Broadway Breakdown — Episode Summary

Podcast: Broadway Breakdown
Host: Matt Koplik
Episode: Matt Reviews FLOYD COLLINS, PIRATES! & JUST IN TIME
Date: April 28, 2025

Episode Overview

In this review bundle episode, Broadway’s most opinionated and passionate host, Matt Koplik, delivers candid critiques of three high-profile spring productions: the Lincoln Center revival of Floyd Collins, Roundabout’s reimagining of The Pirates of Penzance (stylized as PIRATES!), and the Jonathan Groff-led Just In Time, a new Bobby Darin musical. As Tony nominations loom, Matt dives deep into what works, what fizzles, and why certain creative choices drive him up the wall—or to tears. With his signature wit, pop culture references, and lots of four-letter words, Matt guides listeners through the strengths and pitfalls of each show, peppered with personal anecdotes, memorable moments, and a few pointed industry takes.

1. Review: Floyd Collins (Lincoln Center Theater)

Segment Begins: [15:13]

Main Talking Points

• Newly mounted at the Vivian Beaumont, this is the Broadway debut of the 1996 Adam Guettel/Tina Landau chamber musical, legendary for its haunting score and spare presentation.
• The musical’s unique, indie-folk/country sound and reputation as an “intimate” show made its arrival at the cavernous Beaumont an intriguing, if counterintuitive, proposition.

Matt’s Review & Insights

• Design & Staging

  • The production is "ultimately a black box with surprises in it" ([21:57]). While some have criticized the minimal set and lead actor Jeremy Jordan spending much of the show in a chair, Matt corrects: that’s always been the show’s approach.
  • The set features innovative platforming and stage mechanics to evoke the labyrinthine caves—"just absolutely magic."
  • "When this production works, it's pure poetry. Because Guettel's music…it’s just like melted butter" ([19:36]).

• Highs & Lows

  • Highs: The number "The Call" is a season highlight: “There’s been nothing this season that has been better than the staging, the design, and Jeremy singing and performing ‘The Call’…” ([22:54]).
  • Lows: Act 1 is “slow and can feel a little tedious…that is a script thing…There are times when the Beaumont stage actually kind of swallows Floyd Collins the musical and that's a little disappointing” ([18:55]).

• Viewpoints & Visuals

  • Landau and Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints method provides "very often very beautiful tableaus,” but sometimes the large stage robs the story of intimacy.

• Casting and Performances

  • Jeremy Jordan as Floyd:
    “It is a commanding, captivating, and extremely impressive performance. Honestly has shot to the top of my list of lead actor in a musical…It is the kind of performance that is not impressive because of physical elements...but what makes it impressive is what he's able to inject into the piece" ([30:25]).
    • His “raw honesty” and “natural talent” set him apart; a role that could have crumpled under lesser hands.
  • Taylor Trensch as Skeets Miller:
    “Another performance I want to give a major shout out to…He picks up any slack that might be there when Jeremy isn’t performing…should be recognized” ([32:15]).
  • Lizzy McAlpine (Nellie): Beautifully sung but not compelling as an actress—“as an actress, she's a bit at sea…her character work is rather lacking. There's a heart that feels like it's missing sometimes" ([27:40]).
  • Jason Gotay (Homer): "He comes off sort of naturally cold"—lacks warmth vital for his character ([28:25]).

• Musical & Technical Aspects

  • Music is "five-star," "expanded orchestration…sounds beautiful…tens across the board, no notes" ([26:05]).
  • "Lighting is beautiful…very shadowy, but very specific and gives a sense of foreboding" ([29:45]).
  • Sound design (criticized early on) “was pretty crystal clear at the matinee I saw, and the echoing in the cave...all worked really well.”

