THE GREAT GATSBY at Paper Mill Playhouse - Critics’ Reviews- Page 3

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 10/29/23 at 1:20pm

Anyways, I’ll be seeing this Wednesday evening. I’ll be sure to post my opinion about this production. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/29/23 at 1:34pm

I think the discussion of the ART's pending produciton are dsicussing the HOPE that its wonderful.  No one is saying it's a foregone conclusion.  The idea that Gatsby will never succeed as a musical has certainly been bounced around.

 

And, gee, I just hate when  a "snooze" like Hadestown wins so many Tony Awards.  You, like a few other posters, like to post as if YOUR opinion is the only opinion in existence. Perhaps not your intention, but that's the way you often come across.

[inception]

Posted: 10/30/23 at 7:25pm

Fun review on Parterre:

"For me, before I’d willingly see this show again, I’d stand in the middle of a One-Way Road in Long Island and wait to be run over."

https://parterre.com/2023/10/30/rotten-eggs/

[Melissa25]

Posted: 10/31/23 at 8:02pm

Ouch.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/31/23 at 9:27pm

Maybe ouch... But I couldn't agree more. 

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 3:01pm

I wish the score sounded like roaring 20s jazziness, and instead it was giving contemporary musical theatre. Even the choreo didn’t really have any 20s inspiration. The big numbers were pretty dreadful, especially that red white and blue song in the second act about picking yourself up.  Cringe. It’s not at all what you want when you think of a great gatsby themed anything. I want opulence and extravagance and expensive. I want flappers doing the Charleston. I wish it was a sung thru lavish mega musical, and this was generic musical theatre. That being said, I enjoyed it. 

[bwayobsessed]

Posted: 11/8/23 at 11:15pm

So I’ll start by saying I’ve never liked the story of Great Gatsby and I don’t really get why so many want to adapt it. I feel like it’s really a story about a lot of pretty awful people. I came cuz I wanted to hear Jeremy Jordan belt and it did not disappoint. He and Eva actually make the central love story feel alive which is very exciting when they’re together. I thought Myrtle’s act 2 solo was the highlight-well staged, well performed. The design is gorgeous and so well done. I think all of the party scenes were underwhelming. Some songs landed better than others. I think there’s something there but the source material bogs it down 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 4:30pm

The show has new ads online saying “Something Great Is Coming” with forms to fill out to be “notified first” of what’s coming. 

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 9:38pm

It's coming to Broadway soon

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 9:44pm

If this has the Broadway, I swear Doctor Zhivago might end up lasting longer. 

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:00pm

Jordan Catalano said: "The show has new ads online saying “Something Great Is Coming” with forms to fill out to be “notified first” of what’s coming."

I'm thinking it's a cast recording vs. a Broadway transfer. I don't see this as being a money maker on Broadway especially with such a jam packed season. 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:56pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "If this has the Broadway, I swearDoctor Zhivagomight end up lasting longer."

Chunsoo Shin wants in on Bway despite the reviews and his most recent show One Upon a One More Time just bombed his other show was Doctor Zhivago which actually played at the Broadway, I think lasted 2 months......bombed as well. Gatsby will bomb as well! Didn't see it but I trust my industry friends negative thoughts about it.

Updated On: 11/12/23 at 10:56 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 11:18pm

Bill Snibson said: "I'm thinking it's a cast recording vs. a Broadway transfer. I don't see this as being a money maker on Broadway especially with such a jam packed season."

 

https://broadwaygatsby.com

The website says “NOW IN A PRE-BROADWAY ENGAGEMENTAT PAPER MILL PLAYHOUSE”, Soo it seems a transfer is imminent. 

 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 7:02am

Robbie2 said: "EDSOSLO858 said: "If this has the Broadway, I swearDoctor Zhivagomight end up lasting longer."

Chunsoo Shin wants in on Bway despite the reviews and his most recent show One Upon a One More Time just bombed his other show was Doctor Zhivago which actually played at the Broadway, I think lasted 2 months......bombed as well."

