I wanted to like this show. I really did. I wanted to see it when it was in previews, I love Jeremy Jordan, I loved Eva Noblezada since I saw her in Hadestown, and I love literature. It seemed like the perfect combination, but it was not. 

 

*Spoilers Ahead*

 

Spoilers ahead? Elizabeth, it’s The Great Gatsby almost everyone has read that at one point in their life why do you need spoilers? I’m also wondering why I need to issue a spoiler warning. But yes, they edited a classic so much that I feel that I need to warn you that there are some surprises ahead. 

 

The show starts with a screen showing you the Long Island Sound with a faint green light. I thought this was beautiful and simple. I even noticed that the end of the stage was tiled with two pool ladders going down into the orchestra pit, which was a very nice touch. I thought this was so creative and I was so happy to see two of the main sceneries of the book represented right away.

 

The opening sequence was also great - a glimpse of Gatsby on stage staring out at the light, where he is suddenly swapped with Nick to deliver the opening dialogue, which was almost identical to the introduction to the novel. As Nick narrates, the stage opens up behind him to reveal the ensemble, prepared to deliver the opening number. My only complaint about the first song is that the costumes clashed with the set, and I felt like the ensemble blended into the background. They were in your classic twenties-style black and gold flapper dresses and suits and the set behind them was also all black and gold. I understand the significance of black and gold, however, they overdid it in the first scene and then never brought back that color combination again until the final song! It was an odd choice in my opinion. 

 

The first major change I noticed was the order of events in the first act. This changed everything for me, and I don’t believe there was any redemption after this. The book writers had Gatsby ask Nick to invite Daisy over for tea, setting up their “chance” encounter, before Nick travels into the city with Tom to meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson. Nick proceeds to sing an entire song about how the only thing he was able to think about while with Tom, Myrtle, and the rest of their odd group was that he could get back at Tom by setting up Daisy and Gatsby. Now, let me explain why this is a major issue for me.

 

Part of the beauty of The Great Gatsby is that Nick is an unreliable narrator. He is giving us his rendition of the story in retrospect. He doesn’t know everything and definitely doesn’t remember everything. In the novel, Nick is seemingly dragged through each incident with Tom, Daisy, Jordan, and Gatsby. I would argue that the only person who has clear intentions and motivations in the novel is Gatsby. The musical went even further and gave everyone motives for every little thing that happened. Meanwhile, part of the point of the novel is that all these people have so much money that they don’t need a motive for anything. When you start justifying the characters’ actions, this point is ruined. I can understand why the writers may have wanted to add more details for the theatre, but it completely takes away from Nick’s role in the story! It makes him seem calculated and thoughtful and mischievous and that is not at all who he is. He is just a dreamer who is trying to find a way to fit in. He is a pawn in everyone else’s games and the musical turned him into the chess master. 

 

Speaking of chess masters, Jordan also played a significant role in pushing Gatsby and Daisy together. The show featured a whole scene of Jordan justifying why Daisy should have an affair with Gatsby before the two even met! In the book, Daisy had no confirmation that Gatsby was there until she met up with him at Nick’s for tea. Instead, we see Daisy justify before this why she can’t see Gatsby and how she doesn’t trust herself to be near him. This then makes her side of the affair seem calculated when all she ever wanted to be was a “beautiful, little fool”. Yes, she says this line in reference to her daughter, but she knows that the easiest and best way for her to go through life is to essentially play dumb. She is smart enough to never take any actions that would seem calculated; she always wants to ensure she can use the excuse of not knowing, not paying attention, or that something “just happened.” 

 

Another huge character change the writers made was making Myrtle Wilson pregnant with Tom’s baby when she died. Myrtle had a whole song that she was actually going to go back to her husband and raise the baby with him because he was a good guy. At the end of this song is when Daisy hits Myrtle with Gatsby’s car. This whole scene was so bizarre to me. Myrtle wanting to be with her husband made no sense and her being pregnant was such an unnecessary detail. As I’m writing this, I realize that perhaps the really change made was the perspective shift. It was no longer first person and was instead a third person omniscient point of view. This can be the only justification for all of the previously mentioned changes I didn’t like. The book writers must have filled in the gaps because they didn’t want the play to be from Nick’s perspective. Though this would explain the changes, I still don’t agree with making this change. 

 

This would also explain changes such as Nick and Jordan getting engaged and Meyer Wolfsheim using the Wilson’s garage as an in between for his bootlegging business. Two other changes that seemed like more unnecessary added details but would be completely justified if the intention was to shift to a third person omniscient point of view. 

 

The best part of the show was the scene in the Plaza Hotel right before the car accident. I thought this scene was so beautifully executed by all the performers. The intensity of the scene was incredible. The performance was way better than any of the others in the show. I was in awe watching the performers interject throughout the song and how the music was weaved together. I loved it. 

 

Overall, I was extremely disappointed; I teared up at intermission because of how upset I was. I just loved novel so much that I didn’t want anything to change, but I should have known that it the play would be entirely different. I’d be interested to see some other book to movie to Broadway adaptations coming soon - Water for Elephants and The Outsiders - to see if I am equally as upset about the added or lack of details. 

 

Honestly when I started writing this, I was significantly more upset than I am now because I had that realization about the switch in point of view as I was writing this. This is why I like to write! It helps me make sense of things. Anyway, you should definitely see the show just for Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada but other than that I did not like it all. If you can’t see it with them then just don’t go.

 

Some Moore Thoughts to come soon,

Elizabeth