Imogen's A Theatre Nerd: The Great Gatsby

I have been immensely fortunate when it comes to exposure to musical theatre and live-stage performances. When I was younger, my aunt used to purchase tickets for myself, my younger sister and my mother to see shows on the West End, some of which, I still have the programs for now. I remember the first West End show I went to was Hairspray when I was around eleven or twelve years old. We got to stage door after the performance and the programs we bought were covered with signatures from cast members that were delighted that we had enjoyed the show. The last time I went on one of those trips was when I was sixteen. I had seen Wicked with my family and not everyone had enjoyed the performance as much as I had. But I was still much too young to go to the theatre alone. However, my love for musical theatre in particular didn’t cease.

It was only recently, in October of 2018, that I went to another West End performance, where I saw Heather’s on tour with two of my friends, just weeks after I’d managed to purchase Hamilton tickets for myself and my mother in the new year. It was then that I realised I had happened across an expensive habit. Since then, I have made many more trips to see shows in London; Hamilton (twice), Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child and The Great Gatsby at Gatsby’s Drugstore.

I figured that, I would share some anecdotes about my experiences, because, honestly, I just love to share and remember the fun I had!

SO, The Great Gatsby!

On 25^th September 2019, my best friend, Wendy surprised myself and three of our friends to a trip to an immersive theatre performance of The Great Gatsby at the venue known as Gatsby’s Drugstore. It was a celebration of her 22^nd birthday as our original plans fell through, but we agreed that this was a much better way to celebrate than what we had planned previously.

She had surprised us, telling us that we were going to London for an event where we would need 1920’s style dress and I was excited to find out what it was. The attention to detail even with the confirmation email that she was sent, and she printed off to give each of us as a surprise invitation was amazing – filled with references. Each confirmation email was written with the invitation Gatsby gave to Nick on it, followed by the actual booking information. Wendy had printed copies of this email and put each one in an envelope addressed to us individually, which we opened on the train to the event.

Wendy and I were immensely excited, discussing whether everyone would enjoy themselves as we were unsure how familiar everyone was with the source material, spouting references to the book and film every other word. The excitement was only growing.

The show was immersive, so the cast were amongst the guests waiting for the show to start. I was approached by Myrtle Wilson early in the night and taken up to a better vantage point to view the space. She was amazing and made me feel more welcomed than uncomfortable.

The show was a very split experience, and your perception of the events would be dictated by who you ended up being accompanied by. The show starts as a unified experience, with cast and guests getting to sing along and dance with the cast, learning the choreography and lyrics to some of the songs that would end up being repeated during the night. But quickly after you are introduced to the fact that Tom Buchannan and Daisy’s marital issues, the group ends up being split.

Daisy ended up chatting with Wendy and gravitated toward us and took us along with her to learn that she had been asked to visit Nick for tea. She spoke to the room of ladies about her experience of love and marriage. It was a wholesome and emotional experience, making the audience gain rapport with her.

In the book, Nick acknowledges that she has a quality about her that makes people fall in love with her, and the actress ended up capturing the essence of that quality amazingly when portraying Daisy, talking to us intimately and wanting us all to be included in the story.

I felt like Wendy and I got a great draw, ending up, along with our friend Marika, with Daisy before she and Gatsby met again for the first time in five years, and all five of us: myself, Wendy, Marika, Kyle and GL, were with Myrtle and her husband George before she was killed in the crash and with Nick and Gatsby after the accident which would lead to his death.

The execution of the production was fantastic, as was the cast’s means of engaging with the crowd. Both Wendy and I had been welling up with tears at the conclusion of the show. We are eager to go back in the future to see other character’s sides of the story!