Notable Quotes

“When this production works, it's pure poetry. Because Guettel's music, to me, when Guettel does good music, it's just like melted butter.”
— Matt, [19:36]

“The Call…For me, there's nothing this season that's been better…That is an example of a high point in this show—when it's good, being so good that you're like, well, fuck me blue, I couldn't be happier.”
— Matt, [22:54]

"Jeremy is…acting in a way that we don't see very often anymore in musicals…It's very refreshing… It honestly has shot to the top of my list of lead actor in a musical."
— Matt, [30:25]

Bottom Line [32:45]

• “Absolutely a production that I recommend…I'm surprised at just how much I enjoyed Floyd Collins. Part of it is the music…Part of it is Jeremy Jordan's performance, Taylor Trench’s performance, some visual work that Landau and her team do…it has bumps…it’s very much worth seeing. Surprise, bitch. Matt Koplik really, really liked Floyd Collins.”
• Not in Matt’s top three, but “better than many of the musical productions this season, even ones that might have a smoother start-to-finish production.”

2. Review: Pirates! (The Pirates of Penzance, Roundabout)

Segment Begins: [34:37]

Main Talking Points

• This “revisal” sets Pirates of Penzance in New Orleans with a jazz/blues twist, orchestrated by Rupert Holmes, featuring Ramin Karimloo, Jinkx Monsoon, Samantha Williams, Nick Barasch, and David Hyde Pierce.
• The concept felt “fascinating” on paper and Matt entered “with an open mind, ready to have a blast.”

Matt’s Review & Insights

• Act 1 vs Act 2

  • Act 1: “There was stuff in it that I loved, stuff in it I liked…stuff in it I was underwhelmed by…”
  • Act 2: “I almost completely hated and by the finale…wanted to burn the theater down to the ground.” ([36:47])

• Finale Rant / Skywriting Ideals ([40:55] onward)

  • The show ends with a forced moral about “stolen land” and “melting pot” diversity as the cast joins hands.
    • “I am getting fed the fuck up by musicals thinking they can get away…shoehorning in an ideal…that has nothing to do with story or character, is just shoved in there for an audience to applaud and cheer and pat themselves on the back. It bothers me the fuck off.” ([41:22])
    • “It’s literally that finale. And I was furious. Not because I disagree with it. I don’t disagree with it—it’s true…But I am getting…I don’t know about you guys—I am getting fed the fuck up by musicals thinking they can get away…with shoehorning in an ideal…in a super obvious skywriting manner that has no nuance, has nothing to do with story or character.”

• Music & Orchestrations

  • Orchestrations “incorporate jazz and blues… do nail the assignment of ‘what if we made this more bluesy and jazzy?’ The problem—the energy and fire is taken out.”
  • “You then hear the score done this way, and all of the energy of it, all of the fire of it, is taken out. The opening alone…the pour o’ pour the pirate sherry…when you know how good the coffee can taste…and then you go to [something] watered down…it just doesn’t taste as good” ([47:40]).
  • “Climbing Over Rocky Mountain” entirely rewritten; “all the lyrics are what I would describe as gay white man feminism…It’s all shallow and it doesn't actually mean anything” ([49:34]).
  • Matt rails against the lack of nuance and over-reliance on buzzword feminism and empty representation in the lyrics.

• Performances

  • David Hyde Pierce (Modern Major General): “Absolute best. MVP of the show…choreography is great.”
  • Samantha Williams (Mabel): Talented and fiery, but lost in a role/arrangement that doesn’t play to her strengths.
  • Nick Barasch (Frederic): Strong voice, understands the tone, “a cutie.”
  • Ramin Karimloo (Pirate King): “Ramin…is not funny. He just isn’t. And I will not be gaslit into being told so…The Pirate King needs to be a goof.”
  • Jinkx Monsoon (Ruth): “Big fan…funny, gets good laughs…but the songs are just not in keys that are comfortable. There were a lot of cracks at our performance…They did not put them in keys that allowed Jinkx to succeed and especially allowed Jinkx to mine for comedy.”

