WA Ballet to open ‘The Great Gatsby’ soon

This September, West Australian Ballet’s production of The Great Gatsby will come to His Majesty’s Theatre as part of the company’s 65th Anniversary Season.

World-renowned choreographer David Nixon OBE (artistic director of Northern Ballet) will bring The Great Gatsby to the Australian stage for the very first time. This smooth and sultry interpretation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic tale will transport viewers straight into a hedonistic haze of 1920’s New York.

West Australian Symphony Orchestra will play BAFTA award-winning composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett CBE’s cinematic score under the instruction of Conductor Myron Romanul and Jon Tooby.

Nixon, who is also the production’s costume designer, reflected that Gatsby isn’t just about the wild and glamourous parties. He said, “There will always be some kind of relevance to The Great Gatsby. It’s about basic things, like ‘the pursuit of happiness’ and what that is…”

Nixon continued, “We all ask ourselves ‘What is happiness?’, ‘What is success?’ and ‘What are you willing to do to achieve your dreams?’, and that’s basically what Gatsby represents. He is someone who did really bad things to achieve a dream that was beautiful.”

Shadowing the plot of the book, the ballet follows Nick Carraway as he comes to know his infamous neighbour Jay Gatsby – a mysterious millionaire with a secret past and a penchant for lavish parties and beautiful women. As the sparkling façade of Gatsby’s world begins to slip, Carraway comes to see the loneliness, obsession and tragedy that lie beneath.

The Guardian wrote, “It’s easy to see why choreographer David Nixon was tempted by The Great Gatsby. The clothes, the jazz, the dance music, the fatal love affair – much of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel seems tailor-made for ballet.”

A work that will appeal to fans of the ballet and the novel alike, The Great Gatsby promises be one of the most stylish adaptations of this classic literary work.

Continuing its mission to enrich people’s lives through dance, WAB will present this production to the general public alongside special dedicated performances for people with limited access to the arts.

The Great Gatsby will be presented September 14–30 at His Majesty’s Theatre. Book tickets via TICKETEK or visit www.waballet.com.au.

Image courtesy of West Australian Ballet.