THE GREAT GATSBY @ Paper Mill Playhouse Thread — Page 5

SamVas said: "Hello chat. I’ve always been a JJordan fan but - wether or not this production makes it to broadway, it is truly one of the most magical nights of theater I’ve seen in a very long time. I respect everyone will have a different insight as the book has historically come with mixed response from the public. I can say I’ve seen near 95% of the current broadway season and I do wonder if some of these posts are intended to just be… nasty(?!). Will this production be the second coming to musical theater - No. What I can put input on is: I could see nearly every person in the orchestra sitting forward in their seat during the night that instantly stood to their feet. This has exceeded everything I’ve seen at Paper Mill in the past 15 years and I had to write to counter the questionably heartless posts here. The night was everything I’d want from a title comes with such high expectation. It was beyond great in my opinion and I applaud the Paper Mill for making this for the people that love this story."

ha ummm totally not what I'm hearing from various sources in the industry and that being nothing magical about it ! anyway...........

This has a ton of South Korean money behind it-it will go wherever they want it to go next regardless of reviews-could be outside the US entirely..

Updated On: 10/15/23 at 05:35 PM

Hard to judge since it's only a month long run.

Robbie2 said: "I'm hearing from my industry friends that this production is a dud and the music is unmemorable. Chavkin's production is the better one to focus on with aspirations for Broadway and will likely make it before this one so we shall see?"

All it takes is Shubert, Nederlander, or Roundabout giving them a house. (Jordan Roth is producing the Chavkin one.) If they see good earnings potential in the Paper Mill production, there's no reason for one of those owners not to give it a house whether it's good or bad. Unless Roth has done some wheeling & dealing behind the scenes to get the above-mentioned landlords on his side, which I kind of doubt but crazier things have happened.

Kad said: "We certainly have had no shortage of DOA transfers in recent years that then manage to bleed money for months."

Such as nearly every new musical to open on Broadway post-shutdown.

LOLZ.

MarilynMonroeSmash said: "I attended last night and this was probably one of the worst pieces of theater I have ever seen.

To preface, I must say the performances are excellent though. The cast is making the most out of nothing. I wish Jeremy was in the Florence Welch production because he’s a great Gatsby; he just has terrible material to work with. I also enjoyed some of the direction and the sets (except for Gatsby’s mansion, which looked like a factory), but the writing was a mess. These authors, especially the book writer, should never be allowed to touch an American classic again.

The score is beyond generic. There is not one song that stands out. They all sound the same and the lyrics are pretty terrible and bland. It felt all surface level for these characters while trying to go deep, but never reaching past ground soil. I think five songs can be cut off right from the bat. Too much music that I don’t think I will ever list to again. And it does all sound like other shows. I couldn’t stop singing Santa Fe at intermission.

Now the book…I am embarrassed for Kait Kerrigan because it is obvious that she failed 11th grade English. She completely misses the point of Fitzgerald’s work and removes everything for Gatsby that makes it Gatsby. She has altered the plot and character motivations way too much to suit her own ego. (Remember she is the person who said she never liked the book before and thought she couldn’t relate to the characters, so the first thing she was going to do was change that!) The story is so uneven and at times feels like more of a love story between Nick and Jordan than Gatsby and Daisy. I can go in detail about all the plot changes if anyone wants because there is a lot.

I’m not a huge fan of the novel and I understand some things will always have to be changed for a stage adaptation, but I do think when adapting a great American novel, you don’t start rubbing your fingers on it and try “to improve it.” I don’t know where the previous poster was sitting because only the Jeremy and Eva fans enjoyed this or people who have never read the book. There felt like a mutual feeling in the audience that night that we all watched a trainwreck that night. I didn’t hear anyone say a word leaving the theater. Everyone quickly left to get to their cars or trains. I have attending a lot of first previews and the excitement and tension of these performances can usually make **** shine, but no amount of glitter, glue or bleach can make this **** shine."

Attended 10/13 and echo many of these sentiments. It was one of the worst shows I’ve seen. Music (particularly lyrics) were forgettable or just bad. The pacing and book/story were a mess. Scene transitions were a mess and too often went from some long, story development scene and emotional musical closer RIGHT into a different song with a different mood. The conflict and dramatic “climax” was messy and felt very rushed - although at my show they had to stop the show for 15 minutes because of an apparent issue with their big prop gimmick, and they skipped the rest of the scene and re-started with the dramatic high. I also found it very strange for Daisy to have her 11 o’clock number after the other dramatic climax that kinda of ends all suspense. Thought the story telling into the trip to the plaza was mind boggling. Not sure if it was the goal for the character or if Sam Pauly’s acting is …shall we say more suited for a show like Six. I don’t know the novel too well but it seems they just struggled to capture what meant to be a long-form story in 2.5 hours while trying to cram so much music into it.


I went for Jeremy and Eva and they did not disappoint despite the material to work with.

I was at the show today. It needs a lot of work, but my god, the vocals from the cast were wonderful. I’ll never regret any time spent listening to Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada singing.


The show starts off rough but does improve - particularly in Act II. That said, the show opener and Act II opener are duds that really need some work.


As others have mentioned, the audience ATE IT UP. I heard a lot of older audience members absolutely raving about it afterward and saying it was one of the best things they’ve ever seen. The ones I heard griping about it the most were people waiting for the train back to NYC. And we all know Broadway producers want money from more than just us NYC theater folk.


Another aside, I was shocked by how many audience members clearly weren’t familiar with the source material. There were some gaps in moments that I just assumed most people wouldn’t be surprised by. The book has been required reading in a lot of US school systems for decades, and even if a person didn’t read it or wasn’t expected to read it, it’s also a story that’s been in the cultural zeitgeist for quite some time on screen as well.


All in all, I’m very glad I went. Really curious to see where they take it after the run ends - and also very excited to see the ART production.

Updated On: 10/23/23 at 03:05 PM

KJ4 said: "Great review from Rye Myers. Funny that some ppl here are so strongly in am idea the music is crap. While some like here said it s fantastics. I guess u gotta judge urself then. Cus it s seem like either u hate it or u like it, no middle ground.



https://www.ryemyers.com/post/rye-reviews-the-great-gatsby-musical-at-paper-mill-playhouse-starring-jeremy-jordan-eva-noblezada?fbclid=IwAR2ka5iqboQMShx47K57G86O0t25aOzfrW-JQEvYOi0Rc1bNRhfEDrwre68"

A no name blog wrote a review that was shared here by someone whose posts are rife with spelling errors. Duly noted.

KJ4 said: "I thought as long as we human can communicatie even use sign language is enough to convey the messages. So i was wrong then."

No, you were right. This isn't an online English class, so you should just ignore the complaints.