Gatz

Last updated

Gatz is a stage adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby by Elevator Repair Service theater ensemble. The show was directed by John Collins.

Contents

The show consists of the entire text of the novel, read aloud by a company of actors. Its premise is that an office worker pulls a copy of Gatsby out of a drawer and begins reading it aloud. His coworkers gradually join in, and the people and office space transform into the characters and settings of the novel. [1]

Production history

Development on the show began in 1999, and it was first presented at the Collapsable Hole venue in Brooklyn in 2004 before transferring to the Performing Garage later that year. The show toured Europe, Sydney and Singapore from 2005 to 2009, and was mounted Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2010–11, where it won several awards. [2]

After its production at the Public Theater, Gatz was shown in Princeton and Los Angeles between 2011 and 2013; in Abu Dhabi in 2018–199; in Berkeley in 2019–20. [2] It is scheduled to be remounted for a "final encore" at the Public Theater in November 2024. [3]

Original cast

Awards

In Australia, the play received a Helpmann nomination for Best Play in 2009. [5] In Boston, the play received an Elliot Norton award for Outstanding Visiting Production and was nominated for Best Ensemble in 2010. In New York City in 2011, the play received a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Alternative Theater Experience; a Drama Desk nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience; and a Drama League nomination for Distinguished Production of a Play. [6] John Collins also received a Lucille Lortel Award for directing the play in 2011. [7]

Reception

Charles McGrath of the New York Times described the play "a dramatization of the act of reading" than a dramatization of The Great Gatsby. [1]

Related Research Articles

John Collins is an American experimental theatre director and designer. He is the founder and artistic director of Elevator Repair Service (ERS) and has directed or co-directed all of its productions since 1991. Most notable among his work with ERS is Gatz, a verbatim performance of the entire text of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucille Lortel</span> American actress

Lucille Lortel was an American actress, artistic director, and theatrical producer. In the course of her career Lortel produced or co-produced nearly 500 plays, five of which were nominated for Tony Awards: As Is by William M. Hoffman, Angels Fall by Lanford Wilson, Blood Knot by Athol Fugard, Mbongeni Ngema's Sarafina!, and A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing. She also produced Marc Blitzstein's adaptation of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, a production which ran for seven years and according to The New York Times "caused such a sensation that it...put Off-Broadway on the map."

David Esbjornson is a director and producer who has worked throughout the United States in regional theatres and on Broadway, and has established strong and productive relationships with some of the profession's top playwrights, actors, and companies. Esbjornson was the artistic director of Seattle Repertory Theatre in Seattle, Washington, but left that position in summer 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MCC Theater</span> American theater company

MCC Theater is an off-Broadway theater company located in New York City. The theater was founded in 1986 by artistic directors Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey and William Cantler. Blake West joined the company in 2006 as executive director. MCC opened its current location in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, as The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, on January 9, 2019.

Stephen Adly Guirgis is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and a former co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced both Off-Broadway and on Broadway, as well as in the UK. His play Between Riverside and Crazy won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Foundation, with additional support from the Theatre Development Fund.

Elevator Repair Service (ERS) is a New York-based theater ensemble founded by director John Collins and a group of actors in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Timbers</span> American writer and director

Alex Timbers is an American writer and director best known for his work on stage and television. He has received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Drama Desk Award, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award. Timbers received the Drama League Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing and the Jerome Robbins Award for Directing.

Matt McGrath is an American actor who was worked across stage, television, and film.

Sergio Trujillo is a Colombian theater director, choreographer, dancer, and actor. Born in Colombia and raised in Toronto, Canada, he is an American citizen and resides in New York City. Trujillo was the recipient of the 2019 Tony Award for Best Choreography for Ain't Too Proud and the 2015 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for Memphis. He is the first ever Hispanic recipient of the Tony Award for Best Choreography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ako (actress)</span> Japanese actress

Ako, or Ako Dachs, is a Japanese actress who is the founding Artistic Director of the Amaterasu Za theatre company. She received a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Fishelson</span> American dramatist

David J. Fishelson is an American producer, playwright, and director for film, theatre, television and radio, based in Manhattan since 1982. He is best known for being the lead producer of Golda's Balcony, the longest-running one-woman show in Broadway history (2003–05)—which he also produced as a feature motion picture, Golda's Balcony , that was popular in over 75 film festivals in 2019-20)—as well as being the founder/producer of Manhattan Ensemble Theatre, an award-winning Off-Broadway theatre company located in SoHo, New York City. As a filmmaker, his work has been broadcast on PBS, exhibited theatrically, and selected for 87 international film festivals. As a theatre producer and playwright, his work has garnered 31 nominations from the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Obie, Drama League, Lortel, Blackburn Prize and Touring Broadway awards organizations, while landing on Time Out NY's year-end "Best in Theatre" list on 4 different occasions.

<i>The Select (The Sun Also Rises)</i>

The Select (The Sun Also Rises) is a stage adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises by Elevator Repair Service theater ensemble. It has been performed in several venues. It premiered at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Off-Broadway production, which ran from September 11 – October 23, 2011 at the New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW), earned awards for its sound design. The show directed by John Collins and produced by Ariana Smart Truman and Lindsay Hockaday received the Lucille Lortel Award for being outstanding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Perez</span> American actor, singer, and dancer

Joel Perez is an American actor, singer, and dancer known for his work in several theatrical performances and television appearances.

Mia Barron is an American actress. She won the Lucille Lortel Award for her performance in the Lincoln Center production of The Coast Starlight, an Obie award for her performance in Hurricane Diane at New York Theatre Workshop, as well as a second Obie and a Drama Desk Award for her work in the ensemble of the Off Broadway production of The Wolves. She co-created, along with director Lars Jan, a theatrical adaptation of Joan Didion's The White Album, which premiered in New York to sold out houses at BAM's Harvey Theatre as part of the Next Wave Festival. She is known for her extensive New York City theater credits, alongside her television and independent film work, most recently Half Empty Half Full, which received a New York Film Award nomination for Best Ensemble. She is also known as the voice of Molotov and Sally Impossible on the Cartoon Network's long-running comic science-fiction series, The Venture Bros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martyna Majok</span> Polish-American playwright (born 1985)

Martyna Majok is a Polish-born American playwright who received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Cost of Living. She emigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in New Jersey. Majok studied playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and Juilliard School. Her plays are often politically engaged, feature dark humor, and experiment with structure and time.

Cost of Living is a dramatic stage play written by Polish-born American playwright Martyna Majok. It premiered in Williamstown, Massachusetts, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival on June 29, 2016, and had an Off-Broadway engagement in 2017. The play won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as two Lucille Lortel Awards, including Outstanding Play.

The Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play was an award presented annually at the Lucille Lortel Awards to honor an actress for excellence in a leading role in an Off-Broadway production. The categories were split into Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical in 2014. The acting categories were made gender-neutral in 2021.

The Connector is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and a book by Jonathan Marc Sherman, from an original story by Daisy Prince. Set in the 1990s world of New York City journalism, the plot follows behind-the-scenes drama amongst staff of the fictional newspaper The Connector, examining themes of journalistic integrity and plagiarism.

References

  1. 1 2 McGrath, Charles (September 28, 2010). "Heard Any Good Books Lately, Zelda?". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Performance History by Season". Elevator Repair Service. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  3. "Gatz". The Public Theater. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  4. "Gatz". Elevator Repair Service. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  5. "Past nominees and winners". Helpmann Awards. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  6. "Drama League Award Winners Announced". Broadway Musical Blog. May 21, 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  7. "Outstanding Director". Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved 21 June 2024.