Chavkin-directed GATSBY musical from Welch and Majok to premiere in 2024

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 8:46am

Gatsby, a brand-new musical stage adaptation of the legendary F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, will make its highly anticipated World Premiere at A.R.T. in 2024, and will be directed by Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin and choreographed by Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh.

Gatsby will feature music by Florence Welch, the Grammy Award-nominated international rock star of Florence + the Machine and Thomas Bartlett, the Oscar and Grammy Award nominee, with lyrics by Ms. Welch, and a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok.


Gatsby will be produced at American Repertory Theater by special arrangement with Amanda Ghost and Len Blavatnik for Unigram/Access Entertainment, and Jordan Roth, in association with Robert Fox. Hannah Giannoulis serves as co-producer.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/GATSBY-Featuring-Music-By-Florence-Welch-Directed-by-Rachel-Chavkin-Will-Premiere-at-ART-20230222
 

Updated On: 2/22/23 at 08:46 AM

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 8:49am

So exciting! Can't wait!!!!

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 8:53am

It’s finally time, Old Sport!

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 8:55am

Chavkin and Sayeh is one of the most thrilling contemporary director/choreographer combos I can think of. This already sounds like an event.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 9:02am

Maybe I;ll visit Boston in 2024...

This team is as exciting as the other GATSY adaptation team is boring (Jason Howland, Kait Kerrigan, Nathan Tysen, Marc Bruni). This could be a mess, but I have high hopes, and there's big money behind it.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 9:59am

I feel like all the shows coming from ART seem lacking in the technical elements given the confines of the space. I love the team behind this so hopefully they'll prove me wrong. But I felt like the Waitress / 1776 stagings were so boring.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 9:59am

ElephantLoveMedley said: "Chavkin and Sayeh is one of the most thrilling contemporary director/choreographer combos I can think of. This already sounds like an event."

They’re also working together on a Black Swan adaptation, I believe, by Dave Malloy. Definitely a dream team of collaborators.

Updated On: 2/22/23 at 09:59 AM

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 10:11am

RippedMan said: "I feel like all the shows coming from ART seem lacking in the technical elements given the confines of the space. I love the team behind this so hopefully they'll prove me wrong. But I felt like the Waitress / 1776 stagings were so boring."

I agree that most of the stuff coming out of A.R.T. for the last several years has been garbage (don't forget about Jagged, too). However, we also got The Great Comet out of there, which Chavkin was behind. If anyone has the prowess and experience to do it there, it's definitely her.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 10:18am

Valid point! And forgot about Jagged (never have I wanted to run out of a show so quickly)

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 10:29am

RippedMan said: "I feel like all the shows coming from ART seem lacking in the technical elements given the confines of the space. I love the team behind this so hopefully they'll prove me wrong. But I felt like the Waitress / 1776 stagings were so boring."

Those may be Diane issues, and she's not directing this.

The issue is that ART's stage is not comparable to Broadway. I don't know if their new space is going to more resemble a Broadway house, but that would seem wise if the goal is to churn out more shows for Bway.

[ggersten]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 4:21pm

The ART page: ART page for Gatsby

[sm33]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 8:49pm

Call_me_jorge said: "ElephantLoveMedley said: "Chavkin and Sayeh is one of the most thrilling contemporary director/choreographer combos I can think of. This already sounds like an event."

They’re also working together on a Black Swan adaptation, I believe, by Dave Malloy. Definitely a dream team of collaborators."

Omg, I need this immediately?!?!?

[DiscoCrows]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 11:10pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "RippedMan said: "I feel like all the shows coming from ART seem lacking in the technical elements given the confines of the space. I love the team behind this so hopefully they'll prove me wrong. But I felt like the Waitress / 1776 stagings were so boring."

Those may be Diane issues, and she's not directing this.

The issue is that ART's stage is not comparable to Broadway. I don't know if their new space is going to more resemble a Broadway house, but that would seem wise if the goal is to churn out more shows for Bway."

Just thinking back chronologically, did PIPPIN ever have this issue? For those that saw it there.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 11:19pm

DiscoCrows said: "Just thinking back chronologically, did PIPPIN ever have this issue? For those that saw it there."

I'm blurring the two productions now, but going by photos they look EXTREMELY similar design-wise. There are some noticeable differences, but the bones are all there. (There were changes in choreo and other areas.) But that was overall a pretty compact production.

[Ke3]

Posted: 2/22/23 at 11:24pm

I always figured this production would be the one making it to Broadway. Just couldn't see producers throwing their money behind the other adaption knowing they'd have to go up against this creative team. With Chavkin joining? Now I'm certain. The other one will probably make a **** ton in licensing from people who can't get this one though!

