The newest “Great Gatsby” musical fails to hit the right note. (Courtesy of Twitter)

To preface, I’ve seen a lot of musicals. I’m somewhat of a musical connoisseur as well as an avid reader. So when I heard rumors that a “Great Gatsby” musical was in production, I knew I would be in attendance. 

Even more exciting was the cast I was prepared to see at this musical, featuring Broadway giants like Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada. Everything was making this musical out to be one of the greatest musicals that they have ever seen. And it all comes down to the story, as “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald has immense potential to convey a really interesting plot. 

So needless to say, I was elated to get my student ticket for a Sunday night performance at the Paper Mill Playhouse. While my train to Milburn, N.J., was canceled upon my arrival to Penn Station, I refused to let that bring me down, and hopped in a car to the Playhouse.

In terms of the actual show, I was initially very mixed on my feelings, but now I am here to give you an accurate breakdown of what I witnessed.

First, the set design and staging of the show was incredible. The sets looked like they had a million-dollar budget, from the elaborate Jay Gatsby mansion to the billboard of the eyes, every piece of set design was done carefully and with elegance. By far, the most beautiful set had to be the garden house decorated with flowers upon the arrival of Daisy meeting Jay. It was always a visually stunning scene in adaptations like the Baz Lurhmann movie from 2013, but it was expertly recreated in this stage musical version. 

Another strong pro to the show came through with the vocal performances of both the main cast and ensemble. While I’ll get into the actual music in just a moment, I have to give props to the singing and the dance performances throughout the show to keep it entertaining. While a strong vocal showing was inferred by the talented cast, they really sold their characters’ personalities, and it was nice to see the actors drawing from the source material.

However, while I commend the vocals, I personally found the music and lyrics to be very subpar for a Broadway show. Outside of the opening song for Act Two, entitled “Shady,” the songs lacked a lot of memorability. The lyrics themselves, written by Nathan Tysen, fell short of my expectations as I struggled with really feeling a cohesive connection between the plot and the lyrics and even further, the melodies. The actual instrumentation of most songs didn’t really drive the story further, instead working as gaps of songs in a show rather than a cohesive story.

I think the issue of the lyrics then stems back into another gripe, which is the adaptation of the book itself. While keeping the major plot points and quotes from the book, the songs, which are meant to enhance each character and give the listener insight into how they think, felt out of place for each character. 

Specifically, one song that did this was the number before the finale sung by Noblezada, who played Daisy. The song “Beautiful Little Fool” is clearly inspired by the quote spoken by Daisy at the beginning of the novel, but this song comes at the very end of the musical. The actual writing of the song tries to give depth to this quote, but I don’t think there needs to be a song explaining this quote. That’s what made the original book so impactful is how understated the line is by Daisy. Giving background and explaining the ins and outs of the quote felt like it was watering down what it means to be a mother of a daughter.

Furthermore, they chose to have Nick engage in a relationship with Jordan Baker, something that never even crossed my mind or was hinted at in the book. I appreciate artistic liberties, but I think this makes Nick’s quote of “You’re worth the whole damn lot” a lot less impactful due to the lack of connection we see fostered between Nick and Gatsby in this production.

So looking forward, there are other productions of “The Great Gatsby” in musical form in the work, specifically one with lyrics and music being done by Florence and the Machine’s Florence Welch. I actually am very intrigued by the prospect of multiple versions coming out to make a case for Broadway because I think it is still wide open in terms of who could get a major spot. All in all, this depends on the funding and backers, and it is very possible the version done at the Paper Mill Playhouse may grace the stage one day. 

Until then, I’m so glad I got the opportunity to see and enjoy another show, but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to go see it if it appears on Broadway.