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The Many Lives of the Great Gatsby by Elyse Sommer
The theater has come back to life with almost a dozen new productions recently opening over the course of less than two weeks and with more announced in the months ahead. As always, shows on offer include a mix of plays and musicals -- some new, some revivals. Works in the public domain can be adapted without writers or their heirs granting permission and receiving royalties.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's oeuvre doesn't go quite as far back as Shakespeare's. Though his The Great Gatsby actually had an unsuccessful first outing in 1925, the book eventually gained status as a classic. And so, the mysterious Gatsby's narrative did have a full and diverse cultural life even before it entered the public domain in 2021. I won't go into chapter and verse about the ramifications of copyright law. Instead, I'll begin this feature with a brief rundown of its history as staged, filmed and reimagined in print.
Gatsby on Stage
The first known stage adaptation was a drama by Owen Davis, who earlier received a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1923. The play was directed by George Cukor, later widely known as a film director. That version of The Great Gatsby opened to a successful run on Broadway in 1926 with several subsequent runs elsewhere.
The most inventive staging, to my mind, was the Elevator Repair Service Company's Gatz, presented at the Public Theater in 2010.The eight-hour reading by a cast of terrific actors combined the pleasure of reading the book and also experiencing theater. If you're too young to have seen it, you may want to read my wonderful Curtainup colleague Les Gutman's review, which can be found at http://www.curtainup.com/gatzpublic.html
Last year, The Great Gatsby:The Immersive Show saw part of the Park Central Hotel done up to replicate the former Gatsby Mansion near Central Park. However, that show didn't hit the mark like the Macbeth-sourced Sleep No More that ran for years at the McKittredge Hotel. The Immersive Gatsby closed after a brief run.
In 1999, the New York Metropolitan Opera commissioned John Harbison to compose an operatic treatment of the novel to commemorate the 25th anniversary of its music director, James Levine. Ballet versions of The Great Gatsby have included the 2009 performances by BalletMet Columbus at The Capitol Theater in Columbus, Ohio, and a 2010 production by the Washington Ballet at the Kennedy Center.
The novel also has been adapted into a series of radio episodes, starting with a half-hour-long episode for the CBS Family Hour of Stars with Kirk Douglas as Gatsby. The story also was read aloud as a 10-part BBC Radio Serial. The first of several short TV movies aired on the popular Robert Mongomery Presents series and starred Montgomery. Publishers also have released several versions of The Great Gatsby in graphic format, with a new publication coming along later this year.
And, yes, there have been Gatsby-inspired video games!
Gatsby Movies
The first Great Gatsby movie was a silent version of the above-mentioned early Broadway play, starring Warner Baxter and William Powell. Only a trailer of that movie still exists. But two later movies can be seen on your home screen. The first, from 1974, was directed by Jack Clayton and starred Robert Redford and Mia Farrow as Gatsby and Daisy, and Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway. I like Mia Farrow but not her Daisy. A more watchable Daisy can be found in the Baz Luhrmann-directed adaptation that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan. While the movie versions of The Great Gatsby understably made Gatsby the narrator, in the novel, it was Nick Carraway who narrated and observed. Consequently, the movies haven't bested the book. For me, it remains well worth a now-and-then reread.
While Shakespeare always intended for his plays to be watched, Fitzgerald's intention was that audiences meet his characters on the page. But I've found Shakespeare difficult to read -- except after hearing his language actually spoken and the charaxters visualized on a stage.
And Now -- The Great Gatsby Musical
Novels and plays have regularly been turned into musicals. Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew was a huge hit as Kiss Me Kate, and the durable hit, The Lion King, is Shakespeare sourced. But The Great Gatsby, while enjoying a diverse cultural life, has never been turned into a musical. That is, until now. Not one but two Great Gatsby musicals have been created at non-profit regional theaters known for having their premiere shows transfer to Broadway -- the Paper Mill Playhouse and the Boston Repertory Theater. Both productions feature stellar creative teams and performers. The Papermill show has already made the move and hopes to be selling tickets at the Broadway theater for a long time.
The Boston Repertory Theater's team also has all the hit-making elements. But with the theater still struggling to come back from the pandemic and the cost of tickets higher than ever, filling the seats in a big Broadway house is a challenge. And so, no matter how well cast and staged, only the most dedicated musical theatergoers are likely to see two singing Gatsbys. Thus, it remains to be seen if the Boston Rep opts to transfer its production.
I do tend to prefer dramas to musicals, so if I were still Curtainup's editor and critic-in-chief, I'd probably check out the Gatsby musical (or musicals) but assign the review to one of my backup critics. I certainly would not miss seeing and writing about the revival of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt or the great Paula Vogel's new play Mother with Jessica Lange, Celia Keenan Bolger, and Jim Parsons that's coming to the Hayes Theater in June. I'd also check out the latest version of Ibsen's Enemy of the People, sadly more relevant than ever.
A final word about the difference between reading and watching. I recently watched the 2015 film version of Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd, which stars Carey Mulligan and is available to stream on Max. I found reading that novel, as part of a college literature course, to be rather dull and slow. However, Mulligan and her fellow actors brought the story, locale and era to rich and enjoyable life.
P,S. After initially posting this blog, my good friend Simon mentioned the noorish 1949 movie version of The Great Gatsby, directed by Elliott Nugent and starring Alan Ladd and the wonderful Betty Field as Daisy. That movie did not make the final version of the blog, but I wanted to give it a nod, so I'm republishing with this note. -- Elyse Sommer
