This summer, two shows rose to the audience’s attention: The Great Gatsby, which opened April 25th at the Broadway Theatre in NYC, and Gatsby, which premiered at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge from May 23 through August 3, and is on its way to Broadway.

What this means is that the audiences will see a very rare occurrence: two Broadway shows based on the exact same material, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s legendary novel, The Great Gatsby. 

Both shows feature a spectacular list of cast and creatives. The Great Gatsby features director Marc Bruni and Broadway’s best voices: Jeremy Jordan (Newsies), Eva Noblezada (Hadestown), and Samantha Pauly (Six). ART’s Gatsby, on the other hand, is known for its top-of-the-world creatives: director Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown), music by world superstars Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett, and choreographed by Sonya Tayeh (Moulin Rouge!). It similarly features a strong cast, including Isaac Powell (West Side Story) and Solea Pfeiffer (Moulin Rouge!).

Having watched both shows, I’ve witnessed the popularity of both. Stagedoor for The Great Gatsby was crowded with fans of the cast, trying to get signatures and videos of the stars, while tickets remained sold out for weeks on the ART’s website. I watched the website almost every hour for over two weeks to be able to find spots open through exchange tickets. 

The amazing masterminds and actors behind both shows made sure that the two musicals would be spectacular. The Great Gatsby is the Broadway big-hit show: star voices, fancy sets and big, flashy costumes and dancing numbers like “New Money”. In comparison, ART’s Gatsby was very cool as well—amazing singing and jaw-dropping sets on stage. The audiences weren’t allowed to use phones and placed them in locked packets for a completely phone-free experience.

Stella Bowman ’28 greatly enjoyed the technical elements on stage for Gatsby. “I really liked the way they tied the story and used these technical components to show real emotion and thought. As a viewer, it was incredible to see.”

The reason for so many emerging Great Gatsby works is the 95-year-copyright expiration on January 1, 2021, opening up many opportunities for new works. But the timing of both works is even more interesting as they both debuted in 2024, the grand election year for the U.S.. The Great Gatsby is known to have close connections with the “American Dream” theme, and both shows explored this theme in respective ways.

Adapting from the book, the Gatsby at the ART made the theme very clear: the poor couple, Myrtle and George, constantly talk about how the American Dream was the fueling power for their work. Even more often, they bring up how the American Dream has failed them as none of them reached their expectations of a big, fancy, worry-free life. Humorously, at the end, George once again referred to the American dream before ending his life: “America she breaks and America she takes, but the one thing you can always get is a gun. And ladies and gentlemen, the show has just begun.”

The Great Gatsby was less clear in its American Dream theme, although it extends throughout the story of “New Money” embodiment Jay Gatsby. Gatsby started off as a poor man with no money—the reason he and Daisy’s relationship was objected by her parents. He gained his fortune from bootlegging and working for a local gang, which Tom Buchanan pointed out at the end. In Tom’s mind, Gatsby’s money will never be real compared to generational wealth. Both works seem to show that the American Dream is just an imagination.

America has long been seen as a land of hopes and possibilities, where the notion of the American Dream symbolizes opportunity and success. However, many new works emerging this year are highlighting the downsides of this ideal, suggesting its impracticality. These critiques reflect broader concerns about current political and social issues in the United States, drawing clear connections between the challenges faced by individuals pursuing the American Dream and the nation’s evolving political landscape.

Looking at this year’s election, many characters and issues from The Great Gatsby seem to resemble presidential candidates and topics as well. Policies of gun reform can be seen implied with Gatsby’s allusion to guns and related laws in the U.S. near the ending. The more interesting part is how Trump and Vance, the Republican candidates for the 2024 election, share many similarities with Gatsby, “New Money”, and the American Dream. 

In the story, Gatsby didn’t show too much virtue when Myrtle died in the accident. He decided to take the blame only because of his own love for Daisy, but Nick Carroway, the narrator of the story, takes a sympathetic turn on him. Gatsby is the true embodiment of the American Dream: starting with almost nothing, but America always provides with opportunities and led him to a life of affluence. Therefore, despite lacking great virtue, Caraway—who witnesses Gatsby during his growth – understands him. 

Similarly, Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance’s story is another “true” American Dream. From his Hillbilly Elegy, he described his childhood where poverty was the “family tradition.”

After years of hard work, Vance was capable of reaching Ohio’s junior state senator and eventually became nominated for VP during this election. However, this is only one of the lies Vance has told as he simply cherry-picked the worst moments of his life but later, quite ironically, blames the poor for their poverty. Despite being highly controversial, Vance’s story still convince many “Nick Carroway”s, as they see him as the incarnation of their American Dream, accounting for the sympathy of them towards the candidates. 

Gatsby, however, only enjoyed momentary success as the American Dream didn’t end well for him in any story—told by Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, or Gatsby. Many uncertainties still exist – the Republican party’s story is still undecided before the final results are revealed in November. The birth of both Gatsby shows this season is not only a reflection of the original work’s timeless appeal, but also a sign for many things happening today in America. The American Dream has been the driving force for many immigrant families as they first arrived; but the recent retelling of this theme in many Gatsby works tell a different side of the story.