The Great Gatsby has arrived with some fanfare from Broadway, rocking up in London’s huge Coliseum for a limited run, with some big name talent attached. First impressions are strong: we have a full orchestra, the art deco set is opulent, there are literal on-stage fireworks within the first few minutes of the show. So how does it fare?
To be honest we were disappointed – there are some impressive vocal performances from the cast, but beyond that there’s not a lot to enjoy. However, we’ll start with the positives: there really is some serious singing talent here. In particular, Jamie Muscato is superb as Jay Gatsby, High School Musical alumni Corbin Bleu makes an impressive West End debut as narrator Nick and the always-excellent Rachel Tucker is strong as party girl Myrtle.
Unfortunately, these great performances can’t save the rest of the show – the actual content here is weak. The book (by Kait Kerrigan) is perfunctory – it largely tells us who these people are and what they’re doing, with little in the way of character development. The songs (music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Nathan Tysen) aren’t the most memorable, with the ballads in particular all being quite similar. Midway through act two we just found ourselves a bit bored and waiting for it to be over.
It’s a real shame – The Great Gatsby is a classic story (it’s well-known for a reason) and has successfully adapted to the silver screen – so arguably there’s scope for a stage production. This, however, isn’t the one: the singing may be impressive, the set may be lavish, but the writing just isn’t strong enough to keep us interested.
GAY TIMES gives The Great Gatsby – 2/5
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