Review: THE GREAT GATSBY National Tour at Durham Performing Arts Center

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.

Since the novel entered the public domain on January 1st, 2021, it’s already become a commonly adapted story. For those unfamiliar, the public domain has all the creative work where no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. When they eventually expire (which here in the U.S. is 95 years after it was originally produced or published), anyone can use it without having to gain permission nor pay a fee. It’s how we’ve gotten countless iterations of A Christmas Carol and all of Shakespeare’s plays.

After having its world premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse, this musical version of The Great Gatsby opened on April 25th, 2024 at the Broadway Theatre on Broadway. Despite mixed critical reviews and getting nearly shut out of the Tonys (only receiving one nomination and win for costume design), it’s still running two years later. Helped in no small part by celebrities joining the cast for limited runs such as Ryan McCarten, Sarah Hyland, and now Corbin Bleu.

I actually did read the novel during my senior year of high school… and I really didn’t get it. I know I’m not alone in that as most teenagers tend to find The Great Gatsby dull, slow, and difficult to relate to. Shortly thereafter, I did catch up with two of the five film adaptations. The 1974 version directed by Jack Clayton written by Francis Ford Coppola starring Robert Redford and the 2013 version directed by Baz Luhrmann starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Neither of them managed to win me over.

Under Marc Bruni’s direction, he most certainly pulls off such a lavish production. There’s especially a lot to like about Paul Tate DePoo III’s visuals. His physical sets are quite elaborate while his projections are so dazzling to behold. There’s elegant lighting work courtesy of Cory Pattak. Linda Cho, who just received two Tony nominations this year for her work on Ragtime and Schmigadoon!, pulls off some very attractive costumes. The choreography by Dominique Kelley has quite a bit of style, including an impressive tap number in Act II.

Several of the performances deliver the goods. Whatever problems some may have with the title character (more on that later), Jake David Smith proves to be quite charismatic as Jay Gatsby. He shares compelling onstage chemistry with Senzel Ahmady as Daisy Buchanan. The latter of whom is very good in the role with such an impressive set of vocal pipes. Joshua Grosso, who I previously spoke with for BroadwayWorld in 2018 as he was making his way to DPAC as Marius in the Les Miz tour, does a pretty humble job as Daisy’s cousin and Gatsby’s neighbor, Nick Carraway. Leanne Robinson as Daisy’s friend, Jordan Baker, a vivacious and independent young woman, really blows the roof off with not just her voice, but also her sense of humor. Will Branner is excellent as Daisy’s husband and Nick’s old Yale college acquaintance, Tom Buchanan. Lila Coogan, who was last seen on the DPAC stage as the title character in Anastasia in 2019, proves to be quite a burst of energy as Tom’s mistress, Myrtle Wilson.

The score is by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen. The former in particular has worked as a music supervisor on fan favorite shows such as Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and Shucked. He’s also composed the scores for a couple of musicals such as Paradise Square (with Tysen) and Little Women (with Mindi Dickstein). The latter of which I do find to be pretty underrated. Their work here successfully feels evocative of the 1920s. There’s a couple of power ballads such as the Act I finale, ‘My Green Light,’ and Gatsby’s big solo number in Act II, ‘Past Is Catching Up to Me.’ While they are pleasing to the ears, they also don’t match the musical tone with the rest of the score.

Time for the biggest question of all, how do I feel about this story now? While it most certainly has moments of comic relief and emotional catharsis, I still struggle to relate to the whole thing. It especially doesn’t help that several of the characters, including Gatsby himself, come off as rather unlikable. I’m not opposed to unlikable characters, just as long they at least feel sympathetic. Whether these particular characters have sympathy or not, they still prove to be too difficult to care for. Not to mention that for a musical, this appears to lack an active protagonist, a similar criticism I had with The Outsiders. It especially doesn't help that Gatsby doesn't show up until about 20 minutes in.

The novel has notoriously been considered a challenge to adapt to other mediums. Neither of its five movie versions were necessarily well regarded, with many feeling that the filmmakers struggle balancing out the "glitz and glamour" of the parties with the harsh, cynical critique of the 1920s. It’s also worth noting that in the novel, it’s all told through Nick’s introspective voice, which encourages an individual imagination for the reader. Easy to see how that makes it hard to translate as well as how the story is probably better left as a novel.

Although if I were giving notes to book writer Kait Kerrigan during the development process, this is what I’d suggest. Take a page out of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita and Sunset Boulevard. Mainly in how both musicals start at the very end, create intrigue for the audience regarding what happened, and have a singular narrator (which in this case, would be Nick) take the story back to the beginning. To me, that would’ve made for a more fascinating way in for this musical. Fans of the source material may not be entirely on board with that approach, but the novel will always be around. It’s not like the creative team would be erasing it from existence or anything like that at all.

Overall, there are aspects to like about The Great Gatsby. The spectacle of it all certainly makes me wish I could travel to the 1920s for the culture, clothing, and music. The performances certainly keep things afloat no matter how unlikable most of their characters are. I'm honestly not surprised by the mixed reception this received in New York upon opening. I will say that I did enjoy this more than what I remember of the novel. At best, I would give this a mild recommendation. I just wish I connected to the story more.

This national tour is currently playing at DPAC through May 10th. For more information, please click here.