“The Great Gatsby” celebrates its 1,000th Broadway performance: the musical still “roaring” in its third year

The musical “The Great Gatsby” celebrated its 1,000th Broadway performance on Thursday evening, keeping the “roar” of the ’20s alive in its third year of performances at the Broadway Theatre (53rd and Broadway). The production, which brought F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel to the Broadway stage for the first time, marked the milestone with a special celebration for the cast and audience.

For the occasion, the show’s current cast gathered to greet the more than 1 million people who have seen the production live on Broadway, enjoyed a customized cake from their neighbor, Angelina Bakery, while that evening’s audience received collectible playbills, special stage-door photos and limited-edition exclusive merchandise.

The current production stars television and film star China Anne McClain (“Descendants” franchise, “Black Lightning”), in her musical-theater stage debut, as Daisy Buchanan; Ryan McCartan (“Heathers The Musical,” “Wicked”) in the title role of Jay Gatsby; Olivier Award nominee Corbin Bleu (“High School Musical” franchise) as Nick Carraway; and singer-actress Naturi Naughton-Lewis (“Power,” “Fame”) as Jordan Baker.

The musical began previews on March 29, 2024 and officially opened on April 25, 2024 at the Broadway Theatre, following its world premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse (October 12 – November 12, 2023) — the highest-grossing production in that theater’s history. Since opening, the production has twice broken the Broadway Theatre’s weekly sales records, sold over 1 million tickets to audiences from all 50 U.S. states and more than 100 countries, while the success has gone beyond the Atlantic, with productions in London’s West End, in Seoul, South Korea, and on the U.S. national tour.

“The Great Gatsby,” one of the best-known novels of all time, has sold over 30 million copies worldwide since its 1925 publication and continues to sell over 500,000 copies a year; it has been translated into more than 42 languages and adapted into films — including Baz Luhrmann’s version with Leonardo DiCaprio — and now, for the first time, into a Broadway musical.

Source: BroadwayWorld