A green light beckons in the distance over a night vista of water. As the house lights go down, we see a man facing away from us in silhouette—reaching toward the green light. As a wave crashes on the shore, the man disappears… 

Photos: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.

These are the opening moments of The Great Gatsby, the season’s electrifying new musical. The show transports audiences to the Roaring Twenties—a decade marked by lavish excesses mirrored in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s celebrated novel—shapeshifted into an unforgettable Broadway must-see.

And while this first glimpse of the title character evaporates in a heartbeat, it serves as a metaphor for the solitary, nouveau riche Jay Gatsby, whose obsession with his former flame propels the musical into a lush theatrical otherworld overflowing with bootleg gin, beautiful people, and jazz-infused parties.

Jeremy Jordan.

Here, passion and nostalgia are awakened through stunning sets and projections, Tony-nominated costumes, dynamic choreography and music, and a knockout cast led by Jeremy Jordan as the famously enigmatic millionaire.

Already established as one of Broadway’s key leading men, with a Theatre World Award for Bonnie & Clyde and a Tony nomination for Newsies, Jordan became intrigued with Gatsby when he was invited to take part in the workshop. “I read the script and listened to the music and I really liked it,” he says, explaining that to prepare for the role he reread the novel and poured himself into research. 

“I watched a lot of old movies that showed how people did things back then, and I listened to radio plays from the ’20s,” he says. The one thing he didn’t do, however, was watch any of the many film versions of the book.  

“You front load a lot of research and then put it aside and go into creating human beings,” says Jordan, adding, “The musical allows broad strokes in painting the picture. It’s exciting that I get to show a different color of Gatsby from the movies in a version that’s never been seen before. Opening this window into what’s going on by presenting the story musically takes the story to another level and you discover new things. What makes this version so specific and personal is a sense of ownership that gives secondary, inner life to the character.”

For Jordan as an actor, the turning point came when he homed in on the mystery of Gatsby—how he not only fabricated his life, but started to believe in his own creation. “Now I see him as a preserver of his made-up history, a history that unravels as the show goes on."

Jeremy Jordan as Jay Gatsby and Eva Noblezada as Daisy Buchanan.

And, of course, there’s Daisy Buchanan, who has not only haunted Gatsby for years, but is the romantic catalyst for his wealth and revamped persona. Portrayed by Eva Noblezada, Daisy is an enchanting, beautiful sophisticate, but because she’s the wife of the brutish “old money” Tom Buchanan (John Zdrojeski), she’s also vulnerable…and a potential danger. Which is what makes her scenes with Jordan all the more provocative and wonderful to watch.

Yet it’s off stage that the two find themselves caught up in the unique camaraderie that brings a company of actors together. “You realize you can’t do eight shows a week without forming solid relationships,” says Jordan. “We’re always one another’s biggest cheerleaders.”

He goes on to point out that while he’s worked with most of the cast in the past, he was especially pleased to reunite with the creative team, including Kait Kerrigan who penned the book, Jason Howland who wrote the music, and the show’s director Marc Bruni. “Working on Gatsby was absolutely a collaborative process, and because the story is a known entity no one was being precious about it—we could create the best possible show within limits we set for ourselves,” Jordan says. “Creatively, I never felt I had to prove myself. My ideas were being heard and mattered in a real and specific way.”

Not specifying anything in particular, it’s obvious that Jordan is proud of his contributions—and that they added to both the show’s popularity and its position as one of Broadway’s most (if not the most) elaborate productions. “I will say getting into costume is the final piece of the puzzle—that, and walking out onto the stage locks everything in place,” he says, going on to observe, “We set out to put on a big, vocally stunning, showstopping, no-holds-barred musical at a time when gorgeous epic musicals like Gatsby are scarce. But if you ask anyone from middle America what they imagine a quintessential Broadway musical to be, they’ll describe something like our show.”

Confirming the musical’s overall impact, Jordan cites stage door feedback: “Sometimes people will say ‘The show moves so fast I sometimes forget to breathe,’ and kids who might have heard a song or watched a clip before coming tell me that Gatsby exceeded their expectations. When they say that, it’s the best compliment—and we hear that a lot.”

The Great Gatsby is playing at The Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway (btw. 52nd & 53rd Sts.). For tickets call 212-239-6200 or visit broadwaygatsby.com.