• Direction & Staging

  • “Scott Ellis was not the right director for this. Pirates should be chaos. Controlled chaos—not messy, but chaos with high energy zaniness. And I really didn’t get that here.”

Notable Quotes

“It is literally that finale…and I was furious. Not because I disagree with it. I don't disagree with it…But I am getting…fed the fuck up by musicals thinking they can get away…with shoehorning in an ideal…that has nothing to do with story or character."
— Matt, [41:22]

“Sometimes a woman can just enjoy her time on the beach…I don’t think anyone, unless you’re our current president, walks down the street thinking, I can be anything I want to be all the time…Sometimes we’re just a person who wants to enjoy the sunlight…"
— Matt, [51:00]

"Let these sisters just enjoy the Rocky Mountains…Let them gaily tread the measure. My fucking God, is that so hard to ask? Let these girls have their fun."
— Matt, [53:52]

Bottom Line [64:00]

• "Overall did not enjoy it...Kind of low on my rankings, especially because it ended for me on such a sour note...This was a miss for me, and I'm sad because I was really ready for it."
• While some technical/design elements impress, the overworked book, poorly conceived orchestrations, and heavy-handedness in the “moral” of the story overwhelm the few moments of joy or cleverness.
• “…When we approach revivals and revisals…keep in mind what it was the show was going for…Help it along, get it back to where it once was for a modern audience—don’t think of it as fixing. Think of it as supporting, giving it the antibiotics it needs, not a whole new body.”

3. Review: Just In Time (Circle in the Square)

Segment Begins: [66:44]

Main Talking Points

• Brand-new Bobby Darin musical, "Just In Time," serves as a star vehicle for Jonathan Groff, directed by Alex Timbers, at Circle in the Square.
• Bobby Darin was a ‘60s singing/crooning sensation, famous for “Mack the Knife” and “Beyond the Sea,” with a tragic early death and a life arc echoing “non-equity Frank Sinatra.”

Matt’s Review & Insights

• Production Values & Staging

  • “Design wise, the show is pretty aces…really phenomenal job overhauling the space to make it look like a nightclub…they use every square inch of Circle in the Square—often very exciting effects." ([68:05])
  • “It is a very strong cast. Everyone in it is well cast and some people really mine their material for all it’s worth.”

• Supporting Cast Standouts

  • Gracie Lawrence (Connie Francis): “Making her Broadway debut. Her voice is fucking insane. She’s a charming presence…creates a full character with not a ton of stage time. Her command of the songs is really impeccable.”
  • Erika Henningsen (Sandra Dee): Strong, but hampered by book that rushes through her character’s arc. “Material as Sandra Dee was kind of rote and didn’t help her all that much.”

• Book/Writing Critique

  • Classic bio-jukebox musical pitfalls: Major details (like Sandra Dee’s traumatic childhood, Darin’s fraught family history) glossed over.
  • "A lot of details are dropped at the wayside…they want to celebrate the artist, not explore the complications of what they did, what happened to them, and what happened to the people that were most important to them." ([71:00])
  • “If the show was about a woman, her only flaw would be picking the wrong romantic partner. When it’s about a man, usually the flaw is he’s not around for his family.”

• Jonathan Groff’s Performance

  • “A very special musical theater talent…charisma coming out of every pore…does almost everything a musical actor could do."

  • BUT: “The one thing Jonathan Groff does not do in Just In Time…the Bobby Darin musical is channel Bobby Darin. No attempt at voice, no attempt at mannerisms, no attempt at any kind of energy. He is very much just being Jonathan Groff.” ([74:30])

  • “The show begins in a meta way…If he didn’t say that, we would never know that he’s Bobby Darin…To some people this is not a problem, they love Groff so much and he is a very charming, captivating performer, that they don’t mind he’s not really channeling Bobby Darin in any way…”

  • Comparison to Audra McDonald as Billie Holiday in the same theater:

