THE GREAT GATSBY Original Broadway Cast Recording Thread- Page 2

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 6/28/24 at 12:25pm

This may be just a first listen reaction but I think I dislike many of the Papermill changes to the power ballads I already liked. It’s the ensemble numbers I already didn’t like that I still don’t like.

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 6/28/24 at 2:33pm

CATSNYrevival said: "It's one of my favorite scores of the season, mainly because I like the Wildhorn stylepower ballads. I agree those songs outshine the more jazzy period numbers. My only complaint is just that they didn't include that brief overture and "Beautiful Little Fool" is barely a song. It's just one phrase repeated over and over. I wish they'd fleshed it out into a full number."

Now don’t bring Mr Frank Wildhorn’s good name into this!!! 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 6/28/24 at 2:56pm

Guess I'll be a bit of a dissenter here.  I thought the group numbers came off FAR better than the power ballads, which just contain a myriad of lyrics that range from cringe to not making much sense for the character at all.  The ensemble numbers at least are fun and I'm not paying all that much attention to what the lyrics are doing, so it hides any deficiencies they might have.  Maybe I'd like the power ballads more if they had better lyrics, but they just feel empty to me, and despite songs like Green Light and For Her getting played all through their promos, I still feel like I can't recall the tune of them and they're not the kind of ballads that touch me emotionally and instead seem to have the sole purpose of showing off the singer (I felt the same about Let It Burn in Paradise Square, where I could really appreciate the performance that Joaquina Kalukango was giving but it made no sense in the story in regards to either the plot or character, and it's also not a song that's stuck with me at all afterwards).

Also something about the delivery of the spoken lines really bothers me.  I don't know if it's the direction or just an indication of bad bookwriting but I feel like both Noah Ricketts and Samantha Pauly's spoken dialogue come out in a way that make me cringe.  Maybe it's because it doesn't have the spectacle to overshadow it or maybe they just aren't used to delivering spoken lines in a studio but something feels off about it.

I think the biggest thing about this album is it reminds me how inherently weak the show is.  My opinion of the show had vastly improved between the Paper Mill and Broadway runs but listening to the score isolated from the staging and everything else just brought back all the issues I had with it before.  I found For Her laughable as Gatsby's introduction and actually cringed out of secondhand embarrassment.  The George songs seem to be aspiring to a theme from the novel that was all but cut out of the musical.  Nick is the blandest of characters, even when he claims he's angry or upset..  And Daisy's arc as sketched out through her songs makes almost no sense.  I think the character songs that come off the best are really Myrtle's songs which seem to actually show a type of development and underlying theme that's missing from the rest of the characters (though her role still seems somewhat sidelined).

I do remember liking Past is Catching Up to Me more at Paper Mill, because it at least alluded to the fact that Gatsby was aware that Wolfsheim was closing in around him, but they seemed to have removed that to make it solely about his quest for Daisy's love.  And I don't hate For Better or Worse because it provides an interesting facet of Daisy's experiences that we don't usually see (and the reprise is used nicely) but then they seem to drop that entirely in the rest of the show (the less said about Beautiful Little Fool the better).

That said, I still like most of Roaring On, New Money, Shady, La Dee Dah With You (though I miss the old "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" subtext), and Made to Last, as well as both Myrtle songs.  I think it makes sense to end the show with a Roaring On reprise but Nick's narration over it also makes no sense to me.

Anyway, I think the show is still a decent enough watch if you're just looking for a fun night out, but the songs alone stripped of the spectacle and the performances really didn't hold up for me.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 6/28/24 at 4:03pm

All right, this has all been a very funny practical joke, now where's the real Gatsby musical that people are paying $300 a ticket for?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/28/24 at 4:31pm

GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "Now don’t bring Mr Frank Wildhorn’s good name into this!!!"

Jason Howland worked on all(?) of Frank’s Broadway shows. Felt like an appropriate comparison to me. Apologies.

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 6/28/24 at 7:07pm

chrishuyen said: "Guess I'll be a bit of a dissenter here. I thought the group numbers came off FAR better than the power ballads, which just contain a myriad of lyrics that range from cringe to not making much sense for the character at all. The ensemble numbers at least are fun and I'm not paying all that much attention to what the lyrics are doing, so it hides any deficiencies they might have. Maybe I'd like the power ballads more if they had better lyrics, but they just feel empty to me, and despite songs like Green Light and For Her getting played all through their promos, I still feel like I can't recall the tune of them and they're not the kind of ballads that touch me emotionally and instead seem to have the sole purpose of showing off the singer (I felt the same about Let It Burn in Paradise Square, where I could really appreciate the performance that Joaquina Kalukango was giving but it made no sense in the story in regards to either the plot or character, and it's also not a song that's stuck with me at all afterwards).

Also something about the delivery of the spoken lines really bothers me. I don't know if it's the direction or just an indication of bad bookwriting but I feel like both Noah Ricketts and Samantha Pauly's spoken dialogue come out in a way that make me cringe. Maybe it's because it doesn't have the spectacle to overshadow it or maybe they just aren't used to delivering spoken lines in a studio but something feels off about it.

I think the biggest thing about this album is it reminds me how inherently weak the show is. My opinion of the show had vastly improved between the Paper Mill and Broadway runs but listening to the score isolated from the staging and everything else just brought back all the issues I had with it before. I found For Her laughable as Gatsby's introduction and actually cringed out of secondhand embarrassment. The George songs seem to be aspiring to a theme from the novel that was all but cut out of the musical. Nick is the blandest of characters, even when he claims he's angry or upset.. And Daisy's arc as sketched out through her songs makes almost no sense. I think the character songs that come off the best are really Myrtle's songs which seem to actually show a type of development and underlying theme that's missing from the rest of the characters (though her role still seems somewhat sidelined).

I do remember liking Past is Catching Up to Me more at Paper Mill, because it at least alluded to the fact that Gatsby was aware that Wolfsheim was closing in around him, but they seemed to have removed that to make it solely about his quest for Daisy's love. And I don't hate For Better or Worse because it provides an interesting facet of Daisy's experiences that we don't usually see (and the reprise is used nicely) but then they seem to drop that entirely in the rest of the show (the less said about Beautiful Little Fool the better).

That said, I still like most of Roaring On, New Money, Shady, La Dee Dah With You (though I miss the old "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" subtext), and Made to Last, as well as both Myrtle songs. I think it makes sense to end the show with a Roaring On reprise but Nick's narration over it also makes no sense to me.

Anyway, I think the show is still a decent enough watch if you're just looking for a fun night out, but the songs alone stripped of the spectacle and the performances really didn't hold up for me."

I’ll agree that I really like Myrtle’s songs. I thought One Way Road Was the highlight of Papermill tho I’ve read/heard a lot of people disagree with me