Big Ol’ Fashioned Broadway Fun At THE GREAT GATSBY — Review

We have made it folks. Today marks the end of an insane, yet wonderful year of theatre as the season officially comes to a close. And what better way to go out than with a party to end all parties. That being a Gatsby party of course. 

Based off F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of the same name, The Great Gatsby, which opened tonight at the Broadway Theatre is one wild ride from start to finish. As in the book, we follow our narrator Nick Carraway (a lovely Noah J. Ricketts) as he moves to New York and soon becomes entangled in the lives of the wealthy and elite. Carraway ends up renting a cottage on the property of the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby (a formidable Jeremy Jordan). When we learn Gatsby is in love with Nick’s cousin Daisy Buchanan (a stunning Eva Noblezada,) this tragic love story set amongst the Jazz Age of the 1920s explores one man’s quest for love and depths at which he will go to to get it. 

Adaptations is a key word of this Broadway season. From megawatt film IPs to beloved novels, this Broadway season is chock full of translations to the stage. Once “Gatsby” hit the public domain in early 2021, it was only a matter of time before one of the world’s most popular novels was going to tread the boards. Last summer we received an earnest yet underbaked immersive version practically across the street at the Park Central Hotel, and a Rachel Chavkin helmed version is currently in rehearsals for a run this summer at the American Repertoy Theater in Cambridge, MA featuring the music of Florence Welch, so it begs the questions, why so much Gatsby?

On the surface the answer is plain, it's a well known story with the potential to glitz and glam up Broadway, and boy does this rendition, with a book by Kait Kerrigan, music by Jason Howland, and lyrics by Nathan Tysen, deliver on that. When Daisy Buchanan’s best friend Jordan Baker (a wonderful Samantha Pauly) sings early in Act I of what “New Money'' in New York society can provide, we are overstimulated to the extreme (positive connotation!!) with a balls to the walls full out dance number that includes bubbles, a full car, and pyrotechnics on stage — and that’s just in the first 15 minutes of the show. 

This Gatsby comes to Broadway rather quickly following a run at Millburn’s Paper Mill Playhouse last fall. Here at the Broadway Theatre the show is tighter and fixes certain weaknesses that were in the original book. Where the musical still stands on unsteady ground is in the overall tone of the piece. Jeremy Jordan’s Gatsby is too often comically cartoonish jumping over fences and throwing tea cakes off stage that one finds it hard to believe he is secretly running a high stakes covert bootlegging operation with his partner Meyer Wolfsheim (the always fun Eric Anderson.) Different dialects fill the stage that range from fabricated turn of the century Mid-Atlantic tones to friends discussing the latest backstage gossip at Glass House Tavern after a show. The discordant mood we feel from one scene to the next often varies and differs to a great array, yet I found myself not particularly bothered by this. Why? This show is FUN. One wildly entertaining night at the theatre with a score that will be stuck in my head for years to come. (hums: where’s the party and can you take me there refrain over and over)

Marc Bruni directs this entertaining, if uneven at parts, production with ease and style reminiscent of his stunning work on Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. With fierce, high octane choreography by Dominique Kelley on top of Paul Tate DePoo III’s stunning scenic and projection design (ay my performance the back LED wall did fade to black unfortunately quite a few times), pleasant costume design by Linda Cho, and on the money lighting design by Cory Pattak, the world of Gatsby comes alive. 

This is modern day American musical theatre at its finest, that feels right for the whole family. When you have an uber talented company of some of today’s favorites, it’s hard to go wrong. Howland can create a score that is so delectable, you could sit there for another two hours to soak in every last note. Kelley has Jeremy Jordan borderline tap dancing, I mean, come on! Debates will continue to occur for generations on the artistic value of stage adaptations, but when you find that magic of opulence and charm, you find your green light. Cheers Old Sport. 

The Great Gatsby is now in performance at the Broadway Theatre on West 53rd Street in New York City.