[CopleyScott17]

Posted: 2/28/23 at 7:52am

I'm very excited about this one, and have high hopes for the upcoming "Evita" as well.  I do have to disagree with your concert about A.R.T. staging. The recently mounted "Life of Pi" was very well done, and a couple of years back, before the shutdown, they did a SPECTACULAR job with "Moby-Dick," which totally deserves a second chance somewhere. There are also plans afoot to move to a new space, so I'm confident they'll continue to thrive.

Updated On: 2/28/23 at 07:52 AM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/28/23 at 8:41am

Not saying they don’t do good work just saying the confines of their current space make some of the staging choices less exciting. 
 

I just hope they can really find a driving force for the plot. I feel like Gatsby - like Alice in Wonderland - suffer from narration rather than plot. Which works in a book but doesn’t quite work on stage.

[blasvader]

Posted: 2/28/23 at 9:06am

Rebecca Frecknall had been attached to this for so long, strange she's dropped out. Was really excited about her working on this. Maybe she's bringing both Cabaret and Streetcar over, because can't see her dropping this over one production only.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/28/23 at 10:25am

RippedMan said: "I just hope they can really find a driving force for the plot. I feel like Gatsby - like Alice in Wonderland - suffer from narration rather than plot. Which works in a book but doesn’t quite work on stage."

Yes and there are a lot of unknowns with this writing team, since they don't come from musical theatre. That's not automatically a bad thing, but as we know musical-writing is far different from standalone songs or plays.

As for the change of director, that could be related to the wishes of the author or producer in the event that everyone isn't moving along harmoniously. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/28/23 at 10:52am

Not sure how much Chavkin had in shaping Hadestown's narrative, but I think she can steer them in the right direction. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/28/23 at 11:00am

RippedMan said: "Not sure how much Chavkin had in shaping Hadestown's narrative, but I think she can steer them in the right direction."

Chavkin's role was significant on that show. By all accounts she's essentially an uncredited co-bookwriter on HADESTOWN (more so than the average director); her HTown title is also "developed with and directed by," which is unique.

[DaveyG]

Posted: 2/28/23 at 11:02am

RippedMan said: "Not sure how much Chavkin had in shaping Hadestown's narrative, but I think she can steer them in the right direction."

Chavkin certainly knows how to make a beautiful looking production. I personally find her shows to be devoid of emotion. I know I'm in the minority, but I was bored silly by Comet and Hadestown. I found them both cold as can be. But she's laughing all the way to the bank so what do I know :)

[schubox]

Posted: 2/28/23 at 3:21pm

Is there any vague idea of when in 2024 this will be? 

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 4/14/23 at 12:10pm

https://www.theatermania.com/news/catching-up-with-martyna-majok-on-cost-of-living-and-her-great-gatsby-musical_1697083

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How’s The Great Gatsby going?
Oh my God, it’s so great. I’m having a wonderful time. I can’t wait to share the music. The music sounds extraordinary. It’s like the music that I listen to on my runs. It was very meaningful to revisit that book in the depth of the pandemic, in my 30s.

Why?
The story takes place after the end of a World War and after a pandemic that killed a third of the world’s population, mostly young people. I understood the kind of feral hunger of the parties and everybody trying to pursue meaning to make up for the death and destruction they had witnessed. I had a hard time writing original work during the pandemic, so working on this helped me process my feelings without looking directly at our pandemic.

How does the experience of working on a musical differ from the relatively solitary world of writing a play?
I hate writing. [Laughs] And one of the main reasons I hate writing is because of how lonely it is. I write to be able to get access to the rehearsal room and work with generous artists. So this kind of jumps the gun, because you’re less lonely earlier. You have someone else who is in the thick of the creative process that you’re in constant conversation with. There’s a camaraderie. It’s just nice to be working on something that you just want to spend your time on even when you’re off-duty. It’s also been fun to collaborate with Florence Welch. She’s very down to play and have conversations about deep topics.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 5/21/23 at 12:32pm

The material is being workshopped this month; here’s most of the cast:

• Darren Criss
• Madeline Brewer (“The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Orange is the New Black” )
• Ben Levi Ross (Dear Evan Hansen)
• Cory Jeacoma (Jersey Boys, Beautiful)
• Christopher Ryan Grant (The Thanksgiving Play)
• Ana Villafañe (On Your Feet!)
• Alysha Umphress (On the Town)
• Christiani Pitts (King Kong)
• Adam Grupper (Pictures From Home)
• Gabriel Hyman (Dancin’)
• Ida Saki (Dancin’)
• Runako Campbell (Jagged Little Pill)
• Sojourner Brown (Hadestown)
• Ashley Perez Flanagan (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812)
• Jason Veasey (A Strange Loop)