“QUITE A NIGHT, OLD SPORT” // A THEATRE REVIEW OF “THE GREAT GATSBY (NATIONAL TOUR)”
BY MATEO MORENO
Roaring into Kansas City this week is the National Tour of THE GREAT GATSBY musical, with music by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen and based on the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Directed by Marc Bruni, it comes directly from Broadway where Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada lead the cast (when it premiered, at least). It’s still tearing up the Broadway stage and now the tour is doing the same on the road. For those of you who somehow don’t know the plot of Gatsby, here it is: Set during the Jazz Age of the 1920’s, the story opens with Nick Carraway (Joshua Grosso) heading to NYC to sell bonds. He’s a WWI vet and ends up renting a place in Long Island, as he can’t afford Manhattan prices. His new place is right next to a beautiful estate owned by Jay Gatsby (Jake David Smith), a multi-millionaire mystery man who throws extravagant parties but doesn’t actually attend them. His cousin Daisy (Valeria Ceballos) has recently located to NYC with her philandering husband Tom (Will Branner). They reconnect and Daisy introduces her cousin to her friend Jordan Baker (Leanne Robinson), a golf champion and they hit it off. However, what puzzles Nick is the fact that he received a formal invitation from Gatsby to attend one of his parties. As he finds out, this isn’t something Gatsby does. People just show up, but he doesn’t necessarily invite anyone. Once there, Nick meets Gatsby and they strike a friendship of sorts, one involving the promise of bringing Daisy by, who is Gatsby’s old flame. Daisy is married but still carries a flame for Gatsby. But who exactly is Gatsby and how did he acquire all of this wealth? And thus, the turbulent road that lines this tragic story begins.
The biggest strength of the show itself is the spectacle, and the tour does not disappoint. The dancing, choreographed by Dominique Kelley, is spectacular. One of the biggest showstoppers of the evening comes in the first act, where Leanna Robinson leads the ensemble in a rip-roaring dance number that had my crowd cheering louder than anything else throughout the evening. The costumes by Linda Cho are sharp and sleek and the scenic and projection design by Paul Tate dePoo III do a wonder in transporting you to a different time and place within seconds. The cast, all around, are fantastic. As Jay Gatsby, Jake David Smith has an effortless voice, one that shines through the auditorium with a silken grace. He becomes a full-blown powerhouse by his finale, and the build is a wonder to watch. Valeria Ceballos (who went on for the regular Daisy Senzel Ahmady) was phenomenal, bringing a much-needed warmth and tenderness alongside her calculations. She’s a complicated character, as most in this story are, and she delivers it with Aplomb. Joshua Grosso’s voice and presence is strong and compelling, truly succeeding in being the audience’s “eye” into this world. Myrtle Wilson delivers a shattering and heartbreaking performance, one that’s fully lived in. And nearly walking away with the show is Leanne Robinson, whose grace and charm ooze out of every sequence she’s in. She’s a stunning grace on stage, showing great chemistry with Grosso but most importantly standing tall and strong all alone. She’s transfixing. You can’t take your eyes off of her.
Sadly, gone in this adaptation are the more morally gray areas of the novel and the true broken aspects of “The American Dream.” It’s understandable why the musical chose more of a classic tragic love story feel for its “big splashy musical,” but it’s still sad to see Gatsby as more of a fool of a character rather than the more complicated version of him that exists on the page. The score by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen has some lovely tunes, but by the second act, it seems to revolve around itself, not truly showcasing anything new and clumsily search for the next rhyme. All that being said, it’s a hell of an evening. And quite a compliment to this production that the pure wonder of the creatives and cast here manage to elevate the actual material. Wonderfully directed, wonderfully performed and still has the heart of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, even if the entire soul isn’t quite there.
GRADE: B+
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY F. Scott Fitzgerald MUSIC AND LYRICS BY Jason Howland, Nathan Tysen BOOK BY Kait Kerrigan CHOREOGRAPHY BY Dominique Kelley DIRECTED BY Marc Bruni STARRING Jake David Smith, Valeria Ceballos, Joshua Grosso, Leanne Robinson, Lila Coogan, Will Branner, Tally Sessions, Edward Staudenmayer, Myrtle Wilson. NOW PLAYING AT THE MUSIC HALL IN KANSAS CITY THROUGH MARCH 22ND AND THEN ON TOUR ACROSS THE US. FOR TICKET INFO: https://broadwaygatsby.com/tour