Stage and screen star Sara Chase (The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), who had been on a medical leave of absence from Broadway's The Great Gatsby this past summer, returned to the production at the Broadway Theatre October 14.
During her absence from the musical, the role of Myrtle was played by Chilina Kennedy (Beautiful, Paradise Square), who stepped into the part July 15 and played her final performance October 5.
In an earlier Instagram post, Chase had written that her absence was due to undergoing the final rounds of chemotherapy (she was previously diagnosed with fallopian tube cancer), explaining at the time, "This was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. I gave it my all for as long as I could, and now it's time to focus just on recovery. I will miss this cast, the crew, the audience, and everyone at the Broadway Theater tremendously. Hope to see you all soon."
The Great Gatsby features music and lyrics by Nathan Tysen (Paradise Square) and Jason Howland (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) and a book by Jonathan Larson Grant winner Kait Kerrigan (The Mad Ones). Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) directs with choreography by Dominique Kelley (Mariah’s Magical Christmas Special).
Set in the Roaring '20s, 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.
The Broadway cast is led by Jeremy Jordan (Newsies) as Jay Gatsby and Eva Noblezada (Hadestown) as Daisy Buchanan with Noah J. Ricketts (Frozen) as Nick Carraway, Samantha Pauly (Six) as Jordan Baker, John Zdrojeski (Good Night Oscar) as Tom Buchanan, Paul Whitty (Come From Away) as George Wilson, and Eric Anderson (Moulin Rouge! The Musical) as Wolfsheim.
The Great Gatsby also features scenic and projection design
by Paul Tate de Poo III, costume design by Linda Cho, sound design by
Brian Ronan, lighting design by Cory Pattak, and hair and wig design by
Charles G. LaPointe and Rachael Geier.
Arrangements are by Jason Howland, orchestrations are by Howland and Kim Scharnberg, the music director is Daniel Edmonds, and 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 new musical won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical.