THE GREAT GATSBY - London Coliseum (20/07/25)

Gorgeous adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's magnum opus fizzes like champagne

The setting is 1920s New York, and every night is party time as far as Jay Gatsby and his gluttonous gaggle of guests are concerned, at least that's the picture with which we are initially presented in this new musical adaptation of perhaps F Scott Fitzgerald's best known and loved work of literature. And it's this degree of frivolity, as well as its capitalist undertones, highlighted by the dichotomy between Gatsby's lavish lifestyle, and that of those with far more limited spending power, that one would expect to be the driving force behind "The Great Gatsby". This ideology, however, very much plays second fiddle to the love story between the titular Jay Gatsby and his old flame Daisy Buchanan that takes centre stage for the most part.

Whether or not you have read Fitzgerald's novel is likely going to affect what you take away from this production, and you can't really get away from that, since the focus of the musical is distinctly different from the book. The most notable absence is any sort of backstory or character building for Gatsby himself, this is touched upon briefly, but more than anything what we are given is purely speculative outside of the fact that he, like so many other men of a similar age in the story, fought in the first world war, which was a significant contributor to how the narrative plays out. Additionally the overriding notion of capitalism seems to merely drift in and out of our collective consciousness, due to its perceived unimportance to this particular iteration of the story.

The London company of The Great Gatsby (credit: Johan Persson)

In spite of one's misgivings surrounding how the original source material is adapted to the stage however, one has to consider how the musical presents, and what is clear is that it is not trying to be a top quality representation of the deeper themes that characterise Fitzgerald's original novel, rather an all singing, all dancing spectacle, a dizzying visual and musical tribute to the roaring 20s, and all the opulence and prosperity that came with pre-depression USA. And though we do get some semblance of the inequity in terms of the distribution of the considerable circulation of wealth by means of characters like Myrtle and George, this is only really touched upon very much at a surface level.

Basically, to describe the show as style over substance would not only be fundamentally spot on, but a great compliment to its overindulgent presentation, and a large part of this stems from the visual design, with Paul Tate dePoo III's exquisite set and projection design a major player in this. Everything about the scenery just screams luxury, from its overall gargantuan scale, to the stunning intricacy of the flown in pieces, and the beautifully designed projected backdrops that magnificently compliment the hand crafted set pieces; and the costumes by Linda Cho also deserve huge adulation for their sheer attention to detail, especially those adopted by the ensemble.

Jamie Muscato and Frances Mayli McCann (credit: Johan Persson)

And along with resplendent attire, they don't half know how to perform, with absolutely first rate execution of Dominique Kelley's slick, dazzling choreography across the board, especially in major group numbers "New Money" (led marvellously by Amber Davies) and "La Dee Dah With You", and the soaring, roaring ensemble vocals fill the auditorium and tingle the spine. Davies' performance as Jordan is the best I have ever seen her on stage, having seen Sam Pauly at the Broadway Theatre I know she is a heck of an act to follow, and Davies absolutely manages to make the role her own, along with giving spellbinding chemistry with the ever charming, immensely talented Corbin Bleu as Nick Carraway.

We can't talk about the cast without mentioning our two leads Jamie Muscato and Frances Mayli McCann, their takes on Gatsby and Daisy respectively shine brightly in a production whose green light is already fully luminescent. Muscato has a confident swagger, yet striking vulnerability about his portrayal of the titular enigma, and his gorgeous baritenor voice is like velvet, whilst McCann displays terrific gumption, emotional nuance and acting range. There is a stunning range of individual performances to choose from in this cast, but the pick of the day has to be Rachel Tucker as Myrtle Wilson, who gives a full performance of real class and character, her rendition of "One-Way Road" absolutely took the roof off the Coliseum.

From the perspective of the literary purist, one would have to conclude that this musical misses the mark in terms of how it adapts the source material, but then it never really feels like it's trying to perfectly bring the full narrative to life, if it were then it likely wouldn't present itself as anywhere near as lavish or luxurious. This is a production that puts characters ahead of capitalism, and given the systematic showmanship to which we are treated, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing, especially since this critic did have a right merry old time, and I am certain you will too, old sport!

★★★★☆

"The Great Gatsby" runs at the London Coliseum until the 7th of September (tickets).