Gatz
{{Short description|Stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
Gatz is a stage adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby by the Elevator Repair Service theater ensemble. The show was directed by John Collins.
The show consists of the entire text of the novel, read aloud by a company of actors. Its premise is that an office worker pulls a copy of Gatsby out of a drawer and begins reading it aloud. His coworkers gradually join in, and the people and office space transform into the characters and settings of the novel.{{cite news |last1=McGrath |first1=Charles |title=Heard Any Good Books Lately, Zelda? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/theater/03gatz.html |access-date=21 June 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=September 28, 2010}}
Production history
Development on the show began in 1999, and it was first presented at the Collapsable Hole venue in Brooklyn in 2004 before transferring to the Performing Garage later that year. The show toured Europe, Sydney and Singapore from 2005 to 2009, and was mounted Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2010–11, where it won several awards.{{cite web |title=Performance History by Season |url=https://www.elevator.org/about/timeline-by-season/ |website=Elevator Repair Service |access-date=21 June 2024}}
After its production at the Public Theater, Gatz was shown in Princeton and Los Angeles between 2011 and 2013; in Abu Dhabi in 2018–19; in Berkeley in 2019–20. It is scheduled to be remounted for a "final encore" at the Public Theater in November 2024.{{cite web |title=Gatz |url=https://publictheater.org/productions/season/2425/gatz/ |website=The Public Theater |access-date=21 June 2024}}
Original cast
- Scott Shepherd as Nick
- Jim Fletcher as Jay
- Tory Vazquez as Daisy
- Robert Cucuzza as Tom
- Susie Sokol as Jordan
- Laurena Allan as Myrtle
- Annie McNamara as Catherine
- Ben Williams as Michaelis
- Vin Knight as Chester
- Ethan Lipton as Ewing
- Aaron Landsman as George
- Kate Scelsa as Lucille
- Ross Fletcher as Henry C. Gatz{{cite web |title=Gatz |url=https://www.elevator.org/shows/gatz/ |website=Elevator Repair Service |access-date=21 June 2024}}
Awards
In Australia, the play received a Helpmann nomination for Best Play in 2009.{{cite web |title=Past nominees and winners |url=http://www.helpmannawards.com.au/2009/past-nominees-and-winners/theatre |website=Helpmann Awards |access-date=21 June 2024}} In Boston, the play received an Elliot Norton award for Outstanding Visiting Production and was nominated for Best Ensemble in 2010. In New York City in 2011, the play received a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Alternative Theater Experience; a Drama Desk nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience; and a Drama League nomination for Distinguished Production of a Play.{{cite news |title=Drama League Award Winners Announced |url=https://broadwaymusicalblog.com/2011/05/21/drama-league-award-winners-announced/comment-page-1/ |access-date=21 June 2024 |publisher=Broadway Musical Blog |date=May 21, 2011}} John Collins also received a Lucille Lortel Award for directing the play in 2011.{{cite web |title=Outstanding Director |url=https://lortelaward.com/outstanding-director/ |publisher=Lucille Lortel Awards |access-date=21 June 2024}}
Reception
Charles McGrath of the New York Times described the play "a dramatization of the act of reading" than a dramatization of The Great Gatsby.