience in which every element serves the story. When the curtain rises on Floyd Collins, audiences will witness more than an ambitious high school musical. They will see the culmination of artistic exploration, professional mentorship, technical collaboration, and personal growth.

Experience Floyd Collins

The Philelectic Society presents Floyd Collins on November 19, 20, and 21 at 7 p.m., with an additional 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, November 21. Advance ticket purchases are encouraged.

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Meet the Cast

Director: Patrick Cragin ’06
Co-Director: Emily Heck
Music Director: Matthew Wolff ’13
Costume Design: Judy Beaman
Choreography: Ariana D’Antonio
Sound Design: David Rigamer ’06
Scenic Design: Nathan Arthur
Co-Moderator: Tiffany Gragg
Assistant Director: Kaden Fennidy
Props Designer: Ava Leger
Stage Manager: Rhys Sanchez

Character	Performer
Floyd Collins	Thomas Hughes
Homer Collins	Liam Van Vrancken
Nellie Collins	Everly Materne
Skeets Miller	Owen Truxillo
Lee Collins	Gareth Berner
Miss Jane	Lucienne Daigle
H. T. Carmichael	Ford Mollere
Jewell Estes	Cooper Andry
Bee Doyle	Joseph Bertucci
Ed Bishop	Andrew Bertucci
Cliff Roney	Dylan Parker
Dr. William Hazlett	James Vaicius

Ensemble: Sarah Cambre, Caroline Laudin, Mia Long, Brighton Materne, Rylan Radosta, James Rose, Daniel Sampson, Laura Toomer, CeCe Wanko, and Eleanor Zafirau.

Understudies: Andrew Bertucci (Homer Collins), Caroline Laudin (Miss Jane), Dylan Parker (Floyd Collins), James Rose (Skeets Miller), and Eleanor Zafirau (Nellie Collins).

Technical Operators

Light Board Operator: Javier Arguello
Followspot Operator: Brennen Crowe
Sound Board Operator: JP Ganucheau
Projection Operator: Andrew Harrison
Followspot Operator: Gabriel Hernandez-Salcedo
Assistant Sound Board Operator: Charles Juge
Followspot Operator: Daniel Wilemon

Run/Set Crew

Liam Belfield
Trey Dieth
Peter Favalora
Connor Friedrichs
JP Ganucheau
Sebastian Hale-Benson
Witt Lavacone
Sebastian Leger
Baraa Mahmoud
Anders Mortillaro
Stefanos Neamonitakis
Jett Sanchez
Thomas “Tommy” Saunée
Logan Simoneaux
Jude Truxillo

Costumes

Emily Aleman – Lead Costume Assistant

Costume Crew

Gareth Berner
Daphne Dyle
Arthur Hall
Jake Spring
Andrew St. Paul
David St. Paul
Poppy Thompson
Marina Vincent
Claire Wolfe
Keane Womack