New musical Gatsby is gearing up for a world premiere at the American Repertory Theater.
The much anticipated new musical has music and lyrics by Florence Welch (of Florence + the Machine), and a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok. Additional music is by Thomas Bartlett, better known as Doveman.
It’s set to premiere at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard in 2024.
Gatsby is a new stage musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby, and will be directed by Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown) and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Sonya Tayeh (Moulin Rouge!).
The show will be produced at American Repertory Theater by special arrangement with Amanda Ghost and Len Blavatnik for Unigram/Access Entertainment, and Jordan Roth, in association with Robert Fox. Hannah Giannoulis serves as co-producer.
Len Blavatnik’s Access Entertainment are the new owners of the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London, suggesting that might be a possible venue for a London run of the show.
American Repertory Theater at Harvard University has great form in producing big-hitting shows. Some of its Tony Award-winning and nominated productions include Jagged Little Pill; Waitress; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; All the Way; The Glass Menagerie; Pippin; Once; and The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess. Its revival of 1776, a co-production with Roundabout Theatre Company, is currently touring the US.
Florence Welch (Music and Lyrics) is the Grammy Award-nominated international rock star of Florence + the Machine; Thomas Bartlett (Music), also known as Doveman, is an American pianist, producer, and singer; Martyna Majok (Book) was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, Cost of Living, which debuted this autumn on Broadway; Rachel Chavkin (Director) is a director, writer and artistic director of Brooklyn-based experimental collective, the TEAM, whose work has been seen all over New York, the U.S., and internationally, including winning a Tony Award for her work on Hadestown (NYTW, National Theatre, London); and Sonya Tayeh (Choreography) is a Tony Award-winning choreographer and director, with credits including Moulin Rouge! (Broadway, Australia, UK, Tour, Korea, Germany).
British director Rebecca Frecknall (A Streetcar Named Desire, Cabaret, Summer and Smoke) was originally tapped to direct Gatsby when the project was first promoted in 2021.
Coming up at the American Repertory Theater is the US transfer of hit London play The Wife of Willesden from the Kiln Theatre, written by Zadie Smith. It runs at ART from 25 February to 17 March 2023.
