Customer Reviews for Gatsby
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Best show I’ve seen all year
I absolutely adored this production. The creative team and performers create an unforgettable and brilliant modern adaptation of the classic novel.
My review
Loves Set and lighting and music is incredible. Cast is incredible. Ensemble is incredible. Choreo incredible. Costumes incredible. The talent is stunning and everything onstage is addicting, dripping with good ol’ American desperation. I loved the grit, even in the party scenes. My favorite part was the rainy tea party, it’s so fun! A good moment of levity I think. Nick and Myrtle were my favorites. Cast album when???? Critiques - there were too many moments where I was thinking “why is this actor’s back to the audience? I want to see their face!†- the murder of Gatsby felt kind of anticlimactic. Could use more tension buildup… maybe reveal the gun sooner? - This show has a lot of complex and important dialogue, and for a the first half of act 1 I was struggling to understand a lot of it. In some of the louder songs, the actor’s mics were too quiet or the diction wasn’t dictioning, and I had to follow the dialogue based on vibes. Fortunately the vibes were immaculate! I loved it!
Maybe lose the drawls
Overall, Gatsby was great and surely Broadway bound. The ART redeemed what was certainly a mixed season for them. The criticisms of this show are small but they detracted enough to be disconcerting and disruptive to the overall experience. Both Daisy and Myrtle could drop the poorly done “ Southern drawls†- they were just too difficult to understand and got in the way of the character development. Also, the lighting in some sequences, seings out into the audience and is literally blinding to those in the rows closest to the stage. Overall, a wonderful time with exceptional music by Florence Welch and an excellent acting troup.
Not so great
They got lost in the story. Second act made me want to sleep. The Gatsby currently on Broadway is much better. Overall ok if you have no other plans for the night
To A Hammer, Everything Lioks Like A Nail
A beautiful looking set design with some great performances, the show itself is one that largely treats every aspect of the show as it were a hammer to a nail. The songs often lack subtlety, even when the moment would be better served by it. Most songs are at the level of "Let.me.tell.you. how. I'm. feeling." Rather than allowing us to explore, the show hits us over the head with unsubtle storytelling. And appropo, the sound level is LOUD, to the sometimes point where words in the ensemble numbers were inaudible. There were times when I was affected by the tragedy of the relationships, and those were often at quieter moments. But most often, unsubtle led the way. Disappointed.