McCarter Theatre to Present GATZ 12/15-18

McCarter Theatre will present GATZ, the critically acclaimed theatrical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, performed by Elevator Repair Service, for four performances only. This once-in-a-lifetime marathon theatrical experience will play McCarter's Berlind Theatre from December 15 to December 18.

Ben Brantley of The New York Times called GATZ, "The most remarkable achievement in theater not only of 2010 but also this decade."

One morning in the office of a mysterious small business, an employee finds a copy of The Great Gatsby in the clutter of his desk. He starts to read it out loud, and doesn't stop. At first his coworkers hardly notice. But after a series of strange coincidences, it's no longer clear whether he's reading the book or the book is transforming him. GATZ is a theatrical and literary tour de force, not a retelling of the Gatsby story but a reading of the entire book – brilliantly brought to life by one of New York's most exciting and acclaimed theater companies, Elevator Repair Service. GATZ is a fully staged theatrical production in which every word of the novel is spoken, verbatim, by a cast of 13 actors, who speak the dialogue of the characters while Scott Shepherd, the actor playing Nick Carraway speaks all of the narration. For his performance, Scott Shepherd was honored with a 2011 Obie Award. GATZ was created and developed by its ensemble, under the direction of John Collins (Director) and Steve Bodow (Associate Director).

Director John Collins founded Elevator Repair Service (ERS) in 1991 at Nada on Ludlow Street with his first New York production, Mr. Antipyrine, Fire Extinguisher. Since then, he has directed or co-directed all of the company's shows. John is the recipient of a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship in Drama and Performance Art and recently received The Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director for GATZ at American Repertory Theater. John was born in North Carolina and raised in Vidalia, Georgia. He holds a B.A. in English and Theater Studies from Yale.

Elevator Repair Service is a New York City-based ensemble that creates original theater pieces. ERS was founded by director John Collins in 1991 and has since created an extensive body of work that includes full-length productions and short dramatic pieces. These have been seen all over the world and have garnered awards and accolades in Europe, Australia and the United States. The company builds its work from a variety of sources that include found text, video, film, literature and ensemble-generated choreography. Finished productions clash hi-tech and low-tech design and mix disparate texts and forms to create live performances that are propelled by narrative, humor, pathos and controlled chaos. Since its inception in the early 1990s, ERS has cultivated a large following in New York, around the U.S. and abroad. Its award-winning shows have influenced a generation of theater-makers. ERS is a Company-in-Residence at New York Theatre Workshop.
What is Fitzgerald's special connection to Princeton?

F (rancis) Scott (Key) Fitzgerald (1896-1940), novelist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, author of short stories, was a member of the Princeton University class of 1916, although he failed to graduate – perhaps due to spending too much time writing lyrics for the Princeton Triangle Club.

TICKET INFORMATION
GATZ will be presented as a marathon theatrical event, with two short intermissions and a dinner break. The entire experience will last approximately seven hours and 45 minutes. Tickets will be sold for a complete day's experience only. Each day, the performance will start at 2pm. The evening session will start at 7:15pm, following a 75 minute dinner break. Dining options will be available at McCarter's Berlind Theatre. For the Thursday and Friday performances, free shuttle service will be provided from a designated University lot.

Tickets for this unique theatrical experience are $150 each, and may be purchased by calling (609) 258-2787, online at www.mccarter.org, or in person at the McCarter Theatre ticket office located at 91 University Place in Princeton.

Visit www.mccarter.org for complete details regarding dinner options, and shuttle service for Thursday and Friday performances.

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