Following a fall 2023 premiere run at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse, the new musical adaption of The Great Gatsby has made its way to Broadway. Previews began March 29 at the Broadway Theatre, ahead of an official April 25 opening.
Playbill met the company of The Great Gatsby at a special press presentation held last month at New York City's Plaza Hotel, a perfect backdrop for the jazz-age set musical. See what the cast and creative team have to say about the new musical in the video above. Based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel of the same name, the musical follows eccentric millionaire Jay Gatsby, who will stop at nothing in his tragic pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth.
"Like Jay Gatsby, he never gives the same party twice, so we are very much looking forward to topping ourselves," says director Marc Bruni of the transfer from regional theatre to the Main Stem.
Jason Howland, who collaborated on the score with Nathan Tysen, explains a little further: "There’s two wonderful things about this story that I think resonates with so many people. There’s an opulence and a grandiosity about what it is. But also at the heart, at the root of it, is a very intimate, really painful, beautiful love story. And so on Broadway, we get to expand both of those things."
Jeremy Jordan stars as Jay Gatsby and Eva Noblezada as Daisy, two points of the love triangle at the center of the story. John Zdrojeski plays Daisy's husband Tom Buchanan, and Noah J. Ricketts is Nick Carraway, who narrates the novel.
Choreographer Dominique Kelley promises some fun surprises in the lavish new staging: "It's about what can we throw in there where people are like, 'Oh, that's an Easter egg that I don't remember!' or 'Oh, that's a West Egg that I don't remember.'" (We see what you did there.)
The cast also includes Sara Chase, Samantha Pauly, Paul Whitty, and Eric Anderson. Jordan, Noblezada, Ricketts, Pauly, Chase, Zdrojeski, and Whitty reprise the roles they originated at Paper Mill.
The ensemble includes Raymond Edward Baynard (MJ: the Musical), Austin Colby (Frozen), Curtis Holland (Mean Girls), Traci Elaine Lee (Shucked), Dariana Mullen (The Great Gatsby at Paper Mill), Ryah Nixon (Boop! The Musical), Pascal Pastrana (A Beautiful Noise), Kayla Pecchioni (Paradise Square), Mariah Reshea Reives (Funny Girl), Dan Rosales (Trevor: The Musical), Dave Schoonover (Bad Cinderella), Derek Jordan Taylor (Funny Girl), Tanairi Sade Vazquez (On Your Feet!), and Katie Webber (Rock of Ages).
Rounding out the company are swings Kurt Csolak (Funny Girl), Carissa Gaughran (Pretty Woman), Samantha Pollino (Sweeney Todd), Alex Prakken (New York, New York), Jake Trammel (The Great Gatsby at Paper Mill), and Jasmine Pearl Villaroel (After Midnight).
Kait Kerrigan writes the book for the new adaptation.
The Broadway premiere also features scenic and projection design by Paul Tate de Poo III, costume design by Tony winner Linda Cho, lighting design by Cory Pattak, sound design by Tony winner Brian Ronan, hair and wig design by Drama Desk winner Charles G. LaPointe and Rachael Geier, arrangements by Jason Howland, orchestrations by Howland and Kim Scharnberg, and musical direction by Daniel Edmonds. The music producer is Grammy winner Billy Jay Stein for Strike Audio.
Casting is by C12 Casting, and the production stage manager is Brian Bogin. Mark Shacket of Foresight Theatrical serves as executive producer. The lead producer is Chunsoo Shin, a prominent figure of Korean theatre.
Read reviews for the Paper Mill world premiere here.
