A pair of current Off-Broadway productions present nontraditional interpretations of two of the most iconic male protagonists in Western literature—Hamlet, the indecisive melancholy Dane, and Jay Gatsby, the mysterious millionaire and symbol of American ambition. Both shows display gimmicky staging to plumb the depths of William Shakespeare and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s observations on the human condition, but they obscure the richer insights of both works, resulting in flashy productions and incomplete renderings of the original.
Gatsby is as seminal a work as Hamlet, capturing the clashing values of American capitalism and romanticism and the deceptive lure of the American Dream. Like director Kenny Leon’s muted take on the Melancholy Dane, the new immersive stage adaptation of Fitzgerald’s classic novel is flashy but fails to plumb the subtext of Fitzgerald’s classic.
The Great Gatsby—The Immersive Show arrives at the ballroom of the Park Central Hotel after a long run in London. Director-adapter Alexander Wright’s premise converts the action of the novel into a one big party at Gatsby’s estate. Audience members are, encouraged to dress up in 1920s style, order a cocktail or two at the bar (I had one called the Daisy and it was delicious), dance the Charleston with cast members and follow characters into various side rooms for intimate scenes. (All the rooms are beautifully furnished by set designer Casey Jay Andrews. The jazzy musical score was composed and produced by Glen Andrew Brown and Tendai Humphrey Sitima with additional arrangements and additional composition by David Sims.)
The result is a fun evening, but you won’t gain any deep insights into one of the greatest works of American literature. What with period musical songs performed from a bandstand, theatergoers called upon to act as servants and pointlessly sweep up as Gatsby prepares for a long-delayed rendezvous with his lost love Daisy Buchanan, and scurrying from room to room, the impact of Gatsby’s tragedy and those in his circle gets lost amid the giggles and booze.
The characters and their story arcs so clearly delineated by Fitzgerald become blurred here. For instance, the shady manipulative underworld figure Meyer Wolfshein is menacing in the book, representing relentless criminal control. Here he’s a cross between a subordinate of Gatsby and an entertainer, regaling the crowd with a tap dance and trumpet solo to the Eddie Cantor classic, “If You Knew Susie.” Charlie Marcus does an excellent job with the musical requirements of the role, but he’s more a fuzzy teddy bear than a dangerous influence.
Claire Saunders manages to make Myrtle, the crude mistress to Daisy’s brutish husband Tom, into a sympathetic figure, even as she’s called upon to practically have sex with Tom (an appropriately bullying Shahzeb Hussain) in one of the side chambers. Keivon Akbari is equally pathetic as her hapless cuckolded husband George.
As the narrator Nick Carraway, Rob Brinkman does his best to bring coherence and order to this rambling experience. Jillian Ana Abaya captures Daisy’s shattered innocence and Stephanie Rocio provides dash and spunk as her confidante, the liberated Jordan Baker. Joel Acosta makes for a handsome, virile Gatsby, but this version doesn’t allow us to get to know the real man beneath the glittering facade.
For a light, frothy evening out, this immersive show is your ticket, but don’t expect anything to last longer than the bubbles in the champagne they’re selling. Try reading the book.
