Joshua Grosso News

THE GREAT GATSBY: A NEW MUSICAL is Surprisingly Great

The second to last Minneapolis performance of The Great Gatsby was cancelled mid-performance due to technical difficulties. Learn more about the issue and the show here.

What did our critic think of THE GREAT GATSBY at Orpheum Theatre Minneapolis?

Awards were presented in over two dozen categories of outstanding actors, directors, designers, choreographers, musicians, and productions, and more at The 43rd Annual Elliot Norton Awards ceremony held at The Huntington Theatre in Boston.

Jake David Smith is currently touring in the role of Jay Gatsby in the stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby, bringing one of American literature’s most familiar characters to life night after night. The production stops in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where it will run June 2–7, 2026 at the historic Orpheum Theatre, adding a bit of Jazz Age shimmer to the Midwest.

The national tour of The Great Gatsby heads to the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis June 2–7, bringing the glamour, heartbreak, and larger-than-life characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel to the stage. Joshua Grosso, who plays Nick Carraway in the production, says one of the best parts of the experience is getting to share the stage with a company full of talented performers while taking in the story right alongside the audience each night.

The current touring production of the Broadway musical The Great Gatsby tries to wrap its hand around the elusive and enigmatic novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald but can only succeed on the most basic level. It is a daunting task to try and adapt extremely poetic and enigmatic works like The Great Gatsby to any visual medium (in this, I do agree with critic John Simon ---there are really no optic equivalents to this type of writing ---as five flawed film adaptations have proven).

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic 1925 novel of the same name. The Great Gatsby is set on Long Island, near New York City during the Jazz Age. The story centers on mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his obsession to reunite with his former lover Daisy Buchanan. This was one of two musical adaptations to have premiered within the past couple of years. The other being Gatsby: An American Myth, which debuted in Boston in 2024.

While THE GREAT GATSBY has glimpses of effective songs and character development, the musical doesn’t ultimately live up to the glitz, glamor, and legacy of its source material.

A cornerstone of American literature by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, has been brought to life in a way never seen before. Long regarded as a challenging work to adapt due to its introspective nature and nuance, this production leans confidently into spectacle, movement, and music to express the internal longing that defines the novel. 

The Elliot Norton Awards announced its prize winner and nominations, recognizing outstanding achievements in Boston theater. See the full list of nominees and this year's Norton Prize recipient.

Get an exclusive first look at the North American tour of The Great Gatsby. The Tony Award®-winning global sensation, which brings F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic story and the opulence of the Roaring Twenties to life on stage, has been thrilling audiences coast to coast since the North American tour officially opened this past February. 

One hundred years after F. Scott Fitzgerald first put Jay Gatsby on the page, the Jazz Age's most enduring tragedy is back; this time, with a full orchestra, killer choreography and a fresh set of voices determined to make the story hit harder than ever.

If Broadway’s Great Gatsby trades in spectacle, the first national North American Tour proves that its success on the road depends on something more grounded: a cast capable of sustaining the illusion night after night, city after city.  This performance is pretty much flawless top to bottom.   

I had the pleasure of meeting by telephone with Joshua Grosso who plays Nick Carraway in “The Great Gatsby.” Nick is the character through whose eyes the audience sees Gatsby and the other characters from the Fitzgerald book and in this retelling. Josh is one of the most positive and thoughtful people it has ever been my pleasure to spend time with.

Ohio welcomes the premiere of THE GREAT GATSBY at The Stranahan, featuring eight performances that bring the Roaring Twenties to life with stunning production and melodies.

The book is full of mysteries, unspoken judgements, and a vicious sense of classism mixed with ruthless self-preservation, and there is not a lot of this present in this interpretation, brought to life by Kait Kerrigan's book, Jason Howland's music, and Fitzgerald-inspired lyrics by Nathan Tysen.

The North American Tour of THE GREAT GATSBY will play Music Hall Kansas City from March 17–22, 2026, as the sixth engagement in the 25–26 PNC Broadway in Kansas City series.

What we deliver is that you really get your money's worth. That's what I thought when I first saw it on Broadway. It was like, my God, is this gorgeous, a spectacle, a big Broadway musical we haven't seen in a while, and it's just stunning visually. The design is so beautiful.

The idea of a Great Gatsby musical has been circulating for years, many thinking the story’s opulence and deeper themes would be ripe for a musical stage adaptation. When the book finally entered the public domain, The Great Gatsby’s Broadway premiere wasn’t far off.