Musical 'The Great Gatsby' Conquers Broadway... Audience Amazed by Magical Stage Transitions

[Financial News] A man in a white suit looks at the green light across the river through a large window. Suddenly, the stage transforms magically, and Nick Carraway, a naive young man from the Midwest, delivers a monologue to the audience. Then, with a lavishly dressed ensemble of men and women, he sings the opening number 'Roaring On', inviting the audience to the golden age of New York in the 1920s jazz era, where parties never stopped.
The musical 'The Great Gatsby' is a sensational work where OD Company’s Shin Chun-soo became the first Asian lead producer (chief producer) on Broadway. Having passed through the West End in the UK, this work finally landed in Korea and officially opened at the GS Art Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 8th.
This work, based on the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a representative of 20th-century American literature, captivates the audience with its story of a poor man's thwarted American Dream for a rich woman, set against a backdrop of dazzling jazz melodies, dance, high-resolution LED visuals, and a narrative that delves into the depths of human desire.
Despite somewhat lukewarm reviews from foreign media like "sensory overload, lack of emotional depth", it has received rave reviews from audiences as "entertaining" and "great acting and spectacular stage", proving how brilliantly the original work fits as a musical subject. Particularly notable are the fast-paced, seamless development and the multi-layered perspectives of the characters.
While the original is structured as a first-person narrative by Nick recalling events, the musical interweaves the perspectives of characters like the romantic dreamer Gatsby, Gatsby's eternal love Daisy, and Daisy's 'rich' husband Tom, drawing the audience into a deeper engagement and empathy.
The music is not an exaggeration to say "every song is a killer number". From the vibrant jazz rhythm and dynamic choreography of 'New Money' to 'Roaring On', which opens and closes the show with entirely different emotional resonances, and the emotional solo 'For Her' sung by Matt Doyle, a Tony Award-winning actor playing Gatsby, the music instantly captivates. Additionally, the ensemble dances combining Charleston, jazz, voguing, and tap dance are visually overwhelming.
This work, with its very American style, possesses the strengths of a musical in its dazzling show attributes. However, it does not merely stop at being a spectacle; it also effectively reveals the themes of human desire, class issues, and the gap between ideals and reality from the original work. The more glamorous the stage, the more it contrasts with the underlying sadness, leaving a bitter impression.
Playwright Kate Kerrigan mentioned in the program, "From the beginning, I had the Seoul stage in mind, constantly questioning what resonance a 100-year-old American novel would have for today's Korean audience," and "The longing for class ascent is no different from the theme of the movie 'Parasite', and the narratives of characters quietly suffering in family and society resonate with Han Kang's 'The Vegetarian'." She also expressed, "I hoped the audience would empathize with the timeless stories of dreams, desires, love, and loss."
Perhaps Gatsby, who ran towards what seemed like an impossible dream, resembles Shin Chun-soo, who made new history on Broadway. Shin had dreamed of entering Broadway with musicals like 'Holler If Ya Hear Me' (2014), based on the life of rapper Tupac, and 'Doctor Zhivago' (2015), but faced the pain of poor box office performance. He achieved his long-held dream with 'The Great Gatsby' after ten years.
  
jashin@fnnews.com Shin Jin-a Reporter