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PNC Broadway in Louisville was the first stop for “The Great Gatsby” musical tour after its late January premiere in Baltimore, Maryland. The scheduling makes sense, given Daisy Buchanan the novel’s famed fiction character, hails from our fair city. Two critics from the Arts Angle Newsroom attended the Feb. 10 opening night and have these reviews.
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“The Great Gatsby” dazzled with feathers and flamboyance
By Elizabeth Voss, Arts Angle Reporter
Louisville Collegiate School, Class of 2027
The curtain rose on Gatsby, back turned, arm outstretched toward that infamously unreachable light. A screen swept across him, revealing Nick, who opened the performance with his father’s advice — just as Fitzgerald wrote his novel.
It’s only fitting that Broadway’s electric rendition of “The Great Gatsby” opened its tour in Louisville around the 100th anniversary of the book’s publication. Louisville, after all, is where charming socialite Daisy (Senzel Ahmady) grew up. Her home is even inspired by a park-side residence in the Highlands of Louisville, whose grand staircase beckons visitors inside her gilded cage.
From the start, the production balanced reverence for the novel with theatrical flair. “Roaring On” burst forward with dramatic silhouettes covered in gold and purple flapper costumes, harmonies weaving storytelling into spectacle. Linda Cho’s lavish and breathtaking costume designs charmed as actors embodied the 1920s flapper flair with extravagance.
Paul Tate dePoo III’s scenic design included seamless set changes that carried the captivated crowd from glittering West Egg excess to Daisy’s softer world of old money refinement, while it also devised a god-like presence of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg’s billboard looming over the elite.
The contrast between new and old money, a theme throughout Fitzgerald’s writing, was striking. Gatsby’s parties exploded with jewel tones, shimmer, and feathers. The iconic yellow Rolls-Royce sumptuously rolled across the stage, while Daisy’s world of class felt delicate, yet suffocating behind lush, pink curtains. While Daisy’s friend Jordan Baker (Leanne Robinson) hints that “the world is changing,” Daisy’s quiet confessions reveal suffering bound by the constraints of marriage, especially with a husband like Tom Buchanan (Will Branner), a true brute of the 20th century. Daisy’s old love, Gatsby, is both myth and man: an enticing, formal figurehead, who no one can quite piece together, framed as a self-made illusion through a clever Frankenstein allusion.
The music, dancing, and the quintessential ties to Fitzgerald were enthralling. Dominique Kelley’s rhythmic choreography told a story through both jazzy and graceful movement, mirroring the novel’s emotional pulse. Even more dazzling were the impeccable tap dancers, who leaped across the stage in silvery blue outfits, a simple addition that was truly spectacular.
The music reverberated from long, emotional belts of desire to jazzy, danceable beats. While the plot was adapted for the stage through song, Fitzgerald’s commentary on love, the American Dream, and the destructive nature of the elite were prominent, with recognizable direct quotes from the novel that resonated with fans.
The show closed as it began: an image of Gatsby silhouetted once more with arm extended toward the green light as Nick looked on. The cast sang a line that reverberated: “That light across the river is always out of reach, so why do we…keep reaching?” The image lingered. The damage has been done. Lives have been flipped inside out by the irreparable choices of the loved and the loveless.
The glitzy “The Great Gatsby” shines at The Kentucky Center
By Riley Yanez, Arts Angle Reporter
Our Lady of Providence High School, Class of 2026
Let me tell you, old sport, the 1920s were roaring during the first stop of “The Great Gatsby” North American tour at The Kentucky Center.
This jazz-pop fusion musical, based on the classic 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, brought to life well-known characters, including Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and, this tragic tale’s narrator, Nick Carraway.
The Kentucky Center of the Arts’ Whitney Hall was packed on opening night during the Feb 10-through-15-run of this musical that won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Costume Design.
It follows the same plotline as Fitzgerald’s novel and tells the story of money, corruption, and sin through the lens of 1920s America. At the root is the pain that self-preservation and decaying morals inflict.
Carraway (Joshua Grosso) tells the story from old journal entries and connects the characters. He helps coordinate an affair between Gatsby and Daisy. As Nick, Grosso acts as a voice of reason in a world overtaken by sin, and opens and concludes the show with recognizable monologues.
