It’s like your 10th grade English class — with dance breaks.
“The Great Gatsby” is, possibly, the Great American Novel, capturing the spirit of an era with vividly drawn characters and a critical eye on 1920s society. While author F. Scott Fitzgerald does sketch a memorable plot in the book, it’s really the characters that make “Gatsby” so great.
That’s the difficulty of adapting art. It is possible to fully flesh out characters in theater, of course, but it’s harder than in the form of prose. Especially when you add in musical numbers, it becomes a challenge to know a complex person in two hours and 30 minutes.
This stage adaptation — with music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Nathan Tysen and book by Kait Kerrigan — manages a semi-successful Cliff’s Notes of the novel, but the very fact of it being a musical spectacle misses the point of “Gatsby,” a novel that was at its heart a critique of empty flash and spectacle.
But hey, flash and spectacle are a lot of fun. And this show, which is running through May 31 at the Benedum Center in Downtown Pittsburgh as part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh Series, has glimmers of fun and heart.
Fitzgerald’s novel was published in 1925, and this adaptation premiered on Broadway almost exactly a century later in 2024. In the story, we follow narrator Nick Carraway (a highly endearing Joshua Grosso) as he moves into a cottage on Long Island that sits on the property of the mysterious, nouveau riche Jay Gatsby (Jake David Smith). Nick comes to learn that Jay Gatsby is still in love with Nick’s cousin, Daisy (Senzel Ahmady), who lives on the other side of the sound with her philandering old-money husband Tom (Will Branner).
Gatsby and Daisy met years before and fell in love before Gatsby was sent overseas to fight in World War I. He came back to amass a fortune so that he would be worthy of her, and with Nick’s help, the two of them reconnect. But what cost will all of them have to pay for the affair?
Smith does the material proud as Gatsby, portraying the character’s insecure pomposity at the start but becoming increasingly manic as the artifice falls away. His mannerisms and vocal choices can be funny, but they’re also heartbreaking. He and Ahmady have instant chemistry, which is in itself a tragedy when things come crashing down. Ahmady also made the biggest impression of Tuesday’s opening night with song “Beautiful Little Fool,” which takes its thesis from one of the book’s most famous quotes.
Another standout performance came from Leanne Robinson, who plays Jordan Baker, a friend of Daisy and love interest of Nick. Robinson is wry and quick-witted, and she leads upbeat party number “New Money” to rousing success.
The reason to see this show is its dancing, and choreographer Dominique Kelley deserves praise for so many showstoppers. Act II’s “La Dee Dah With You” was a personal favorite, with tap dancing that brought the house down. Costume designer Linda Cho’s glitzy flapper dresses and snazzy suits only added to the wow factor of these numbers, as did Cory Pattak’s lighting design.
Scenic designer Paul Tate dePoo III made lavish parties and seedy rooms just as realistic with a number of clever sets and projections. And director Marc Bruni kept the show’s pacing brisk and the characters engaging, even through some of the dragging musical numbers.
The themes and symbolism within “The Great Gatsby” have been thoroughly studied, from the clash of old and new money to the moral disillusionment of the Roaring ’20s to the shifts in women’s rights and attitudes. These themes exist in the musical, but they’re completely devoid of subtlety; it’s pretty hard to be subtle when you have to condense a novel into two and a half hours and play all the way to the back of the house.
If you want to see some great moves to jazzy 1920s-style tunes, this is the show for you this weekend. But if you’re a big F. Scott Fitzgerald fan, I’d recommend curling up with a good book instead.
“The Great Gatsby” will run through May 31 at the Benedum Center in Downtown Pittsburgh as part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh Series. To learn more and get tickets, visit trustarts.org.