    • “If Audra had done what Groff is currently doing…she never would have heard the end of it…She had to channel [Holiday] so impeccably…Groff is not doing that. He’s giving a very good performance…but he does not lose himself into Bobby Darin in a way that you kind of need to when it’s a bio jukebox musical about Bobby Darin.” ([76:30])

• Show’s Impact & Style

  • “Ultimately…an excuse for a showcase for Jonathan Groff.”
  • “Alex Timbers owes a lot to Jersey Boys…It does bullet train energy and creativity but lacks emotional punch.”
  • “When it comes to emotional truth or romantic/tragic core, that’s where [Timbers] often loses me.”
  • “For every negative thing I just said…want to remind you that I did actually like this overall. I liked a lot of it overall. The bumps…I want to acknowledge because it’s being discussed right now online. The bumps I had…are things I want to acknowledge because it’s being discussed right now online.” ([84:40])

Notable Quotes

“The one thing Jonathan Groff does not do in Just In Time, the Bobby Darin musical is channel Bobby Darin. No attempt at voice, no attempt at mannerisms, no attempt at any kind of energy. He is very much just being Jonathan Groff.”
— Matt, [74:30]

“It’s a very, very fun time. I do not regret going. This is up there in the season for me, for sure… It’s…the Jonathan Groff show, which is not a bad show to be at—it’s just not the Bobby Darin show.”
— Matt, [83:50]

Bottom Line

• Entertaining, flashy, well-staged, with a cast giving it their all, but not a transformative biographical experience.
• “If you do know Bobby Darin, you know you’re not going to get an impersonation…you’re going to get the Jonathan Groff show, which is not a bad show to be at. It’s just not the Bobby Darin show.”
• Would consider placing in his personal Best Musical nominees—not because it’s brilliant, but because it “nails what it's trying to do more than other new musicals this season."
• Potential Tony noms for Groff and possibly Gracie Lawrence; technical nominations likely for set, lighting, and costumes.

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Audience Pandering:
  “I am getting fed the fuck up by musicals…shoehorning an ideal…in a super obvious skywriting manner that has no nuance, has nothing to do with story or character, is just shoved in there for an audience to applaud and cheer and pat themselves on the back. It bothers me the fuck off.”
  — Matt on Pirates finale ([41:22])

• On Jeremy Jordan in Floyd Collins:
  “A commanding, captivating, and extremely impressive performance. Honestly has shot to the top of my list of lead actor in a musical…He’s so very right in it. And thus all the other bumpy elements of the production…are a little less harsh for me because the most important thing…is so correct.”
  — Matt ([30:25])

• On Jonathan Groff’s “Bobby Darin”:
  “It’s the Jonathan Groff show, which is not a bad show to be at…It’s just not the Bobby Darin show.”
  — Matt ([83:50])

• On Jukebox Musicals:
  “Bio jukebox musicals tend to usually follow the same pattern… They want to celebrate the artist, not explore the complications of what they did, what happened to them, and what happened to the people that were most important to them.”
  — Matt ([71:00])

Quick Tony Prediction Thoughts

• Floyd Collins: High on Matt’s list; Jeremy Jordan strong Best Actor contender; Taylor Trensch for featured.
• Pirates!: Design nominations likely; David Hyde Pierce and Jinkx Monsoon possible acting nods; performance quality and book/story are weak points.
• Just In Time: Groff a lock for Best Actor nomination; design/costume/wig work to be recognized, and Gracie Lawrence for featured actress a hope.

Final Word

This episode is a feast of Matt Koplik at full tilt—unfiltered, erudite, exasperated but ultimately hopeful that Broadway can do better by its own history and talents. There’s love here for artistry (especially Jeremy Jordan), passionate advocacy against shallow representation, and an earnest desire for musical theater to find joy, not just virtue signaling or star showcases. If you’re looking for the smart, the scathing, and the sincere in equal measure, Matt’s your guy.

For ongoing debate or follow-up, join the Broadway Breakdown Discord or find Matt on Instagram (@mattkoplik).