The Great Gatsby
At first glance of this review you might be concerned I hated the show, since my “what wasn’t my favourite” section is a bit bulkier than usual, but I promise that is not the case. The Great Gatsby musical is a gloriously glamorous production, a true spectacle in one of the nicest theatres I have been to in London yet. It is filled with catchy songs, fantastic choreography, and an extremely talented cast. It is an undeniably enjoyable show, just one not quite as complex as its source material.
At its core the musical is a love story between Gatsby and Daisy, lovers who lost contact due to The Great War but reunite by his determination and devotion to win her back by climbing the social ladder and amassing immense wealth. Surrounding this main love story we also follow surrounding stories about class, gender, and morality.
What I liked
Starting with the cast, everyone was an absolute joy to watch. Jamie Muscato (Gatsby) and Frances Mayli McCann (Daisy) were a fantastic pair, and I was overjoyed to get to see Corbin Bleu perform in person. They all have killer pipes, and it felt they really cared about the show.
The choreography was incredible. My favourite dance number in the show was undoubtedly “Shady”, which combined the already electric dancing with mysterious trench-coats and wide brimmed hats, adding a new layer of subtlety to what otherwise is a roaring set of dance numbers.
Above all else though, I think my favourite thing may be the costume design. Linda Cho has done an amazing job at creating an ensemble of time-appropriate and yet modernly alluring outfits in every scene. There is sometimes a temptation, I think, when costuming the 1920s to keep the colour palette black, white & gold, but the outrageously vibrant costumes of the party scene were so glorious that all I wanted to do was see how they moved and shimmered on the dance floor.
I think my favourite moments for the story were moments of lightness, where it wasn’t taking itself too seriously. “Only Tea” is an exceptional example, where I felt the song lifted the absurdist lifestyle and goals of Gatsby to a climactic point while maintaining an element of humour. Muscato toed the line of Gatsby as coming apart at the seams and upholding the mask he has created in a way that was extremely engaging and unforgettable.
What wasn’t my favourite
Despite all the glitz and glam, I couldn’t help but walk away with a feeling of dissatisfaction in regards to the characters. The performances were wonderful but I felt that the tragedies of act 2 were somewhat hollow. The original novel is a well-established piece of literature for its complex and yet concise societal commentary, and yet this expansion seems to side step any exploration in favour of a very middle of the road love story. I think the main reason, put quite simply, is that our main characters are all easily likeable in the musical, when they are not meant to be. It seems that by expanding each character's ability to explain to the audience how they feel, an unavoidable aspect of musicals given they sing when they are overcome with emotion, the writers have opted for quite predictable motivations without much admission of their actual hypocrisies. Gatsby is just a man who would do anything for love, Daisy is an oppressed woman that has no real choice in life, and Nick is a poor man trying to make sense of the wild life of his upper class neighbours. Except, Gatsby has done bad things, he has not earned his new money, he does not deserve it in the same way Tom and Daisy don’t. And Daisy doesn’t stay with her husband for her daughter or because she is a woman with no choice, but because she wants to be rich. And Nick is not poor in the book, he comes from money as well, that is how he went to the same school as Tom. They are all hypocrites, that is the point, but (to me) the musical ignores this. The book makes this clear because Nick is the narrator, but by shifting the audience off of Nicks perspective, we are instead set up to sympathise more with each character, pulling their “positive” qualities to the forefront and avoiding their “negative”. It’s almost as if instead of viewing the story from Nick’s point of view and realising the cracks in the American Dream as it progresses, we view it like a party goer; we celebrate the glamor, we root for the star crossed lovers, and we return to the party at the end as if it never mattered anyway.
There is social commentary, I mean there are lines directly from the book! But it’s what surrounds those lines, when they could have been explored, that falls flat. “For Her” is a beautiful ballad, but we learn nothing about Gatsby in it, “Green Light” doesn’t even tell us why they like each other nor explain the metaphor of the green light, and “Beautiful Little Fool” is a deflecting explanation saying that a woman’s choices are never hers when in fact she has just murdered someone! And is letting Gatsby take the fall because she wants to remain rich! That would be a far more interesting song, but instead they take a quote from chapter 1 that is intended to show she is a hypocrite and twisting it as if it’s a great analysis of gender-roles. It seems gender is the only real thing explored with purpose in the musical, with the wonderful symbolism of the only woman who doesn’t want to marry wearing pants, but changing her mind while in a dress, only to change her mind again and return to pants.
Overall
It’s a good show. I’m not gonna say it’s an extremely complex show, especially when you compare it to what it’s drawn from, but it’s a good show nonetheless! If it wasn’t an adaptation then it would be great, but unfortunately we have a jumping off point and I do not believe this musical achieves very much height. I am aware there is another Gatsby musical and I don’t know if it has the same pitfalls but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did, or had its own.
One thing I will say, is I have thought about this show a lot since seeing it. I have listened to the soundtrack and I have watched recordings online of moments when I can, so it’s not like it does nothing. I just wish it did more.