Daisy (Senzel Ahmady), plagued by her unhappy marriage, begins an affair with Gatsby, her old love who is her neighbor across the bay. Ahmady’s solo “Beautiful Little Fool,” with her warm vocals, was a highlight of her touching performance. She evoked sympathy for Daisy’s struggles as a woman in the ‘20s.
Jake David Smith’s Gatsby rendered an emotional performance in his heartwarming song “For Her,” detailing all his work had been for Daisy. Gatsby’s ultimate downfall is his longing for the past and first-love fixation. He had worked to be wealthy and powerful enough for Daisy to love.
The drama gave the ensemble highlighted roles. Members showcased the corruptive nature of this part of 1920s society which lacked true personal connections and maintained a lasered concern on excess, gossip and intrigue. They also delivered authentic detachment from the real world when they flipped into criticizing funeral attendees from once-worshipful party goers.
Those familiar with Fitzgerald’s novel know everything falls apart in The Plaza Hotel suite. In this musical adaptation, the argument erupts through overlapping vocals that portray the storm of emotions everyone is experiencing. The cadence gives way to a vocal chaos, beautifully performed by the cast, and pushes Daisy to her breaking point.
Cory Pattak’s lighting effects on the Whitney Hall stage included bright, flashy lights that gave the space a cabaret feel and featured color-switching lights. This allowed for seamless scene changes and mood shifts.
On top of the set design and lighting, Linda Cho’s costuming with its glittering fringed dresses and shimmering headpieces transported the audience into the era. The designs contrasted between old and new money characters and allowed characters to shine through their attire. An example is Jordan Baker’s (Leanne Robinson) wide-legged palazzo pants, which showcase her character’s radical womanhood.
Paul Tate dePoo III’s set designs boldly displayed the optometrist’s rundown billboard known for giving the plot the effect of divine oversight. Those large, overbearing eyes strengthened the theme of corruption and sin due to degraded morals.
Dominique Kelley’s stunning choreography added to the captivating set and costumes. High points included the tap number during Gatsby’s party and movements throughout “Shady,” a song performed by racketeer Meyer Wolfsheim detailing the characters’ sins.
Color plays a key role in the novel and in the musical. The green light across the bay that Gatsby uses to connect with Daisy, represents desire, hope and sacrifice. Gold, signifying money and glamor, animates Gatsby’s lavish parties and their guests’ attire. Blue, Gatsby’s color, reflects his sadness and nostalgia.
The set, lighting and costume design reflects the color themes. Early on, Daisy sports white, denoting innocence and purity prior to the affair. Once she reunites with Gatsby, she appears in pink, reflecting their rekindled love and new romance. The yellow ensemble she wears late in the story showcases her fidelity to old money, Tom, over Gatsby and his new money. It also symbolizes her new beginning away from the West Egg community after Gatsby’s tragic end.
The musical, unlike the novel, reflects today with its greater focus on the female characters. Tom Buchanan’s lover, Myrtle Wilson (Lila Coogan), declares her dreams and thoughts moments before her death in the song “One Way Road,” which concedes how money and love are the cause of her problems. After a fling with Nick, Jordan maintains independence and aspirations to build her golfing career. Daisy pursues her security for much of the drama, but ultimately decides that women do not have a true place in society in the ‘20s. The best thing a woman can be, she determines, is a beautiful, little fool.
Daisy’s choice of living as a beautiful fool is a deeper tragedy, especially as 1920s’ women had achieved suffrage and greater opportunities following WWI. They had begun establishing a variety of lifestyles, they were no longer destined to a singular fate.
The dazzling brilliance in design, performance and execution of “The Great Gatsby” come from making good use of the story’s strong themes and the production’s talented cast. It also combined to bring the lively 1920s America to the stage. The spectacle proved “The Great Gatsby” provides important lessons about sinful society and the corruption of the powerful.
In the shadow of all that spectacle, Nick ponders those lessons in his closing monologue: “So we beat on boats against the current borne back ceaselessly into the past.” The line, taken from the novel, resounded within the theater’s walls and in this audience member’s heart.
This article appears in Feb 14-28, 2026.