An important note here, I have not seen this musical performed. This review is simply of the cast recording released in the summer of 2024.
I won’t claim aficionado status, but I am a lover of “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 flop turned cultural touchstone. It’s easy to understand its endurance and adaptational appeal: it is a simple story in an ornate dress.
Set in the glitz of the 1920s, “The Great Gatsby,” is about Jay Gatsby, or rather his allure as described by narrator Nick Carraway, a small town boy turned New York City resident after retiring from the army. While living with his cousin Daisy and her husband, Tom, Nick is exposed to the rampant class divide that has emerged post World War I. He spends his time amongst the financially elite – those who have abruptly come into money – and the less fortunate – those who are trapped in cyclical poverty. Despite the stark disparities between them, over the course of the summer, these worlds converge via Gatsby, changing Nick’s life forever.
It is this central conflict of the novel that makes it the perfect story to adapt and yet nearly impossible to translate. The classism, racism and misogyny present in the original text are relevant – perhaps more so – today. Further, contemporarily, many undertones of the story including allusions to Nick’s romantic feelings for Gatsby and the potential that Gatsby is white-passing are more easily explored and given room. However, these subtle commentaries on generational trauma and grief are easily buried under the weight of the window dressings, the stereotypical ‘20s parties and the aesthetic facades.
Enter 2024’s “The Great Gatsby” musical, one of two – the other simply named “Gatsby” – Gatsby musicals to emerge after the novel entered the public domain. “The Great Gatsby” opened on Broadway in April with a score by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen, who previously collaborated on the musical “Paradise Square”. The book is by lyricist and writer Kait Kerrigan, who is also married to Tysen.
The cast includes Broadway veteran Jeremy Jordan in the title role, contemporary musical star Eva Noblezada as Daisy, Samantha Pauly of “SIX: The Musical” fame as Jordan, and newcomer Noah J. Ricketts as Nick Carraway.
The cast, quite simply, is stunning. Their voices are beautifully distinct and rich which makes them easy to pick apart in group numbers while also creating seamless blends of harmony. Further, the actors all commit to their characters fully, communicating quirks and personality in the delivery and emphasis of lines. This piece is a belting showcase, and one that allows the performers to add their own ornamentations and vocal trills to the songs as they see fit.
The issue with the music is not that the characters aren’t convincing, but rather that they seem confused. Nick and Jordan enter a relationship in the musical, which is inherently contradictory to the book’s portrayal of them as naive and independent, respectively. More glaringly, the musical attempts to reframe Gatsby and Daisy as forbidden lovers rather than individuals clinging to an idealized version of the past, or in Daisy’s case, someone desiring a safety net. Their characters and songs too are reduced to soapy, pop-like tunes.
Musical theater must walk the fine line between specific and general. The lyrics need to be specific enough to the story that they seem unique, but must still be able to address universal concepts in an understandable way. This balance may be achieved in many ways: capturing emotional situation rather than literal situation (like “Spring Awakening”), or using a motif to communicate an idea without direct addressment by the lyrics (such as “Hadestown”), or writing a mix of universal and specific lyrics while maintaining a traditional musical song style (“Les Miserables”).
The songs of “The Great Gatsby” musical adhere tightly to a pop format. They feature a followable pattern of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus and in doing so lose attachment to the heart of their story.
The music is crowd pleasing, but doesn’t serve the narrative in a clear way. There are moments where the key of the song will change simply to give the actor a chance to show off which, while pleasing to the ear, is a disservice to the flow of the music and the show itself.
To be fair, I understand this choice. With talents like Jordan and Noblezada, it’s natural to want them to show off. However, when the story relies on communicating dark undertones amidst a seemingly happy existence, this choice works against the point of the plot.
The lyrics themselves are hit or miss. Some are profound and capture the poetry of the novel. Highlights include: “Was there another way this all could have gone/ before we crossed the Rubicon?” from the opening number “Roaring On,” or “I learned it is not what feels the best/ it is what will hurt the least,” from Daisy’s ballad “For Better or Worse,” and “You’ve got the eyes of God, Doc/ but who will be the hands?” from side character George Wilson’s soliloquy “God Sees Everything.”
Others feel too rhymey and consequently, childish, like Gatsby’s lament in “For Her,” singing “Bottled up the guilt/ then I went full tilt/ rivaled Vanderbilt.” Or from Gatsby and Daisy’s duet “Green Light, “Sometimes it’s winking/sometimes it’s warning/blinking its message/to me until morning.”
Because of this, the characters don’t seem fully grounded within their story, but instead halfway between a stage drama and a wink to the audience.
This is only compounded by the reduction of Nick’s role. While Nick originally serves as narrator of the events, the musical chooses to go against this – presenting the story without Nick’s commentary. In doing this, the musical loses perspective.
When Nick is the narrator, the audience understands everything they are witnessing is subjective – this is the story as remembered by one individual. In the absence of this, however, what the audience sees becomes objective truth. So this is no longer the story of people’s desires and morally dubious actions, but rather a clear cut narrative where there are heroes and villains and nothing in between.
“The Great Gatsby” musical is excellent in theory and has moments of wondrous music and insight, but falls short on the follow through. It gets wrapped up in the myth and forgets the tragedy.