The Great Gatsby is a popular text with our English Department, so having the Broadway musical staged at the London Coliseum was an unmissable opportunity. Staging and costuming were truly spectacular, and the production had everything from memorable choruses to dance numbers (the Sixth Formers seemed particularly enthralled by the tap dancing!).
Perhaps some of F Scott’s Fitzgerald’s subtleties did not translate as well to the stage (as Mr Fraczek grumbled to anyone who would listen), and some Fourth Formers were saddened not to hear some of their favourite lines from the book - although, in fairness, no-one can quite recall why “I'd like to just get one of those pink clouds and put you in it and push you around” achieved such popularity in their English lessons last year, and it is perhaps understandable that the librettists decided that this might not necessarily be the best strategy for a blockbuster musical touring internationally. Nonetheless, moments such as the final car crash and the death of Gatsby were very memorably staged, with excellent use of pyrotechnics and lighting, and it was interesting that Myrtle and George Wilson were given a little more prominence.
It was a memorable evening with delightful company!
