The Great Gatsby: A Musical Adaptation

The Great GAtsby…

has always been my favorite book ever since I read it in High School. It spoke to me as a young gay man trying to find out who I was, while also falling for men who I knew would never want me. This sentiment carried over into me seeing myself as the narrator of the story, Nick Carraway. I always felt a deep affiliation with him as a person and his love for Gatsby, that was never explicitly said in the book, but heavily implied.

I knew I always wanted to adapt The Great Gatsby in a way that spoke to those feelings, added depth to the story, and honored the original work. In my adaptation, Nick explores those feeling more and doesn’t shy away from expressing them. The other big difference between my adaptation and the original source material is making Jay Gatsby a performer of color. Jay Gatsby is a man who came from nothing. I think that one sentence explains how that story emulates and mirrors many people of colors own struggles with racism and classism. Not only does it add more nuance to the story, but it also enhances the conflict between Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, a devout racist.

This project has been a passion of mine and continues to inspire and influence me every time I work on it. With my adaptation, I hope to bring new life to the incredible story fabricated by F. Scott Fitzgerald and connect it to contemporary audiences with modern sounds, ideas and emphasize the similarities of societal pressure. We can’t repeat the past, nor should we.