‘The Great Gatsby, A New Musical’ @ The Music Hall in Fair Park
Photos by Matthew Murphy
—Martha Heimberg
The party’s the thing in The Great Gatsby, A New Musical—a lavishly produced 2023 musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’ 1925 novel, with book by Kait Kerrigan and music by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen.
Directed by Marc Bruni, with choreography by Dominique Kelley, this North American tour production turns the stage of The Music Hall at Fair Park into a posh Long Island mansion where rich, beautiful people sing and dance and fall in love and have adulterous affairs—all with Jazz Age abandon. The packed house on Wednesday night cheered and clapped and swooned on cue. Moral decay and decadent wealth never looked more glamorous and enticing than this. Hmmm—ould this show be more timely than intended?
Narrator and new-kid-in-town Nick Carraway (boyish, eager Joshua Grosso, wearing his Minnesota heart on his sleeve) rents a cottage on the vast estate belonging to self-made millionaire Jay Gatsby (Jake David Smith’s). Gatsby invites curious Nick to his grand parties, ostensibly because they’re both Great War veterans and single guys. Turns out, business shark Jay is actually a confirmed romantic, still yearning for his pretty pre-war sweetheart Daisy (ruthless, seductive Senzel Ahmady)…who just happens to be Nick’s cousin. Daisy married into old wealth in the person of Tom Buchanan (willing villain Will Branner), a real bastard who beats up on his feisty mistress Myrtle (saucy Lila Coogan) who in turn despises her working-class mechanic husband George (born victim Tally Sessions). Got the plot?
The story plays out as more melodrama than tragedy. The talented cast of fine singers belts out big numbers with verve and show us their “I’m on tour” stamina in every scene. Smith’s soaring falsetto in Gatsby’s ballad “For Her” is memorable (perhaps more so than the song itself), and Ahmady’s ambitious Daisy is touchingly vulnerable singing “For Better or Worse,” a song about the trials of loveless marriage. Branner’s Tom and Coogan’s Myrtle, plus the can-do ensemble, have boisterous fun with “Second Hand Suit.”
Kelley’s razzle-dazzle choreography incorporating 1920’s dances brings great energy to the show, and the bouncy score is perfect for chorus line cuties. The rousing, perfectly executed tap dance number is a slice of vaudeville that deserved the spontaneous applause that erupted on opening night.
Paul Tate dePoo’s scenic and projection design is like stepping into another world. Lavish in detail, the interior and exterior scenes of the mansion are a technical extravaganza. Art Deco architectural elegance, grand chandeliers hanging over an outdoor tea party—and the vibrant video projections of fireworks—it’s all bewitching. Retro car fans will love the show’s blue roadster convertible and yellow Rolls-Royce driving across the stage, loaded with rich passengers. How could a girl not be seduced by the wealth and glamour?
Costume designer Linda Cho won a Tony Award for the colorful period costumes. Flappers in gold-fringed dresses open and close the show in glittering style, and women in luxurious gowns and furs are truly gasp-worthy (as are some of the gents in their formal togs). Garage station workers and maids and butlers are perfectly attired, too.
Charlie Alterman conducts a 15-member orchestra, filling The Music Hall with the exciting sound of live music (even before the show starts!) as they play us to our seats with a lively overture. The anticipation is a happy high all by itself.
The Great Gatsby, A New Musical may not be the Fitzgerald you remember from English class, but this Broadway Dallas presentation is a spectacular piece of musical theater, and an upbeat two-hour trip back to the Jazz Age—when a million bucks could buy a mansion. Talk about inflation.
WHEN: February 17-March 1, 2026
WHERE: Music Hall at Fair Park, 909 1st Avenue, Dallas
WEB: broadwaydallas.org
