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Adaptations

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Further information: Adaptations of The Great Gatsby
Florence Eldridge as Daisy and James Rennie as Gatsby in the first stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby, 1926.

One hundred years after its publication, The Great Gatsby has been adapted for nearly all media, including film, stage, radio, comics, and video games.[1][2] The novel's entry into the public domain in January 2021 sparked renewed interest in the material, leading to a glut of new adaptations.

The first stage adaptation was produced by William Brady, a veteran theatrical impresario and promoter of prize fights, who acquired the rights only a few days after first reading the novel in the spring of 1925. Brady hired American dramatist Owen Davis to write the script. Davis won a Pulitzer Prize in 1923 for his play, Icebound.[3] 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 minor characters.[4]

The play, directed by George Cukor and starring James Rennie as Gatsby and Florence Eldridge as Daisy, opened on Broadway on February 2, 1926. Well received by critics and the public, the play's the run was extended past the originally scheduled closing date, finally ending on May 22, after 112 performances.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]

A lobby card advertising the lost 1926 Gatsby film version
A lobby card for the lost 1926 film adaptation
The 1926 film trailer—the only extant footage

The first film version of the novel appeared in 1926. A version of Owen Davis's Broadway play of the same year, 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.[8] Reportedly, Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda loathed the silent version. Zelda wrote to an acquaintance that the film was "rotten". She and Scott left the cinema midway through the film.[9]

Following the 1926 film was 1949's The Great Gatsby, directed by Elliott Nugent and starring Alan Ladd, Betty Field and Macdonald Carey.[10] 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.[10] 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.[9]

Gatsby has been retold as a short-form television movie multiple times. 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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13][12]

The Yale Dramatic Association performed the first musical production of The Great Gatsby in Summer 1956.[14][15] For the production, Aubrey L. Goodman adapted Fitzgerald's novel and wrote the lyrics for 14 songs by composer Robert E. Morgan. The show was performed in the University Theatre at Yale University to sold-out performances.[16] After the Yale production, a number of musical adaptations followed.

In 2023, the third musical adaptation, with music and lyrics by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen and a book by Kait Kerrigan began a one-month limited engagement at the Paper Mill Playhouse.[17] 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.[18] The production transferred to Broadway for previews on March 29, 2024, and opened officially on April 25th, 2024.[19][20]

In Spring 2024, Gatsby: An American Myth, a fourth musical adaptation with music and lyrics by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett and a book by Martyna Majok premiered at the American Repertory Theater. The production starred Isaac Cole Powell as Jay Gatsby and Ben Levi Ross as Nick Carraway.[21] On May 25, 2024, the show began previews and opened officially on June 5 of the same year. It closed on August 3rd, 2024.

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.[22] 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,[23] and The Pursued and the Pursuing by AJ Odasso, a queer partial retelling and sequel in which Jay Gatsby survives.[24] Anna-Marie McLemore's own 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.[25]

The novel has been adapted into a series of radio episodes. The first radio episode was a 1950 half-hour-long adaptation for CBS' Family Hour of Stars starring Kirk Douglas as Gatsby.[26]

  1. ^ Benedetti 2010.
  2. ^ Paskin 2010.
  3. ^ West & Daniel 2024, pp. xii–xiv.
  4. ^ West & Daniel 2024, p. xxx.
  5. ^ West & Daniel 2024, pp. xvi–xviii, xxvii–xxviii.
  6. ^ West & Daniel 2024, pp. xxviii–xxix.
  7. ^ West & Daniel 2024, p. xxix.
  8. ^ Dixon 2003.
  9. ^ a b Howell 2013; Hischak 2012, pp. 85–86.
  10. ^ a b Dixon 2003; Hischak 2012, pp. 85–86.
  11. ^ Hyatt 2006, pp. 49–50.
  12. ^ a b Hischak 2012, pp. 85–86.
  13. ^ Howell 2013.
  14. ^ Tredell 2007, p. 109: "It was adapted for a musical at Yale University in 1956".
  15. ^ The New York Times 1956, p. 21; Wilmington News-Journal 1956, p. 11; The Reporter Dispatch 1956, p. 6.
  16. ^ The Waco Times-Herald 1956, p. 24; The Boston Globe 1956, p. 127.
  17. ^ Heckmann 2023.
  18. ^ Gordon & Stewart 2023.
  19. ^ Leavitt 2024.
  20. ^ Hall 2024.
  21. ^ American Repertory Theater 2023.
  22. ^ Flood 2020.
  23. ^ Wick 2021.
  24. ^ Grossman 2021.
  25. ^ Cerézo 2022.
  26. ^ Pitts 1986, p. 127.
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