Draft:Adaptations of the Great Gatsby

Cover of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby has been adapted across various media, including stage, film, television, radio, literature, graphic novels, and video games.

The earliest adaptation occurred with a 1926 Broadway play directed by George Cukor and starring James Rennie and Florence Eldridge. Subsequent stage productions included musicals, such as a 1956 production by the Yale Dramatic Association and several Broadway shows.

Film adaptations began with a now-lost 1926 version, followed by remakes in 1949, 1974, and 2013. Television adaptations have included episodes on NBC's Robert Montgomery Presents and CBS's Playhouse 90, as well as a low-budget 2000 interpretation.

The novel has also inspired ballets and operas, with a notable performance by the New York Metropolitan Opera. The novel's entry into the public domain in 2021 sparked renewed interest in the material, leading to adaptations in new mediums such as graphic novels and video games.

Stage

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Plays

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Florence Eldridge and James Rennie in the first stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby, 1926.

The first stage adaptation was produced by William Brady, a veteran theatrical producer and promoter of prize fights, who acquired the rights only a few days after first reading the novel in the spring of 1925. The script was written by the American dramatist Owen Davis, who had won a Pulitzer Prize in 1923 for his play, Icebound.[1] Davis dramatically altered the structure of the novel, rearranging the action in chronological order, eliminating prominent elements such as the valley of ashes and the scene in the Plaza Hotel, and inventing many minor characters.[2]

The play, directed by George Cukor and starring James Rennie as Gatsby and Florence Eldridge as Daisy, opened on Broadway on February 2, 1926.[3] It was well received by critics and the public, and the run was extended past the originally scheduled closing date, finally ending on May 22, after 112 performances.[4] The production, with some changes in the cast, then moved to Chicago, where it opened on August 1. Its popularity again led to an extension of the run, which came to an end in late September.[5] A brief one-week return engagement at New York's Shubert Theater began on October 4, after which a road production traveled to several other cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, Detroit, St. Louis, Denver, and Minneapolis.[6]

In July 2006, Simon Levy's stage adaptation, directed by David Esbjornson, premiered at the Guthrie Theater to commemorate the opening of its new theater.[7]

2010 saw the debut of Gatz, an off-Broadway production by Elevator Repair Service.[8] The show is structured around a live reading of the entire novel, which a businessman has found on his desk. Staged with a dinner break and two intermissions, the experience runs for eight hours.[9]

Beginning in 2015, The Great Gatsby: The Immersive Show was London's longest-running immersive show, at seven years. A New York performance of the show occurred in several rooms of the Park Central Hotel in Manhattan. It was also performed in Ireland, Wales, Belgium, and South Korea.[9]

The Great Gatsby: A Live Radio Play premiered in 2022. The show is not broadcast over the radio, but rather, features actors on-stage pretending to be radio performers in 1942.[10]

Musicals

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The Yale Dramatic Association performed the first musical production of The Great Gatsby in Summer 1956.[11][12][13][14] For the production, Aubrey L. Goodman adapted the novel and wrote the lyrics for 14 songs by Robert E. Morgan, and the show was performed in the University Theatre at Yale University to sold-out performances.[15][16] The cast included a young Dick Cavett.[17]

A UK musical adaptation by Stage One in 1998 received considerable press coverage.[18]

In 2023, The Great Gatsby: A New Musical, with music and lyrics by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen and a book by Kait Kerrigan announced a one-month limited engagement at the Paper Mill Playhouse.[19][9] The Broadway tryout began its previews on October 12, 2023, followed by an official opening night scheduled for ten days later. The production concluded on November 12 of the same year. Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada starred as the leading roles of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, with Samantha Pauly and Noah J. Ricketts as Jordan Baker and Nick Carraway.[20]

Gatsby: An American Myth, with music and lyrics by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett and a book by Martyna Majok is set to have its world premiere the American Repertory Theater.[21] On May 25, 2024, the show will begin previews and will open officially on June 5 of the same year. It will run for about 2 months with a closing night set for July 21.

