THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews- Page 8
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#175
Posted: 1/14/26 at 10:07am
Cast updates:
- Jeremy Jordan will play his final performance on March 7.
- Ryan McCartan will temporarily replace from March 8 - 29, before Reeve Carney takes over as Jay Gatsby on March 30.
- Aisha Jackson will depart on February 1, and Eva Noblezada will return on February 5.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#176
Posted: 1/14/26 at 10:34am
AC126748 said: "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."
Yeah. He posted around Jeremy’s return that they kept him on as a special guest star to cover when Jeremy had his band engagements.
Reeve being cast as Gatsby is…a choice.
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Reeve-Carney-and-Eva-Noblezada-Will-Star-in-THE-GREAT-GATSBY-20260114
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#177
Posted: 1/14/26 at 10:41am
I sure hope that hes carves out a niche for himself soon because being Eva's hanger-on is kind of embarassing for him. Nobody is hanging onto their marriage for this to be a reason to see a show.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#178
Posted: 1/14/26 at 10:46am
Can we please get florence's Gatsby? In all honesty this has probably run long enough and I'm surprised it's run this long.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#179
Posted: 1/14/26 at 12:57pm
Not how business works, taco. That Gatsby has tons of work to do on it and it will get those rewrites in London.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#180
Posted: 1/14/26 at 1:02pm
These could just be wild rumors, but I saw social media rumblings about Darren Criss as Gatsby in the London Welch production with Rachel Zegler as Daisy.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#181
Posted: 1/14/26 at 2:17pm
Sutton Ross said: "Not how business works, taco. That Gatsby has tons of work to do on it and it will get those rewrites in London."
I know that's not how business works, but somehow I wish it was. I just finished the first draft of a musical after a year and a half and wish it could be finished now, alas it too has tons of work to do. The work seems much more exciting than what we currently have, and my generation is more impatient than any, and I see how that's an issue to a lot of people. Patience is key, and I hope in the coming months and years we'll get an excellent product years better than the show that watched the luhrmann film and wrote a show based on the bullet points, saying as I saw the show on Broadway back in October.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#182
Posted: 1/14/26 at 3:00pm
KevinKlawitter said: "These could just be wild rumors, but I saw social media rumblings about Darren Criss as Gatsby in the London Welch production with Rachel Zegler as Daisy."
That does sound wild as hell. Also, Darren has Nick energy, not Gatsby.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#183
Posted: 1/14/26 at 3:06pm
Wha terrible casting. Reeve Carney is going to absolutely murder those songs with his insipid voice.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#185
Posted: 1/30/26 at 11:22am
Dolly80 said: "Wha terrible casting. Reeve Carney is going to absolutely murder those songs with his insipid voice."
You cannot murder possibly the worst set of songs ever written for a dramatic Broadway musical.
Broadway Star Joined: 11/18/13
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#186
Posted: 1/30/26 at 11:58am
Scarywarhol said: "Dolly80 said: "Wha terrible casting. Reeve Carney is going to absolutely murder those songs with his insipid voice."
You cannot murder possibly the worst set of songs ever written for a dramatic Broadway musical."
This is the correct take. There will be no discernible difference.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#187
Posted: 1/30/26 at 12:21pm
Scarywarhol said: "Dolly80 said: "Wha terrible casting. Reeve Carney is going to absolutely murder those songs with his insipid voice."
You cannot murder possibly the worst set of songs ever written for a dramatic Broadway musical."
FAX
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#188
Posted: 1/30/26 at 12:45pm
I wonder whether he is going to ruin what is left of his voice -- he never was much of a singer. Gatsby is just one top-of-your-lungs power balled after another. I cannot imagine that he will be able to stay on key most of the time, and wonder how much he will strain his vocal cords.
