Review Roundup: Critics Sound Off On THE GREAT GATSBY at Paper Mill Playhouse

Paper Mill Playhouse, recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre Tony Award, opened their production of the world premiere of The Great Gatsby, based on the iconic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The production stars Tony and Drama Desk Award nominee and Theatre World Award winner Jeremy Jordan (Broadway: Newsies, Waitress, American Son) as Jay Gatsby and two-time Tony Award nominee and Theatre World Award winner Eva Noblezada  (Broadway: Hadestown, Miss Saigon) as Daisy Buchanan, Sara Chase (TV: “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”; Broadway: First Date; Paper Mill: Godspell) as Myrtle Wilson, Stanley W. Mathis (Broadway: Jelly’s Last Jam, Kiss Me, Kate; Paper Mill: Cinderella) as Meyer Wolfsheim, Samantha Pauly (Broadway: Six The Musical; West End: Evita) as Jordan Baker, Noah J. Ricketts (Broadway: Disney’s Frozen, Beautiful:The Carole King Musical) as Nick Carraway, Paul Whitty (Broadway: Camelot, Come From Away) as George Wilson and John Zdrojeski (Broadway: Good Night, Oscar; Off-Broadway: Heroes of the Fourth Turning) as Tom Buchanan. 

The cast also features Lauryn Adams, Raymond Edward Baynard, Ayla Ciccone Burton, Austin Colby, Colin Cunliffe, Natalie Charle Ellis, Curtis Holland, Brianna Kim, Dariana Mullen, Pascal Pastrana, Mariah Reives, Julio Rey, Dan Rosales, Maya Sistruck, Jake Trammel, Jake Urban, Tanairi Vazquez and Katie Webber.

Fitzgerald’s novel has fascinated and captivated readers since its publication in 1925. Set in the Roaring Twenties, eccentric millionaire Jay Gatsby (Jordan) will stop at nothing in his tragic pursuit of Daisy Buchanan (Noblezada), a wealthy young woman who he loved in his youth. Surrounded by characters with incredibly complex and nuanced inner lives, passions, and longings boil, and then erupt – spurring the unimaginable fates that befall them.

The Great Gatsby features a book by Kait Kerrigan (The Mad Ones), a jazz- and pop-influenced original score by Tony Award nominees Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen (Paradise Square), and direction by Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical). The production is choreographed by Dominique Kelley (Television: “Dancing with the Stars,” “The Masked Singer”). Music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations are by Mr. Howland. Daniel Edmonds (Shucked, Paradise Square) is Music Director.

The Great Gatsby features scenic and projection design by Paul Tate dePoo III (Broadway: The Cottage, Spamalot), costume design by Tony Award winner Linda Cho (Broadway: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Harmony; Paper Mill: Chasing Rainbows), lighting design by Cory Pattak (Broadway: Spamalot), sound design by two-time Tony Award winner Brian Ronan (Broadway: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Book of Mormon), hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe (Broadway: Hamilton, MJ: The Musical) and Rachael Geier, and fight and intimacy direction by Rocío Mendez (Broadway: POTUS, Ain’t No Mo’). The production stage manager is Brian Bogin. Casting is by C12 Casting.

Let's see what the critics have to say!

Brittani Samuel, NY Times:  Under the direction of Marc Bruni (“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”), all the characters get a moment like this to divulge their desires. The result is a more democratic story freed from Nick’s control, but also one stripped of compelling subtext and Fitzgerald’s enviable prose. Jason Howland’s swanky score follows suit. There are traces of contemporary influence (groovy rock refrains, pop music rhythms), yet the overall sound, particularly in the ensemble numbers (with rousing choreography by Dominique Kelley) conjures 1920s percussive swing. 

Marina Kennedy, BroadwayWorld: The score is a wow!  It has the ideal variety of music with numbers that are jazzy, heartfelt songs, and ones that are inspired by popular music.  You will remember them long after the curtain call.

Adam F. Cohen, New Jersey Stage:  Jeremy Jordan (Gatsby) embodies smooth charm and loving determination for Daisy (Eva Nobeldoza).  Rickett’s Nick is all brisk sweetness—and he interacts in a very inclusive, kind way with the audience, shrugging and apologizing at all the craziness he embarrassingly but gradually enthusiastically finds himself caught up in. Daisy and Jordan Baker are archetypal good time girls painfully aware of the thin ice beneath their whirling heels and golf clubs.  We believe their friendship is built on more than convenience. Kerrigan’s book and Tysen’s lyrics offer many ingeniously sly degrees to shape all the characters and situations.  Marc Bruni’s directly weaves these elements to perfection in brilliantly paced, loving production.  It honors Fitzgerald’s narrative rhythms and infectious seduction in wonderful ways.

Roma Torre, New York Stage Review: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has been an eternal source of fascination ever since it was published in 1925. It has been evoked numerous times on stage and screen. The latest incarnation is the musical, currently at the Paper Mill Playhouse, which is rumored to be Broadway-bound. It certainly has the look of a big Broadway-caliber production with magnificent sets, effects, costumes, choreography, and a bravura cast of major Broadway talents. But as impressive as the production looks and sounds, it falls short of successfully translating Fitzgerald’s deeply dark themes concerning America’s obsession with wealth and class onto the stage. With its downbeat message of misplaced dreams and moral corruption, the novel seems to defy adaptation. This is a complex tale with no clear path to a cathartic or redemptive ending, and I have yet to see a winning version of Fitzgerald’s classic—aside from off-Broadway’s Elevator Repair Service production of Gatz, which spent six-plus hours featuring actors reading the entire novel cover to cover. The writing is so richly nuanced, it seems impossible to do it justice any other way.

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