The New York theater scene may soon become a war of the Gatsbys, with several adaptations of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, headed for the Big Apple.
Korean producer Chunsoo Shin has announced the creative team set to adapt the novel for a Broadway-bound stage musical. The project will feature music and lyrics by Tony nominees Nathan Tysen (Paradise Square) and Jason Howland (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), and a book by Jonathan Larson Grant winner Kait Kerrigan (The Mad Ones).
Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) is attached to direct, with Mark Shacket of Foresight Theatrical serving as executive producer. A private industry reading of the musical will take place this December, and a regional production is being planned for the 2023 to 24 season.
This announcement comes on the heels of recent news about another Broadway-bound musical adaptation of the novel, written by Florence Welch of the band Florence the Machine, Thomas Bartlett, and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok (Cost of Living), directed by the record-breaking award-winning director Rebecca Frecknall (Cabaret in the West End).
Meanwhile, an immersive version of the story, created and directed by Alexander Wright, is set to make its American debut at the Gatsby Mansion at the Park Central Hotel New York in March 2023. The Immersive Everywhere production comes to the US following a seven-year run in the UK.
Originally published in 1925, The Great Gatsby follows eccentric millionaire Jay Gatsby, who will stop at nothing in his tragic pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth. According to press materials, Tysen and Howland will write a jazz and pop-infused score for their musical rendition.