I don't dislike him -- I actually liked him in Hadestown -- but he is clearly limited and has to date had a lot of luck.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#189
Posted: 2/2/26 at 11:00am
Gatsby opened it's US National Tour this weekend in Baltimore. Sales were solid for the weekend shows, but LuckySeat was used to fill-in sluggish sales for the shows coming this week for the weekdays. Think that is telling that the originating tour stop for the show didn't sell out. especially considering that Baltimore has a renown strong subscription base that sells most of the tickets via subscription. Just not the buzz to sell tickets, I guess.
I've seen this on with the Broadway cast, and now the tour. The tour holds up very well ... one could argue better. I know Jeremy Jordan isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I do like him. I think he is better than Jake David Smith at the role, but not by much. Smith does command the role and stays in the same ballpark as Jordan. He can sing, he can act, and the crowd certainly murmurs with impressive pause when he strips to his boxers for the pool scene! Where the touring cast takes the edge is with Daisy ... Senzel Ahmady. She is an equally amazing actress as she is a singer, being a deep passion for the role. Let's see if she can keep up the commitment for 8 shows a week as she bounces across the USA, but from my third row vantage I could see her produce real tears as she sang with such passion. Will Branner as Tom was one you love to hate as the villain.. I loathed him as his flippant sexists in this role more than his Broadway counterpart. Tap in act two was more on-point in the tour... did not miss once and brought some more fun and sizzle to it. Overall, act 2 in the tour show had more of a wow factor than the Broadway version. Seemed like they just went for it full blast. Staging and lighting is very much comparable to the Broadway version. The energy, passion, and emotion was thick. Really sold the show. As I mentioned, it was the opening weekend so still very fresh for the cast... not sure if they can bring this level every night. If they do, it is certainly worth a watch when it comes to your city.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#190
Posted: 2/2/26 at 11:52am
How do they do the final moment on the tour?
When Gatsby gets shot
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#191
Posted: 2/2/26 at 2:27pm
Call_me_jorge said: "How do they do the final moment on the tour?"
Gatsby is seen with an outstretched arm, in his suit ... all the spotlights are glowing bright white upon him, as he is staring off toward the Green light.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#192
Posted: 2/2/26 at 3:36pm
They don’t have him roll off the stage?
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#193
Posted: 2/18/26 at 9:05am
Michael Maliakel and Austin Colby will depart the musical on March 29.
Starting March 30, Corbin Bleu and John Behlmann will play Nick Carraway and Tom Buchanan.
Broadway Star Joined: 8/19/08
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#194
Posted: 2/24/26 at 1:07pm
Call_me_jorge said: "They don’t have him roll off the stage?"
I saw the show in Dallas this past Sunday. Instead of the orchestra pit being the pool, they built a set upstage to look like the pool. I'm not sure how to describe it, they had it where the pool looked like it was underground as a part of the stage with an outer rim/fence that was a few feet off the ground to block it off from the audience view. They had a backdrop too to help with the pool water effect.
There were two or three small steps as part of the outer rim that Gatsby took leading up to the pool and had it where it looked like he was standing at the edge of it. When he got shot the first time, he was standing and leaning forward clutching his chest. When he got shot the second time, he fell backwards into "the pool" aka a mat hidden on the stage by the set I'm guessing, and there was a splash sound effect. The audience gasped, and it was pretty effective in my opinion.
I think the other poster was talking about the literal final moment of the show.
I hope that all made sense!
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#195
Posted: 3/30/26 at 6:13pm
Who here's seeing Reeve, Corbin, and John's first performance tonight?
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#196
Posted: 4/22/26 at 1:05pm
Matthew Saldívar will join the Broadway company on May 11 as Meyer Wolfsheim.
(It was announced that Eric Anderson will rejoin MOULIN ROUGE! starting May 19.)
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#197
Posted: 4/22/26 at 2:53pm
Does anyone here knows how many student rushs they have?
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#198
Posted: 5/1/26 at 5:01pm
I saw the show yesterday. Eric's role is a great character piece and I'm sure Matt will shine. BTW-Eva WAS in for the Thursday matinee (Corbin and Sam were both out) and her scenes and songs with Reeve delivered "Hadestown" chills.