Other stage performances

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The New York Metropolitan Opera commissioned John Harbison to compose an operatic treatment of the novel to commemorate the 25th anniversary of James Levine's debut. The work, called The Great Gatsby, premiered on December 20, 1999.[22]

The novel has also been adapted for ballet performances. There was a ballet adaptation in 1991.[23] In 2009, BalletMet premiered a version at the Capitol Theatre in Columbus, Ohio.[24] In 2010, The Washington Ballet premiered a version at the Kennedy Center. The show received an encore run the following year. The Comedy Theatre of Budapest created a musical.[25]

Film

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The 1926 film trailer—the only extant footage

The first movie version of the novel debuted in 1926. Itself a version of Owen Davis's Broadway play, it was directed by Herbert Brenon and starred Warner Baxter, Lois Wilson and William Powell. It is a famous example of a lost film. Reviews suggest it may have been the most faithful adaptation of the novel, but a trailer of the film at the National Archives is all that is known to exist.[26] Reportedly, F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald purportedly loathed the 1926 film adaptation and walked out midway through a viewing of the film at a theater.[27] "We saw The Great Gatsby at the movies," Zelda later wrote to an acquaintance, "It's ROTTEN and awful and terrible and we left."[28] The film is now considered lost.[26]

Following the 1926 movie was 1949's The Great Gatsby, directed by Elliott Nugent and starring Alan Ladd, Betty Field and Macdonald Carey.[29] Twenty-five years later in 1974, The Great Gatsby appeared onscreen again. It was directed by Jack Clayton and starred Robert Redford as Gatsby, Mia Farrow as Daisy, and Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway.[29] Most recently, The Great Gatsby was directed by Baz Luhrmann in 2013 and starred Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy, and Tobey Maguire as Nick.[27]

In 2021, visual effects company DNEG Animation announced they would be producing an animated film adaptation of the novel directed by William Joyce and written by Brian Selznick.[30]

Television

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Gatsby has been recast multiple times as a short-form television movie. The first was in 1955 as an NBC episode for Robert Montgomery Presents starring Robert Montgomery, Phyllis Kirk, and Lee Bowman. The episode was directed by Alvin Sapinsley.[31] In 1958, CBS filmed another adaptation as an episode of Playhouse 90, also titled The Great Gatsby, which was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starred Robert Ryan, Jeanne Crain and Rod Taylor.[32] Most recently, the novel was adapted as an A&E movie in 2000. The Great Gatsby was directed by Robert Markowitz and starred Toby Stephens as Gatsby, Mira Sorvino as Daisy, and Paul Rudd as Nick.[27][32]

Literature

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Since entering the public domain in 2021, retellings and expansions of The Great Gatsby have become legal to publish. Nick by Michael Farris Smith (2021) imagines the backstory of Nick Carraway;[33] it was first written in 2014, but Smith's publishers waited to release it until 2021.[34] That same year saw the publication of The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo, a retelling with elements of the fantasy genre while tackling issues of race and sexuality,[35] and The Pursued and the Pursuing by AJ Odasso, a queer partial retelling and sequel in which Jay Gatsby survives.[36] Anna-Marie McLemore's queer retelling, Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix, was released in 2022 and was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature.[37]

Graphic novels

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The first graphic novel adaptation was in 2007 by Nicki Greenberg, who published The Great Gatsby: A Graphic Adaptation in Australia. Because the original novel was still protected by United States copyright laws, this version was never published in the U.S. The second version, The Great Gatsby: The Graphic Novel, was adapted by Fred Fordham and illustrated by Aya Morton in 2020. In 2021, K. Woodman-Maynard adapted and illustrated The Great Gatsby: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, which was published by Candlewick Press.[38] This was the first graphic novel adaptation of the original novel to be published after it entered the public domain in 2021. In June 2021, Clover Press debuted the first of seven periodical comic books, faithfully adapting The Great Gatsby. In 2024, IDW Publishing announced Godzilla's Monsterpiece Theater, a three-part miniseries where Gatsby will team up with Sherlock Holmes, Dracula and the Time Traveller from H.G. Wells' The Time Machine to battle the King of the Monsters, with Gatsby funding a version of the anti-kaiju defense team G-Force.[39]

