The Great Gatsby (Broadway) — My Review

When & Where

• Date: 20 October 2025
• Theatre: Broadway Theatre (about 1,760 seats)
• Seat / Price: Mezzanine (2nd level), row & seat not noted — $84
• My runtime that night: 7:00pm–9:40pm (about 2h 40m)
• Official guides list ~2h 30m including an interval; actual timings vary by performance. Playbill+2Broadway.com+2

What the story is (in brief)

New York in the 1920s. Narrator Nick Carraway moves next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby, whose epic parties light up the nights. Gatsby longs to see Daisy again — now married to Tom Buchanan. Nick arranges their reunion; love reignites; class, desire, and lies grind against each other until events tip towards a tragic end.

Good Points

🌉 Act One vs Act Two — a useful contrast

Act One often feels glitter-first: big dance breaks, shiny vocals, and constant spectacle. I found the story harder to hold onto. In Act Two, the tone turns serious and human — relationships tighten, choices bite, and the earlier dazzle becomes a foil that makes the darker beats land harder. That contrast ultimately works.

🚖 The yellow-and-blue cars

The show drives two period cars on stage — notably Gatsby’s yellow Rolls-Royce and a blue coupe — and they’re near full size. It’s showy, yes, but it also anchors the world and the novel’s iconography in one bold image.

🕺 Tap flavour that lifts the room

A light, quick-footed tap sequence inside one of Gatsby’s numbers gives the stage real lift. The crisp rhythms sketch the era’s breezy optimism and keep the party scenes buoyant rather than heavy.

🔸 Ryan McCartan’s vocal presence

On my night Ryan McCartan (current Gatsby) sang with range, control, and warmth. His solos carried both charisma and need, which suits Gatsby perfectly. (McCartan succeeded Jeremy Jordan earlier in 2025 and is scheduled to play through 9 Nov 2025.) Playbill+1

Afterthought

Two staging choices stood out: using the orchestra pit as a vertical space (falls, entrances) and letting the band appear within party scenes. The lesson is simple: if the building gives you tools, use all of them. It reads as one company — cast, crew, and musicians — pulling the rope in the same direction.

🔸 My Instagram 🔸
https://www.instagram.com/isokazu_oyama/