THE GREAT GATSBY Opening Night Critics’ Reviews#199
Posted: 5/6/26 at 11:23am
I caught the national tour in Durham last night.
I actually did read the original novel during my senior year of high school… and I really didn’t get it. I know I’m not alone in that as most teenagers tend to find The Great Gatsby dull, slow, and difficult to relate to. Shortly thereafter, I did catch up with two of the five film adaptations from 1974 and 2013, respectively. Neither of them managed to win me over.
Under Marc Bruni’s direction, he most certainly pulls off such a lavish production. There’s especially a lot to like about Paul Tate DePoo III’s visuals. His physical sets are quite elaborate while his projections are so dazzling to behold. There’s elegant lighting work courtesy of Cory Pattak. Linda Cho pulls off some very attractive costumes. The choreography by Dominique Kelley has quite a bit of style, including an impressive tap number in Act II.
Several of the performances deliver the goods. Whatever problems some may have with the title character (more on that later), Jake David Smith proves to be quite charismatic as Jay Gatsby. He shares compelling onstage chemistry with Senzel Ahmady as Daisy Buchanan. The latter of whom is very good in the role with such an impressive set of vocal pipes. Joshua Grosso does a pretty humble job as Nick Carraway. Leanne Robinson as Jordan Baker really blows the roof off with not just her voice, but also her sense of humor. Will Branner is excellent as Tom Buchanan. Lila Coogan proves to be quite a burst of energy as Myrtle Wilson.
I've always found Jason Howland's score with Mindi Dickstein for Little Women to be pretty underrated. His work with Nathan Tysen here successfully feels evocative of the 1920s. There’s a couple of power ballads such as the Act I finale, ‘My Green Light,’ and Gatsby’s big solo number in Act II, ‘Past Is Catching Up to Me.’ While they are pleasing to the ears, they also don’t match the musical tone with the rest of the score.
Time for the biggest question of all, how do I feel about this story now? While it most certainly has moments of comic relief and emotional catharsis, I still struggle to relate to the whole thing. It especially doesn’t help that several of the characters, including Gatsby himself, come off as rather unlikable. I’m not opposed to unlikable characters, just as long they at least feel sympathetic. Whether these particular characters have sympathy or not, they still prove to be too difficult to care for. Not to mention that for a musical, this appears to lack an active protagonist, a similar criticism I had with The Outsiders. It especially doesn’t help that Gatsby doesn’t show up until about 20 minutes in.
The novel has notoriously been considered a challenge to adapt to other mediums. Neither of its five movie versions were necessarily well regarded, with many feeling that the filmmakers struggle balancing out the “glitz and glamour” of the parties with the harsh, cynical critique of the 1920s. It’s also worth noting that in the novel, it’s all told through Nick’s introspective voice, which encourages an individual imagination for the reader. Easy to see how that makes it hard to translate as well as how the story is probably better left as a novel.
Although if I were giving notes to book writer Kait Kerrigan during the development process, this is what I’d suggest. Take a page out of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita and Sunset Boulevard. Mainly in how both musicals start at the very end, create intrigue for the audience regarding what happened, and have a singular narrator (which in this case, would be Nick) take the story back to the beginning. To me, that would’ve made for a more fascinating way in for this musical. Fans of the source material may not be entirely on board with that approach, but the novel will always be around. It’s not like the creative team would be erasing it from existence or anything like that at all.
Overall, there are aspects to like about The Great Gatsby. The spectacle of it all certainly makes me wish I could travel to the 1920s for the culture, clothing, and music. The performances certainly keep things afloat no matter how unlikable most of their characters are. I’m honestly not surprised by the mixed reception this received in New York upon opening. I will say that I did enjoy this more than what I remember of the novel. At best, I would give this a mild recommendation. I just wish I connected to the story more.
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