Florence + the Machine’s Florence Welch will pen the lyrics and co-write music for a musical stage adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Welch will work with Oscar- and Grammy-nominee Thomas Bartlett on the music for the show. Producer/singer Bartlett, also known as Doveman, worked with Florence + The Machine on the song “Jenny of Oldstones,” which was used in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
“This book has haunted me for a large part of my life,” Welch stated in a statement. “It contains some of my favourite lines in literature. Musicals were my first love, and I feel a deep connection to Fitzgerald’s broken romanticism. It is an honour to have been offered the chance to recreate this book in song.”
Published in 1925, Fitzgerald’s iconic novel set in the Jazz Age is the ultimate depiction of the American dream.
Producers Amanda Ghost and Robert Fox added, “Florence’s passion for Gatsby and exceptional musical storytelling will bring this iconic love story to life in ways we have never experienced before. It’s been 100 years since The Great Gatsby was published and there could be no better time for a new musical adaptation of the greatest party America ever threw.”
The Great Gatsby: A New Musical will feature a book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Martyna Majok and be directed by Olivier Award nominee Rebecca Frecknall. An original cast recording will be released on Warner Music. The timeline for a pre-Broadway engagement will be announced shortly.