Radio

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The Great Gatsby was adapted as a radio play in 1939.[40] In 1950, a half-hour-long adaptation for CBS' Family Hour of Stars starred Kirk Douglas as Gatsby.[41] The novel was read aloud by Trevor White for the BBC World Service in ten parts in 2008. In a 2012 BBC Radio 4 broadcast, The Great Gatsby took the form of a Classic Serial dramatization. It was created by dramatist Robert Forrest.[42][43]

Video games

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In 2010, Oberon Media released a casual hidden object game called Classic Adventures: The Great Gatsby.[44][45] In 2011, developer Charlie Hoey and editor Pete Smith created an 8-bit-style online game of The Great Gatsby called The Great Gatsby for NES;[46][47][48] in 2022, after the Adobe Flash end of life, they adapted this game to an actual NES ROM file, which can also be played on their website.[49][50] In 2013, Slate released a short symbolic adaptation called The Great Gatsby: The Video Game.[51][52]

List of all adaptations

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Year Title Medium Adaptors Distributor Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic
1926 The Great Gatsby Stage George Cukor (director)
Owen Davis (script)
Broadway (Ambassador Theatre)
1926 The Great Gatsby Film Herbert Brenon (director)
Becky Gardiner (scenario)
Elizabeth Meehan (adaptation)
Paramount Pictures 55% (22 reviews)[53]
1949 The Great Gatsby Film Elliot Nugent (director)
Richard Maibaum (screenplay)
Cyril Hume (screenplay)
Paramount Pictures 33% (9 reviews)[54]
1950 The Great Gatsby Radio Jean Holloway (adaptation)
Family Hour of Stars
1955 The Great Gatsby Television Alvin Sapinsley (adaptation) Robert Montgomery Presents
1956 The Great Gatsby Musical Leo S. Lavandero (director)
Aubrey L. Goodman (book)
Aubrey L. Goodman
(lyrics)
Robert E. Morgan (music)
Yale Dramatic Association
1958 The Great Gatsby Television Franklin Schaffner (director)
David Shaw (adaptation)
Playhouse 90
1974 The Great Gatsby Film Jack Clayton (director)
Francis Ford Coppola (screenplay)
Paramount Pictures 39% (36 reviews)[55] 43 (5 reviews)[56]
1999 The Great Gatsby Opera Mark Lamos (director)
John Harbison (music and book)
New York Metropolitan Opera
2000 The Great Gatsby Television Robert Markowitz (director)
John J. McLaughlin (screenplay)
A&E Television Networks
2006 The Great Gatsby Stage David Esbjornson (director)
Simon Levy (adaptation)
Guthrie Theater
2012 The Great Gatsby Radio Gaynor Macfarlane (director)
Robert Forrest (script)
BBC Radio 4
2013 The Great Gatsby Film Baz Luhrman (director)
Baz Luhrman (screenplay)
Craig Pearce (screenplay)
Warner Bros. Pictures 48% (301 reviews)[57] 55 (45 reviews)[58]
2021 Nick Novel Michael Farris Smith (author) Little, Brown and Company
2021 The Chosen and the Beautiful Novel Nghi Vo (author) Tordotcom
2021 The Pursued and the Pursuing Novel AJ Odasso (author) DartFrog Books
2022 Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix Novel Anna-Marie McLemore (author) Feiwel & Friends
2023 The Great Gatsby Musical Marc Bruni (director)
Jason Howland (music)
Nathan Tysen (lyrics)
Kait Kerrigan (book)
Broadway (Paper Mill Playhouse/Broadway Theatre)
2024 Gatsby: An American Myth Musical Rachel Chavkin (director)
Florence Welch (music)
Thomas Bartlett (music)
Florence Welch (lyrics)
Martyna Majok (book)
American Repertory Theater

