The Great Gatsby: A New Musical Touring Reviews

Senzel Ahmady and Jake David Smith, as Daisy and Jay Gatsby, both have outstanding voices and a beautiful elegance. Lila Coogan as Myrtle and Talley Sessions as George bring just the right amount of grit to their roles. Leanne Robinson pairs hard edg...

Senzel Ahmady and Jake David Smith, as Daisy and Jay Gatsby, both have outstanding voices and a beautiful elegance. Lila Coogan as Myrtle and Talley Sessions as George bring just the right amount of grit to their roles. Leanne Robinson pairs hard edges with the voice of an angel as Jordan. Will Branner is appropriately smarmy as Tom Buchanan, and Edward Staudenmayer nails the shady bootlegger Meyer Wolfsheim.

“Spectacle over substance” is a frequent cry of theatre critics as technology increases. Audiences, however, will always enjoy the spectacle of musical theatre as a break from the problems of their daily lives and the world. “The Great Gatsby�...

“Spectacle over substance” is a frequent cry of theatre critics as technology increases. Audiences, however, will always enjoy the spectacle of musical theatre as a break from the problems of their daily lives and the world. “The Great Gatsby” provides romantic comedy, melodrama, and a good story along with stunning visual effects of sound, light, and scenery. While it may not emphasize all the themes of the novel, it is a very enjoyable presentation of an important era of our American social history.

This production exemplifies the glitz and glamour of the Roaring Twenties in a way only the stage can. With jazzy musical numbers, lovable characters with questionable motives, and a riotously fun background, The Great Gatsby will transport audiences...

This production exemplifies the glitz and glamour of the Roaring Twenties in a way only the stage can. With jazzy musical numbers, lovable characters with questionable motives, and a riotously fun background, The Great Gatsby will transport audiences in great style, old sport!

This is a big, bold, and splashy Broadway musical. It promises spectacle and delivers in spades. This touring production looks lavish from its scenic and projection design (by Paul Tate DePoo) to its gorgeous Tony award winning costumes (by Linda Cho...

This is a big, bold, and splashy Broadway musical. It promises spectacle and delivers in spades. This touring production looks lavish from its scenic and projection design (by Paul Tate DePoo) to its gorgeous Tony award winning costumes (by Linda Cho).

The show did have some high-energy musical numbers but overall, the novel’s complex themes of class were rendered inert by a proliferation of slow, reflective ballads, particularly in the second half. No complaints on the voices that performed thes...

The show did have some high-energy musical numbers but overall, the novel’s complex themes of class were rendered inert by a proliferation of slow, reflective ballads, particularly in the second half. No complaints on the voices that performed these songs, but the numbers drained any momentum the show had to offer. With lush Jazz Age vibes, any electric energy was disappointingly absent. Gatsby often felt languid and mistook melancholy for depth. The high production values did not overcompensate for the mid-level songs.

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, ...

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.

This musical’s script by Kait Kerrigan and lyrics by Nathan Tysen don’t stray too far from the 1925 book, but they dramatize things that go untold in Fitzgerald’s more nuanced novel. What the writers and the director, Marc Bruni, accomplish, ho...

This musical’s script by Kait Kerrigan and lyrics by Nathan Tysen don’t stray too far from the 1925 book, but they dramatize things that go untold in Fitzgerald’s more nuanced novel. What the writers and the director, Marc Bruni, accomplish, however, is a sustained sense of impending doom that faces all these characters. At times, they brush up against the fatalism that underlies Fitzgerald’s picture of American classes in brutal contact.

The touring cast delivers strong, professional performances that complement the spectacle. Beneath the splashy visuals, they elevate the emotional core of the story, honing in on the darker themes that give it depth. Even amid the glitter, we are rem...

The touring cast delivers strong, professional performances that complement the spectacle. Beneath the splashy visuals, they elevate the emotional core of the story, honing in on the darker themes that give it depth. Even amid the glitter, we are reminded of the story’s central question: the cost of pursuing the American Dream. Each sequin reflects themes of wealth, class, recklessness, and consequence.

What makes this adaptation particularly compelling is how it handles narration. Rather than relying heavily on a single observer figure, the production distributes perspective through ensemble storytelling, allowing characters like Gatsby and Daisy t...

What makes this adaptation particularly compelling is how it handles narration. Rather than relying heavily on a single observer figure, the production distributes perspective through ensemble storytelling, allowing characters like Gatsby and Daisy to step out of the haze of Nick’s recollection and into fully realized emotional arcs. Gatsby’s yearning is no longer just described, it’s embodied. Daisy, often interpreted as distant or elusive, is given added dimensionality through motifs that reflect both her charm and her entrapment.