The Great Gatsby (Broadway)

♣♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

Young World War I veteran Nick Carraway (Noah J. Ricketts) scores a relatively cheap cabin in New York as he ventures into a new trade, that of being a bond salesman. His new residence is located right next to a huge mansion overlooking the bay owned by a mysterious man everyone calls Gatsby (Jeremy Jordan) who regularly hosts parties at his estate. The two are acquainted and Gatsby immediately asks his new neighbor a favor, that of orchestrating a chance meeting between him and his cousin Daisy (Eva Noblezada), a socialite married to former football star Tom Buchanan (John Zdrojeski). The husband and wife share a daughter but he is unfaithful, engaged in an extra marital affair with Myrtle (Ryah Nixon), who happens to be the wife of George Wilson (Paul Whitty), a poor gas station owner who doubles as a middle man for Gatsby’s illicit businesses. Nick also gets to meet Jordan Baker (Samantha Pauly), Daisy’s golfer friend who takes pride in being free from the pressures of marriage.

Ever since I discovered Jeremy Jordan I’ve been looking for opportunities to get to see him live on Broadway. I believe he had a brief stint as a replacement Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, which did not jive well with my schedule. That’s why when he was announced to originate the role of Gatsby for the musical theater adaptation, I immediately secured a ticket. To the uninitiated, try getting to know his vocals the same way I did, by searching for his rendition of Santa Fe on Spotify. Luckily he now has yet another show tune to add to his repertoire with For Her, an ode to Gatsby’s enduring love for Daisy Buchanan. The OST is also on Spotify!

Comparison time! I have not seen the Leonardo DiCaprio film, but I have read the novel. First things first: Nick. Nick serves as our anchor into the world of Gatsby. Since everything is seen through his point of view, he is our de facto narrator, and a boring one at that. He just came across as full of angst to me, the type of guy who is surely not fun at parties. In the musical, Nick is more upbeat and humorous. While he introduces us to this musical's world, he is not really the narrator here. Instead, he shares most of his time onstage with Gatsby, Daisy, and Jordan. In short, he is no longer the anchor.

Perhaps that is the reason why they wrote his character to be livelier and more sympathetic in this onstage version, along with Jordan. She retains her sarcasm and standoffish attitude as in the book, but she also gets to share Nick’s attempts at comedy, turning them into a duo that serves as the show’s comic relief, provider of much needed levity in contrast to the more serious subplot Gatsby and Daisy have to deal with. In a way, it works, because you start looking for them whenever they disappear onstage. Or maybe this has more to do with Ricketts’ and Pauly’s chemistry? Who knows!

Gatsby seems less of a fraud here. In the novel, every time he drops his “old sport” catchphrase it is a cringe fest, and the book makes it clear that he is a phony. Here he is given a semblance of being genuine. While the “old sport” catchphrase gets old quickly, it is not as cringe and somehow even exudes a bit of class each time Jordan punctuates his lines with it. This Gatsby also comes across as more resolute and commanding, unlike the Gatsby in the novel who seems like he is just going through the motions but doesn’t really want to be there.

As for Noblezada, Miss Saigon launched her Broadway career. Hadestown cemented her status as a dependable triple threat. The Great Gatsby further solidifies her place in the industry. It’s just too bad that she wasn’t nominated for what could’ve been her third Tony nod, but maybe it just has something to do with the Daisy role not being as impactful as her Kim or Eurydice. Or perhaps it has more to do with the general snobbery this musical had to endure in last year’s Tony Awards?

Talking about snobbery, The Great Gatsby was only nominated for one Tony last year, which it won for Costume Design. Well deserved! But why wasn’t it even nominated for Production Design considering that this set just looks so legit opulent without seeming blatantly expensive? It’s anybody’s guess. Suffice it to say that the seamless fusion between those lavish set pieces and the projected background images deserves its own billing for being so aesthetically pleasing to look at. They really set the mood.