THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews — Page 7

The show will also open in South Korea this year, not surprising I suppose.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/south-korea/article/THE-GREAT-GATSBY-Will-Premiere-in-South-Korea-This-Year-20250212

Michael Maliakel is the next Nick Carraway, starting March 31.

Sarah Hyland will depart the musical on June 15, and Aisha Jackson will replace her as Daisy starting the next day.

I actually saw this a couple of weeks ago, only because of the Thursday matinee. I would not have seen it otherwise. I did not hate it, as I expected to. I had seen the competing version in Cambridge last year, which I thought was far superior; but again I was never bored, even if I would not recommend it to anyone without a lot of caveats.

Also, the invented romance between Nick and Jordan aside, I thought it did a better job of capturing the novel than I expected.

Positives:

-- I absolutely loved the lavishness of the production. I thought the sets were terrific, as were the costumes.

-- The person playing Nick was excellent. The actor playing Gatsby and Sarah Hyland were fine.

-- The choreography, while not particularly original, was entertaining.

-- I was surprised that Sarah Hyland had a pretty good singing voice, with a lot of power.

Negatives:

-- I lost count of the number of times the leading performers really got really pitchy / went off key trying to sing all the power ballads. It was embarrassing. Since the songs were not exactly Ragtime or Les Mis calibre, it was tiring.

Conclusion:

-- It filled a slot that otherwise would not have been filled, and I was entertained, instantly forgettable as it was, sets and costumes aside, it was not boring.

-- It is really a shame that the Florence Welsh version seems to have lost this round. It was much better and probably would not require a barn of a theatre, because it was not particularly lavish and I dont recall it having a large cast.

Finally caught this one live last night. (8:03 start, 10:33 blackout.) 4 swings were on.

Certainly not the best thing you’ll ever see, and absolutely style over substance. It’s basically paced like a musical comedy, until the final half hour when the show leans into the guts and tragedy and improves a bit. Score and book are hit-or-miss.

Ryan was a capable lead and got warm entrance applause with his back to the audience. His “Past Is Catching Up to Me” was the best moment of the evening. (I didn’t know he had experience with the Chicago Lyric Opera — put that to good use at points throughout the night.)

It was my first time seeing Aisha on stage too and mama is killing it. My God her voice is magical.

Elsewhere, Samantha Pauly is droll as ever and she looks like a peanut next to Michael Maliakel as the new Nick.

The pleasant surprise of the night, to me, was Linedy Genao. I wasn’t charmed by her New Yawk accent, but she’s in much better vocal shape than BAD CINDY, and her “One-Way Road” was very well-interpreted. Way to bounce back.

Meh, overall.

Stage door: I didn’t stay the whole time, but there was a solid fan turnout, if not totally packed. I got autographs from Aisha, Michael, Samantha (with her dog and a Labubu), Austin Colby, and Eric Anderson (fantastic as per usual). All super sweet and the fans were well-behaved. Ryan didn’t come out per a security guard.

Updated On: 8/17/25 at 01:51 PM

Ryan McCartan will play his final performance in the show on November 9.

AKarp2013 said: "Sales are dwindling. Weekly grosses have been under $1 million for a few weeks now. I feel like the steam is running out for this production. Unless they have some surprise stunt casting in the works, I think they'll hold on for the remainder of the year and close come January."

Say what you will about this show, but running for nearly 2 years with mixed critical reviews and one Tony award in a technical category, supported by social media and word-of-mouth alone, that's pretty damn impressive.

Any chance Matt Doyle takes over after Ryan McCartan leaves? I believe he's done with the show in South Korea at around the same time.

Expect Jeremy Jordan back for the holidays and to finish out his contract (he left early for Flloyd Collins)

My guess is a ten week run. November 10 through January 18. Curious to see the box office returns.

EDSOSLO858 said: "As was rumored, Jeremy Jordan will return to the show starting November 10."

Curious that the rumor was it would be a limited return for the holidays and no where in the announcement does it say anything about a "limited run." While I can't imagine it being a long term return, I wonder if they have him contracted past the holidays and through the winter as well?

Aisha’s voice meshes much better with Jeremy’s than with Ryan’s, based on clips we’ve seen. Will try to win the lottery to see them.

I didn't see this posted here, but Ryan McCarten went back into the Broadway production for several performances as Gatsby over the holiday weekend.