REVIEW: “The Great Gatsby” Roars Into the Aronoff Center in Grand Style

By Afshin Razi 

With powerhouse leads, lively dancing, and striking stagecraft, the excellent North American touring company of The Great Gatsby turns a familiar American classic into a thoroughly entertaining night at the Aronoff Center. Based on the 1925 novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kait Kerrigan’s book keeps the essential storyline intact while taking smart liberties that allow several characters to become richer and more theatrical onstage. That balance between faithfulness and added character development has been a recurring feature noted throughout the tour.

Chasing the Green Light

Nick Carraway is a young man from Minnesota and a World War I veteran who moves to New York in 1922 to work in the bond business. He settles on Long Island and quickly becomes fascinated by his mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby, a wealthy host famous for throwing enormous parties. Gatsby has built his entire extravagant life around a single goal: winning back Nick’s cousin Daisy. The complication is that Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan—an immensely rich, selfish, privileged, philandering brute who shows little empathy for those around him. Although Daisy is aware of her husband’s affairs, she chooses to turn her eye and maintain the facade of a happy marriage. Nick helps reconnect Gatsby with Daisy, and the former lovers finally reunite—but their reunion sets in motion a series of events that will change everything, and no one will walk away unscathed.

The show does a wonderful job conveying the themes of the novel, as we are immersed in the complex tapestry of American society during the Roaring Twenties. We see the tarnished American Dream; the stark divisions of wealth and class; the painful collision of illusion and reality; and the tragic consequences of misplaced ideals. Nearly everyone wants something just beyond their reach, and nearly everyone makes choices that hurt somebody else. The familiar symbols remain effective, especially the green light across the water and the enormous eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg—a billboard advertisement featuring giant blue eyes behind yellow spectacles—that seem to be watching over the Valley of Ashes. Those eyes take on an almost godlike presence, a silent reminder of judgment in a world where morality is constantly being bent.

A Cast Worth a Million

The touring cast turns in exceptional performances across the board, with each actor fully embracing the spirit of these iconic roles. Jake David Smith is outstanding as Jay Gatsby. Smith gives the role charisma, vulnerability, humor, and a terrific singing voice. He creates a Gatsby who can command a room while still revealing the uncertainty beneath the polished exterior. Senzel Ahmady is sensational as Daisy Buchanan, with beautiful vocals and a performance that gives Daisy more dimension than that of a simple object of Gatsby’s obsession. Smith and Ahmady make the central relationship believable and compelling.

In the performance reviewed, William Bishop brings warmth and likability to Nick Carraway, serving as an engaging guide through all the excess. Leanne Robinson is cool, confident, and wonderfully poised as Jordan Baker, Daisy’s sharp-tongued, golf-playing friend. And in a deliciously villainous turn, Will Branner gives Tom Buchanan the right amount of arrogance and menace.

The Party Is in the Details

Director Marc Bruni keeps the production moving at a brisk pace, and Dominique Kelley’s choreography fills the stage with movement. The tap sequences are especially enjoyable, adding another burst of old-fashioned showmanship to the evening. Tap dancing has been a recurring highlight throughout the tour, and the company includes accomplished dancers such as Macy McKown, a two-time silver medalist at the IDO World Tap Dance Championships.

Paul Tate dePoo III’s scenic and projection design is a major asset. Moving architectural pieces, large-scale imagery, practical props, and projections work together to create mansions, parties, city streets, and the desolate Valley of Ashes without slowing the storytelling. The mix of physical scenery and projected media gives the production a cinematic scale while still feeling unmistakably theatrical. Reviewers across the tour have consistently singled out the Art Deco structures, projected environments, and shifting scenic elements as major visual strengths.

Linda Cho’s Tony Award-winning costumes are great fun, from elegant formalwear to sparkling party looks. Cory Pattak’s lighting adds another layer of atmosphere. Brian Ronan’s sound design lets Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen’s jazz- and pop-influenced score land with power while keeping the vocals clear. Conductor Charlie Alterman leads the live and lively orchestra in the pit, ensuring good balance between musicians and voices.

Beneath All That Glitter

For all its visual excitement, The Great Gatsby never completely loses sight of the darker ideas underneath. Gatsby wants to recreate the past. Daisy is pulled between affection and security. Tom uses privilege like a weapon. Other characters chase status, excitement, or escape. The beautiful surface ultimately frames a story about people reaching for fulfillment in the wrong places and the consequences that follow. That contrast between spectacular surfaces and themes of wealth, class, recklessness, and consequence remains central to this adaptation.

Final Verdict: A Dream Worth Chasing

The Great Gatsby is polished, energetic, visually exciting, and led by an exceptional company. Fans of the novel will recognize its central story and famous imagery, while the musical’s added character moments give the material fresh stage life. Add strong singing, lively choreography, clever technology, memorable visuals, and those terrific tap numbers, and you have a Broadway-sized production that is very easy to recommend.

Tickets to The Great Gatsby

The North American tour of The Great Gatsby will be at the Aronoff Center from September 15 through September 27, 2026. Tickets are available through CincinnatiArts.org, by phone at 513-621-2787, or in person at the Aronoff Center Ticket Office.

Run Time: 2 hours 30 minutes, with 1 intermission.