It has almost been about two years since The Great Gatsby: A New Musical made its musical debut on the stage at The Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey.
Currently, as of writing this, the show is still on Broadway, starring Ryan McCartan and Sarah Hyland, amongst many others.
The initial announcement came in 2023, in celebration of the novel’s 100th anniversary. The Paper Mill Playhouse previewed The Great Gatsby: A New Musical during its 2023-2024 season, running from Oct. 12th through Nov. 12th. I know myself and many others were excited to see the book brought to life on stage. After many adaptations, from movie remakes to other projects drawing from the American classic as inspiration, this only felt natural.
I remember being so excited after seeing the announcement of the show. The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books. I also love musicals, so it was a match made in heaven for me. The cherry on top was when I later learned two of my favorite Broadway actors would also be starring side by side in the show.
To give some background, in the fall of 2023, Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada were announced to be playing the roles of Mr. Jay Gatsby and Daisy Fay.
Jeremy Jordan’s career took off after his role as Jack Kelly in 2012’s Newsies (which, funny enough, also started as a stage adaptation at Paper Mill in 2011). He later went on to star in tons of other musicals, movies, and television shows. If you look up his work, just know you are about to see an impressive resume. As of writing this, Jordan recently opened Floyd Collins on Broadway with Lizzy McAlpine (which I cannot wait to hear more about).
Eva Noblezada is a Grammy Award-winning actress best known for her role as Eurydice in Hadestown. Noblezada has been in many other musicals, on television, and will soon be starring in the Broadway revival of Cabaret alongside Orville Peck.
Soon, show dates were announced. Then, my boyfriend surprised me with tickets to the show. To say I was excited would be an understatement.
The weekend of the show, he and I took our trip to Paper Mill Playhouse. Luckily, we got there in record time, barely meeting any traffic. The surrounding area around the theatre was honestly very pretty and peaceful. Lights sparkled around the old stone buildings and light poles lining the streets. The crowd was energetic, and overall, the atmosphere made me even more excited than I thought I could be. As show time rolled around, we found our seats, talked to a few people, took a few photos (I took a ton), and the show began. The theater went dark, the audience went quiet, and Gatsby’s green light was shining at full force on stage.
It was no surprise to me that the show got picked up by Broadway. I had a feeling it would from the start. The spectacular and elaborate sets were show-stopping, and the extravagant party sequences were exactly what you would imagine Gatsby’s parties to be like. The opening song, “Roaring On”, was entirely too catchy to keep in previews, and hearing “The Past is Catching Up to Me”, “For Her”, and “Beautiful Little Foul” was completely intoxicating. Samantha Pauly’s performance as Jordan Baker was also fantastic. I had “New Money” stuck in my head for days. Sara Chase, who played Myrtle Wilson, took me by surprise with her performance. I loved her interpretation of the character, and the various moments she was given to shine were interesting to see.
The costumes were perfect, and the sets were probably my favorite part of the show (if we don’t count the actors). They mastered the look of Jordan Baker. I really loved the body suits and greens they dressed her in. Gatsby had his iconic pink suit, which was so fun to see. The show later went on to win the 2024 Tony for Best Costume Design in a musical, which was very much deserved.
As for the sets, just wow. Every party was like I had pictured. The additions of actual moving cars were great, and the lighting was dramatic enough in certain scenes. Gatsby’s house was designed very well to fit onto a stage, and the bedroom scene with all the sheets was executed so well. There were so many other aspects of the sets I loved, and I was really happy they fully displayed each scene. From the fight in the hotel room to Gatsby’s death in the pool, it was all there.
After the show, I had the chance to go to the stage door. If you don’t know what that is and aren’t part of the theatre world, basically, it is time for the audience to wait outside backstage. Usually, the cast will come out and sign playbills.
Now, for this, my boyfriend thought it would be cool to get something other than our playbills signed. So, instead, we brought a Gatsby poster! The poster was one of those text images, so the words of the books formed a picture of Gatsby and Daisy’s silhouettes. Again, it really is difficult to explain in the text how excited I was, and I really wish I could put into words how much of a nerd I was.
Well, I was smiling like an idiot because as part of the cast made their way out, I did get autographs. This was my first experience at an actual stage door signing, and wow, was it cool.
My boyfriend spoke with Noblezada for a short bit (I was way too timid to join in), and she was super sweet! Jordan made his round, signed my poster, and complimented the idea. Paul Whittey (who played George Wilson) and John Zdrojeski (who played Tom Buchanan) also thought it was fun. It was a super cool experience! Today, that poster and the playbill are framed in my room, because that only makes sense. Also, no, I was definitely not fangirling and absolutely did not feel full theater kid (I definitely was and absolutely did). It was no doubt a magical night for me, seeing a great show, an adaptation of a great book, and witnessing some amazing talent on stage.
I have not seen the show after its transfer to Broadway, so I am not too sure if anything changed as it transitioned to the larger stage. From what I can tell, via the official soundtrack release and reviews of the show, nothing notable has changed in the songs, the writing, or the set. I agree with many of the critics and their criticisms of the show, specifically noting that the musical seems to skip around the tragedy of the original story itself. However, this was not a huge disappointment to me, for I still enjoyed the show I saw, its cast, its music, and its final execution.
This is certainly a show I can never forget, and I am thankful for having the chance to see it every day. I can’t wait to see what happens next for the show, and I wish the spectacular current cast a fantastic run! The party just keeps roaring on!