The Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, has lost rights to the announced world premiere of Swing Alley, a new swing-infused musical set in Germany in the 1930s, so the company is turning to another history-based musical: Floyd Collins.

Composer-lyricist Adam Guettel and book writer Tina Landau's exploration of the 1925 incident in which Collins was trapped in a Kentucky cave -- prompting a media circus and a national vigil -- will have its Washington area premiere Jan. 4, 2000-Feb. 13, 2000.

No cast or director has been announced.

Signature artistic director Eric Schaeffer is still attached to Swing Alley. Producers are taking the show to another city in summer-fall 2000, where Schaeffer will direct after his chores on the fall 1999 Putting It Together on Broadway and the early 2000 London production of Witches of Eastwick.

Also on the Signature slate are Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika (through Aug. 22), Sweeney Todd with Norm Lewis (Sept. 7-Oct. 31), Heather MacDonald's Available Light (March 7, 2000-April 16, 2000) and the cult musical, Side Show (May 9, 2000-June 18, 2000). For Signature information, call (703) 218-6500.

-- By Kenneth Jones