This is... quite a track record. https://www.playbill.com/person/chunsoo-shin-vault-0000023860 And I liked Doctor Zhivago (partially for the wrong reasons, but I did like it). This does make it less surprising that anyone would try to quickly transfer the next show from the guy who brought us Paradise Square.

[BETTY22]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 8:07am

This is happening - plus they want to move quickly to get to the finish line before the other show based on the same material. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 8:42am

BETTY22 said: "This is happening - plus they want to move quickly to get to the finish line before the other show based on the same material."

I hope they're able to rework this before it arrives on Broadway. This will be a major flop otherwise.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 9:29am

EDIT: Ehhh thought better of this particular comment. Sorry. 

Updated On: 11/11/23 at 09:29 AM

[Voter]

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

ACL2006 said: "BETTY22 said: "This is happening - plus they want to move quickly to get to the finish line before the other show based on the same material."

I hope they're able to rework this before it arrives on Broadway. This will be a major flop otherwise."

They won't. They are very literally getting this thrown up for the spring. A friend of mine was asked to invest and refused after seeing how large the capitalization was. Now she's happy with her decision... 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 10:26am

Wonder what theater they're looking at? The Jeremy Jordan fans will run to see him, but this is going to be a major flop next year.

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 10:31am

If the show transfers in its current form, it will flop badly. If you thought the reviews were generous to it, most NYC critics, especially Jesse Greene and Johnny Oleksinski will trash it! It needs a whole lot of work before making the jump to Broadway. Especially the book! 

[quizking101]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 11:12am

Dylan Smith4 said: "If the show transfers in its current form, it will flop badly. If you thought the reviews were generous to it, most NYC critics, especially Jesse Greene and Johnny Oleksinski will trash it! It needs a whole lot of work before making the jump to Broadway. Especially the book!"

Wholeheartedly agree, but I feel like the score needs as much of an overhaul as the book since it’s just generically and aggressively loud. It’s Baz Luhrmann on a budget.

Re: The Critics - Johnny Oleksinski really tends towards hating everything, so I only ever take stock in his reviews when he pops out the rare positive review. Green is at least a bit more balanced in his critiques.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 11:14am

So u don’t want them to go to broadway because the other gatsby is better?  Isn’t that a you problem? Means nothing to them and if anything just shows that coming in this season is the best decision for THEM.  Being first does have its advantages. Look at what happened between the dreadful &juliet, and the much superior once upon a one more time. 

[singer234]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 11:49am

A lot of people on social media, I think emboldened by sweatyoracle, seem to share this view, as if the producers don’t have a “moral compass” because they’re trying to get their show to Broadway, and it could distract from the more “deserving” one? It blows my mind because….this is public domain. Anyone could write another Gatsby musical today and put it on Broadway before any of these if they wanted to and had the money.
 

This whole “this is pure greed” thing kind of also ignores the fact that perhaps these Gatsbys are not competing or intended for the same audience. It’s clear the Paper Mill version is going for big, splashy, romantic musical with a capital M. Everything I’ve heard about ART’s version sounds so cool, but the exact opposite. Why on earth would we even think they may be competing for the same sorts of audiences? Maybe Florence’s Gatsby wins Best Musical and gains a Hadestown esque base, while this version gets produced abroad and in high schools for years to come, more like Little Women. They can both be successful in different ways. I can already see all of Jeremy’s songs being staples of the Jimmy Awards in the next decade. Is that a good or a bad thing? I really don’t know. But I doubt this is the last we have seen of Gatsby musicals, anyway. 

Updated On: 11/11/23 at 11:49 AM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 12:26pm

Obviously the producers and investors here can do whatever they like with their money and public domain material. Who here said otherwise? When there are two shows based on the same material aiming for Broadway at a time when it is extremely difficult for any new show to survive, people are naturally going to find the situation interesting and have takes. 

[singer234]

Posted: 11/11/23 at 12:31pm

I never said people couldn’t have takes. I think the take of questioning the morality of a creative team trying to get the musical they wrote to Broadway just because people prefer a different version is an odd one. But I appreciate anyone’s right to have it.