The Great Gatsby (1): I met you again at the West End

The Great Gatsby

The musical The Great Gatsby began on April 11th and ended today, September 7th, 2025, at the London Coliseum.  F.Scott Fitzgerald wrote the original fiction in 1925. The musical started at Papermill Playhouse in the United States, and it moved to Broadway in 2024. After that, it entered the West End in London. I finally watched it yesterday, and it was really popular. I tried to get a rush ticket on TodayTix, which is offering discounted tickets, but failed miserably. Also, when I tried to buy the ticket at full price, there were no tickets left in that app. This is one of my favourite fiction, I’m a fangirl who used to follow some activities about The Great Gatsby, so I didn’t want to give up. When I asked at the ticket booth, poking my head in, luckily, the staff said just 4 seats were left. Actually, I didn’t expect any tickets to be left. It was not cheap, but almost the last chance, so I thought that the price was worth it. After the show, yes, it was worth it.

Speaking from my experience, I have some reasons why I like this literary work. I met this novel when I was 18 years old in the library. I was a little bit bored and felt pressured to read it to make my uni application better. And I realised there’s a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio in it. For the first time, what made me into this novel was a movie. The dazzling cinematography caught my eye and helped me understand the story. And I still remember, when I had an interview at my uni, one professor asked me to explain the plot and the lessons from this novel. I was telling him excitedly, the professor laughed and said I could stop. After that, I got accepted into that university and studied English Literature.  And do you know there’s an immersive show of The Great Gatsby? In 2019, it came to my country as well, after it sold out in London. It was absolutely fantastic because it was a totally new experience. Imagine dancing with actors and actresses, and you’re one of the guests with a champagne glass at the party. 

Then, in one of my literature lectures, I need to pick one author to make a presentation. Between them, there was F.Scott Fitzgerald, and I thought it would be easy to do a presentation with the one I know well. Making it, I jotted down the information about him. ‘American author’, ‘Born on Sep 24th, 1896’ and ’Catholic family’. I was deep, deep in thought. Can you find why? A, B, and C… ‘Should I make A-Z?’ But, you know, if I started it, I needed to finish till Z. So, I struggled through the night and completed the materials by 3 am. Y was the highest level to fill up. My professor loved it, and he also asked me to share the file. Additionally, my grade came up because of this presentation at the end of the semester. The point is, I didn’t request to change to the upper grade; I just asked him how I could improve, but he answered me by changing my grade to A+. I didn’t mean to be like that, but how can I not be happy with that?

Pretty sure that Gatsby might be very jealous of me. Because the story ended with tragedy, but I always get something from this novel. I was so happy that I met The Great Gatsby in London as well. It feels like bumping someone whom I like in every place where I am. Maybe next time, I will go to New York to watch the original show on Broadway in its original country. 

In terms of the review of the show, it was pretty good, which satisfied me, and I was happy to pay full price. The performance of actors and actresses was perfect, the songs, lyrics, and stage production. What was disappointing was that a lot of content was omitted. The aspect of the novel I connected with was Gatsby’s persistent loneliness, which remains unresolved, but the musical didn’t capture that feeling well. One more, one of the symbols, T.J. Eckleburg’s role didn’t stand out that much. Aside from these things, I believe the characters, the era, the fashion, the ideology, and the historical setting were depicted flawlessly. Especially, one of the music tracks, ‘For Her’ that Gatsby kept calling Daisy, evoked a feeling of earnestness in the audience.  Likewise, the scene where he starts working on the garden at 7 am, before tea time, causing chaos, is cute and shows just how eagerly Gatsby must have been anticipating the moment he could meet Daisy, even in this way.

Hope I can gain experience about The Great Gatsby again and again. Although I sometimes feel that English Literature doesn’t offer much competitiveness in society, it is personally one of the fields I love. The joy that comes from encountering a single work or author in depth is an experience that someone who hasn’t studied English Literature cannot feel. Every time I have such an experience, I feel a sense of pride and a deep, full-body appreciation of it.  It was wonderful to meet you in London, Gatsby, and you, Fitzgerald. Until next time.

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