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Daniel & West 2024, pp. xii–xiv.
  2. ^ Daniel & West 2024, p. xxx.
  3. ^ Playbill 1926.
  4. ^ Daniel & West 2024, pp. xvi–xviii, xxvii–xxviii.
  5. ^ Daniel & West 2024, pp. xxviii–xxix.
  6. ^ Daniel & West 2024, p. xxix.
  7. ^ Skinner 2006.
  8. ^ Brantley 2010.
  9. ^ a b c Russo 2024.
  10. ^ "Theater Review: "The Great Gatsby: A Live Radio Play" at Legacy". Branford, CT Patch. 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  11. ^ Wilmington News-Journal 1956, p. 11.
  12. ^ The Reporter Dispatch 1956, p. 6.
  13. ^ The New York Times 1956, p. 21.
  14. ^ Tredell 2007, p. 109: "It was adapted for a musical at Yale University in 1956".
  15. ^ The Waco Times-Herald 1956, p. 24.
  16. ^ The Boston Globe 1956, p. 127.
  17. ^ Cast Albums 2024.
  18. ^ "Chronicle 17 Apr 1998, page 100". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  19. ^ Heckmann, Ann Marie (2023-07-25). "Jeremy Jordan & Eva Noblezada to Star in Paper Mill Playhouse's World Premiere of The Great Gatsby, a New Musical". Paper Mill Playhouse. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  20. ^ "Full cast announced for Great Gatsby musical with Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada". 2023-09-06. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  21. ^ "Gatsby at A.R.T." americanrepertorytheater.org. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  22. ^ Stevens 1999.
  23. ^ "The Cincinnati Post 25 Oct 1991, page 28". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  24. ^ Grossberg 2009.
  25. ^ Kaufman 2011; Aguirre 2011.
  26. ^ a b Dixon 2003.
  27. ^ a b c Howell 2013.
  28. ^ Mellow 1984, p. 281; Howell 2013.
  29. ^ a b Dixon 2003; Hischak 2012, pp. 85–86.
  30. ^ Giardina 2021.
  31. ^ Hyatt 2006, pp. 49–50.
  32. ^ a b Hischak 2012, pp. 85–86.
  33. ^ Flood, Alison (July 15, 2020). "The Great Gatsby prequel set for release days after copyright expires". The Guardian. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  34. ^ Flood, Alison (2021-01-29). "Vampires, Muppets and prequels: The Great Gatsby's new life out of copyright". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  35. ^ Wick, Jessica (June 6, 2021). "This Retelling Of 'Gatsby' Has Demonic Flair To Spare". NPR. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  36. ^ Grossman, Mary Ann (October 30, 2021). "Readers and writers: Poet gives Jay Gatsby a new gay life with Nick Carraway in debut novel". Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  37. ^ Cerézo, Arvyn (September 16, 2022). "Longlists Announced for 2022 National Book Awards". Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  38. ^ Gurdon 2021.
  39. ^ Roe, Mike. (July 19, 2024). "Godzilla Takes on the Great Gatsby and Sherlock Holmes in 'Monsterpiece Theatre' Comic." The Wrap. Retrieved July 20, 2024.
  40. ^ Beckerman 2024.
  41. ^ Pitts 1986, p. 127.
  42. ^ White 2007.
  43. ^ Forrest 2012.
  44. ^ Benedetti 2010.
  45. ^ Paskin 2010.
  46. ^ Bell 2011.
  47. ^ Crouch 2011.
  48. ^ "The Great Gatsby for NES". greatgatsbygame.com. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  49. ^ Hoey, Charlie. "Lots of false leads over the past 11 years, but we FINALLY tracked down an actual ROM dump for The Great Gatsby Game. Enjoy". Twitter. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  50. ^ Smith, Peter. "11 years ago today, @flimshaw and I launched our hit Flash game The Great Gatsby for NES. Today we're launching it again... as an actual 8-bit game. Presenting The Great Gatsby for NES... for NES". Twitter. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  51. ^ Kirk, Morgan & Wickman 2013.
  52. ^ Sarkar 2013.
  53. ^ Rotten Tomatoes: The Great Gatsby (1926).
  54. ^ Rotten Tomatoes: The Great Gatsby (1949).
  55. ^ Rotten Tomatoes: The Great Gatsby (1974).
  56. ^ Metacritic: The Great Gatsby (1974).
  57. ^ Rotten Tomatoes: The Great Gatsby (2013).
  58. ^ Metacritic: The Great Gatsby (2013).

Works cited

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