Rock star Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine), Thomas Bartlett, and Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok are collaborating on a musical stage adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, which entered the public domain earlier this year.
With lyrics by Grammy nominee Welch, music by Welch and Oscar and Grammy nominee Bartlett (Call Me By Your Name's "Mystery of Love"), and a book by Majok (Cost of Living), the production will be directed by Olivier nominee Rebecca Frecknall (Summer and Smoke). Jeanie O'Hare serves as story consultant.
Welch said in a statement, “This book has haunted me for a large part of my life. It contains some of my favorite lines in literature. Musicals were my first love, and I feel a deep connection to Fitzgerald’s broken romanticism. It is an honor to have been offered the chance to recreate this book in song.”
Majok added: “I'm thrilled, honored, and inspired to work with this company of extraordinary artists, and to get to live in F. Scott Fitzgerald's transcendent, gorgeous words. I'm also overjoyed to be reunited with Rebecca Frecknall, with whom I had the most wonderful experience working on my play Sanctuary City."
Producers Len Blavatnik and Amanda Ghost for Unigram in association with Robert Fox announced the news. Hannah Giannoulis and James Orange serve as executive producers. The production will be co-produced by Access Entertainment.
A timeline for a pre-Broadway engagement will be announced at a later date. A recording of The Great Gatsby, A New Musical will be released on Warner Music.
