Many artists have tried, unsuccessfully, to capture "The Great Gatsby" on stage or film. But F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic work remains as elusive as Gatsby's dreams of love.
Now a new adaptation written by Simon Levy premières in Seattle. Touted as the first authorized theatrical version of the book since 1926, Seattle Rep's uneven production makes a gallant effort. But if the rumors are true and this show has Broadway aspirations, it needs further development.
Considered an American classic, Fitzgerald's 1925 tome exposed the carefree Jazz Age via the social swells on the Long Island Shore in the summer of 1922. With Prohibition in effect, bootlegging flourished, and extravagant parties were the norm; decadence, opulence and excess abounded.
As the narrator Nick Carraway channels Fitzgerald's voice from the novel, we're introduced to mysterious wannabe tycoon Jay Gatsby and spoiled beauty Daisy Buchanan. Once sweethearts, they meet again five years later when the now fabulously rich Gatsby buys a mansion across the water from where Daisy lives with her wealthy and brutish husband Tom - all part of Gatsby's relentless but ultimately tragic quest to win her back. From his vast garden he can see the green light beaming at the end of Daisy's dock. For Gatsby, that light becomes a beacon of hope.
But "The Great Gatsby" symbolizes much more than lost love. It reflects the disintegration of the American Dream, symbolized by Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual tumble from grace. "Gatsby represented everything I scorned," Nick laments, "...an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness ... which it is not likely I shall ever find again."
Directed by the Rep's artistic director David Esbjornson, Levy's faithful adaptation borrows heavily from Fitzgerald's lyrical prose. But left to his own devices, Levy's text and the subsequent stage action seem stilted and ponderous, particularly during the first act. The dramatic second act fares better, but the play still fails to reproduce the magnificence of Fitzgerald's novel.
One of the best things about the production is David J. Wright III's wailing saxophone. As he roams the stage, his incredible talent heralds the action, endows ambience and pays homage to the period setting.
The main players in Fitzgerald's mythical game of life are flawed but fascinating. A mysterious loner, Gatsby throws lavish weekend soirees at his mansion, but his background, source of wealth and unsavory connections provide continual fodder for his greedy, gossiping guests. Daisy, a self-indulgent neurotic, adores anyone who lavishes attention on her, always seeking some new diversion to avoid the loneliness and buried guilt lurking within her own soul.
Her husband Tom, a snobbish racist, views his beautiful wife as an ornamental possession - a symbol of his wealth, like the stable full of horses he boasts of. Contemptuous of the lower classes, he still seeks his passion from earthy but rather crass Myrtle, married to George, Tom's garage mechanic. And Jordan, Daisy's unflappable best friend, reputedly won her golf pro status by cheating during a match.
Although each of the leading actors has a moment or two onstage, the overall result leaves us wanting. None of them fully develop or sustain their characterizations. As Gatsby, Lorenzo Pisoni seems to be channeling Ben Affleck, but without the mysterious demeanor needed for Gatsby, and with an English accent too fake to be believable. And as the emotionally unstable Daisy, Heidi Armbruster borrows from what seems like a dab of Jessica Lange in the film "Blue Sky," but suffers from a lack of depth. Cheyenne Casebier endows her Jordan with a bland interpretation, excluding the suggestive kiss she tenderly plants on Daisy's lips.
Matthew Amendt has a dual responsibility in the role of Nick Carraway - the decent, young Midwestern man who comes East for social polishing, and Nick the narrator who sets the mood and guides us through Fitzgerald's story. Amendt may be quite likable, but falls short as the philosophical raconteur so fascinated by Gatsby's character.
Visually, the show often achieves what the script and actors do not with color combinations that dazzle the eye. Designer Scott Zielinski conjures stunning vistas with his lighting effects as he shifts the backdrop from impressionistic sunsets to midnight skies of crisp blue to the blood red of tragedy when Gatsby is murdered. And costumer Jane Greenwood's marvelous flapper couture flutters with authenticity, especially Daisy's frothy cream and white ensembles.
Set designer Tom Lynch creates an illusion of wealth. Floating French windows are suspended in the air. A creamy white art deco divan sumptuous enough to devour a gaggle of socialites dominates Daisy and Tom's living room. Gatsby's palatial digs showcase an ornate French armoire and sparkling crystal chandeliers, while a vintage replica of Gatsby's lemon-yellow Rolls-Royce convertible wheels across the stage, and a sunken pool of clear blue water awaits his demise. To separate high society from the hoi polloi, a moveable two-story metal frame denotes George and Myrtle's gas-station home.
Lynch has also given life to the billboard from the novel, as it looms over "the valley of ashes," Fitzgerald's label for the gray strip of industrialization between Long Island and Manhattan. From that forlorn, weather-worn billboard, Dr. T.J. Eckleburg's bespectacled eyes - they really open and close - keep their vigil, perhaps a symbol of a higher being, maybe even Fitzgerald, watching over the travesties of the flawed humans he has created. There have been three film versions of "The Great Gatsby," a made-for-TV movie, an opera, dance tributes and an earlier stage version in 1926. All failed to capture the book's elusive brilliance - even Francis Ford Coppola's script for the 1974 film starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.
So perhaps it is too much to expect that someone might successfully transfer the breathtaking complexities of Fitzgerald's fable to stage or screen. We will simply have to reread the novel to savor its sublime metaphors, whispering hope and tragic perfection.
'The Great Gatsby,' Seattle Repertory Theatre, Tuesday-Sunday through Dec. 10; Tickets: $10-$48, 443-2222 or seattlerep.org
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