gatsby the musical....really — Page 2

massofmen: Really, you bash The Great Gatsby as pseudo-intellectual, pretentious reading but then bring up Catcher in the Rye as a counter-example? And Les Miserables is my favorite novel, but most people wouldn't pick it up at a book store because it's super long and, let's face it, rambling at times.

And I love Lolita, it's a brilliant book, but it's not what I would call a fun read by any means.

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Okay, former English Major coming out of the woodwork here:

"Magnanimous" means unresentful and noble in terms of forgiving one's enemies. No book can have this characteristic, as a book is an inanimate object. And the characters of this particular book don't really foster this noble-mindedness so I'm not sure what OP was talking about.

I would LOVE to hear a Michael John LaChiusa musical based on or inspired by "The Great Gatsby." The David Bowie idea is also a fascinating one and could really work in the right hands. It's a fantastic book that I very much enjoyed when I was in high school and continue to enjoy now that I'm an adult.

Sorry, that was bugging the heck out of me. Please continue.

massofmen:

No: in this case, "high-minded" means "just" and "noble," as in forgiving and fair--particularly to underlings and those who have wronged one. Think King Arthur or Louis XIV. It does NOT mean "high-minded" as in "intelligent" and "witty."

I'm also a big fan of "Catcher in the Rye," by the way. That book was a seminal contributing factor in my becoming a psychologist.

hmmm..well thanks! good to know the definition...I am being serious..you learn something new every day!

I read it in AP English high school and not only is it one of the few books I've re-read several times (granted it helps that it's so short), it was also by far one of the most liked books our class had to read. Of course maybe I'm just trying to sound intellectual.

There are a lot of classic, well loved books (and movies, and plays...) that I find overated, but that's just my personal view, I'd never pretend nobody else could genuinely like it.

Anyway, Gatsby does seem pretty hard to stage in a traditional way. There's the Clayton movie with a seemingly ideal cast Redford, and I remember a TV version when I was a teen with Paul Rudd (!), but it never seems to really work. Maybe Baz Luhrmann will prove me wrong (because, as much as I like some of Baz's stuff, the one thing Gatsby always needed to come to life on screen has been lots of quick cuts, oh and to be in 3D! Sigh).

I think it COULD work as a musical, but it would be hard to pull off. The use of narrator, many locations, the fact that while most of it is very intimate around a few characters it also has those huge party scenes... (Actually, it's starting to sound more and more like Sunset Blvd, down to car scenes).

Oh, and because nobody asked, Catcher in the Rye is a book I have never really liked--but I do get why so many people do. (Give me Salinger's Glass Family stories over it, anytime.)

I read this book in high school because I "had to," and it's been one of my favorite novels ever since.

Pass me the Kool-Aid!


EDIT: As far as musicalizing it, I would much rather see this than some of the "ice show" adaptations of pop-culture movies being thrown up on Broadway and the West End lately.

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Updated On: 8/10/11 at 07:39 AM

I think it's 'AMAZING."

Or as the Brits say, 'BRILLIANT."

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I completely understand how one of the most famous classic American novels could be something people only pretended to like to appear smart.

Oh, wait. No, I can't. That makes absolutely no sense at all. I just forgot for a moment that people can like whatever they like for whatever reason they like. I hated a lot of stuff i had to read in school (A Light in the Forest, Call of the Wild, A Separate Peace, Brave New World), but I enjoyed The Great Gatsby. I was intrigued by the period and the characters. I really wanted Nick and Gatsby to hook up near the end.

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A great American novel that simply doesn't lend itself to musicalization, except in opera form.

Henrik, I'd go even further and suggest that the opera wasn't even successful. I found it unending and musically uninspired. Aside from Myrtle's one spectacular aria (performed beautifully, in the Met premiere, by the late Lorraine Hunt), I barely remember any of the music. I don't think the novel has ever been successfully adapted, and it will likely stay that way.

That said, it is one of the great works of American literature. I regularly teach it despite the fact that most of my students have already read it in high school and think they know it inside-out. They (and I) are surprised by how many layers they discover in a second, more thorough examination of the text.

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I'm not particularly in favor of a musical adaptation, but Jill Paice does have "Daisy Buchanan" written all over her.

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I'd actually love to see a musical version of Gatsby if it can be done well, but...is it wrong that I have virtually no hope for it at all since the New York Musical Festival is putting the concert on? I think out of the 100 or so shows I saw last year, three of my bottom five came out of NYMF. Did I just generally have terrible luck? Is it worth giving this thing another shot? Because I really felt burned by it.

"As for the rights, dont be surprised if Disney pulls another one to protect its mouse, and Gatsby gets taken along for the ride."

That's not possible under U.S. law. The rights to The Great Gatsby will be public domain in 2021, and they can't be renewed by anyone.

EDIT: And by the way, it's already in the public domain in Canada and Australia, so you can do what you want with it there.

Which leads me to believe that's why Baz Luhrmann is moving forward with his film adaptation now. He'll have to obtain the rights to release it in the U.S., but not in his own country of Australia. Interesting.

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Updated On: 8/10/11 at 11:40 AM

I never saw the opera, AC, but I can see Gatsby working as an opera. At least much moreso than I can see it as a musical.