The Great Gatsby Brings Broadway Glamour to London
The Great Gatsby | London Coliseum until 7th September 2025
Jay Gatsby is throwing a party in London again. This is the very full-blown musical of Fitzgerald’s novel. Suddenly it’s popping up everywhere on stage. No surprise – the novel just entered the public domain – and this is the first big new musical version out of the gate. It’s already had its Broadway premiere, winning one Tony Award for costumes.
The novel itself is a classic Jazz Age tale. Fitzgerald’s novel is set in 1922 New York, at the height of the Roaring Twenties. The story explores the glitter and the dark side of the “American Dream” – wealth, class and doomed love. Themes of ambition, money and love intertwine, painting a picture of 1920s excess and lost hope. It’s a sharp picture of its time, full of longing and critique.
The Coliseum is a vast, beautiful theatre (usually home to English National Opera), and this show fills it up. In fact, they’ve used the full Broadway set here – nothing is cut back for size. I’ve never seen better use of LED screens and moving scenery. The stage shifts and changes so fast, you’re blinking, wondering how some transitions are achieved.
There’s not one but two period cars, and they have cleverly turned the orchestra pit into the pool! The costumes are dazzling, the lighting is vivid – it really does feel like stepping into the Roaring Twenties. The colour palette is a striking green, all lush lawns and wallpaper – enough to make you wonder if you accidentally wandered into Wicked!
For all the visuals, what about the show itself? Well, the cast throws themselves into it. They sing and dance with real gusto – each number is full-throttle. The leads sell the big scenes. Jamie Muscato (last seen by me in The Great Comet) is a charismatic Gatsby, holding the stage and delivering powerhouse vocals. Frances Mayli McCann, playing Daisy, sparkles in the love scenes but is hampered by the creative team’s misguided intention of making her more sympathetic.
Corbin Bleu as Nick makes a great impression in his West End debut – but in this version the role is reduced to almost comic relief. Amber Davies acquits herself well in the role of Jordan, the female golfer, but early hints at sexual ambiguity are soon forgotten. The remaining principals are all strong and do their best to overcome the strangely echoey sound system. They are supported by an ensemble that are all strong dancers and singers.
The songs are broad and brassy; think of a lot of power ballads and big ensemble choruses. However, then you listen to the lyrics and script. And that’s where things get dicey. This show has mostly turned Gatsby into a straight romance. It pretty much drops the novel’s social satire and sexual ambiguity, focusing on Gatsby and Daisy’s love – so, the class snobbery and moral muddles around the Buchanans are toned down. All the complex undertones of Fitzgerald’s story (the shady business, the wild 20s party scene, the hints of something darker in Gatsby) get blasted out by the big power ballads.
There’s one more odd note: they have Gatsby break into dance. Fitzgerald’s Gatsby was known for his guarded silence, not for cutting loose to a big number. But if you can let that slide, the spectacle does deliver.
Meanwhile, if one Great Gatsby musical isn’t enough, there’s another brewing. Singer Florence Welch (of Florence + the Machine) is writing a separate Gatsby show called Gatsby: An American Myth. It had its debut in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in summer 2024 and promises a dreamier, more ethereal take, blending Florence’s signature sound with Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age themes. To be honest, I am more interested in seeing this version! No word yet on a London run – but watch this space.
If you like a great big visual spectacle and some knockout singing and are not worried about listening to lyrics or bothering too much about the book, you’re going to have a great time. However, if you are an admirer of the F. Scott Fitzgerald original, I don’t think you are going to be very happy.
The Great Gatsby
London Coliseum | Booking until 7th September 2025
A glittering West End musical that dazzles visually, but drops much of Fitzgerald’s social bite. Big vocals, sharp staging, mixed messaging.
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
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