Northern Ballet’s The Great Gatsby At Sheffield Lyceum Review

Reviewed by Jenny Bray

This ballet is by David Nixon CBE, who arranged the choreography, direction, scenario and costume designs with music by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett CBE.

Labelled as being ‘the party to end all parties’; Gatsby (Jonathan Hanks) loved Daisy (Sarah Chun) when he was young. As he gets older he still finds himself thinking of her. Daisy is now married to Tom (Harry Skoupas), who is having an affair with Myrtle (Rachael Gillespie) whose husband George (Harris Beattle) runs a petrol station. Gatsby is rich and throws lavish parties, during one of these he is reunited with Daisy. After this the story goes a bit darker, although in a very light hearted way when done with ballet.

The ballet and choreography were amazing. The way that the ballet dancers all flowed around stage and interacted worked really well (even when I was struggling with some of the plot!). The music was also incredible, with a full live orchestra playing throughout, the music fitted perfectly with the ballet moves with appropriate crescendos to fit the intensity of some of the scenes.

The story is based on the book written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925 and then turned in to films and musicals since. It is set on Long Island, near New York during the jazz age. I have to admit that I didn’t know the story of The Great Gatsby well enough to follow the plot in ballet form. As a new ballet goer I found it slightly tricky to distinguish between Daisy and Myrtle at times, particularly as there was a young Daisy (Julie Nunès) who also came on stage, as they were of similar build with the same style of dark bobbed hair. I was therefore grateful to have a programme which had the full storyline scripted out to read by section. I overheard a few people catching up on the storyline between themselves during the interval too so I don’t think I was alone in not quite following the plot.

I found it a little strange that it was non-vocal for the majority yet when Myrtle is holding a party and a jazz song is playing ‘All Aboard for Alabam’ the cast start singing along. On another occasion, during one of Gatsby’s parties there are several ‘wooo’s from the cast when dancing too.

I find ballet fascinating, especially the footwork skills and the ease of flow between moves and each other. However, one key point that amused me was when there was an outside street setting and the men walked normally across the stage, flat footed, yet the women were en pointe (on tiptoes) moving from one side of the stage to the other.

The stage setting was simple, with several effective backdrops for different settings and various props of tables, chairs, a sofa, a bed etc. brought on and off stage as required. The petrol station and home backdrops even had interactive doors set in them that were utilised. I particularly liked Gatsby’s grand mirror room backdrop, although it looked a little like a house of mirrors setting if you caught the ballet dancers in it at an odd angle.

The costumes were 1920’s shimmery flapper dresses with ‘swish’ and matching headsets for the women with suits with long tails for the men. The dresses helped make some of the movements even more mesmerising.

There was a reasonably sized ensemble supporting the main ballet dancers, who were also very well choreographed and undertook matching moves. They really brought party scenes to life.

This show was on at the Lyceum in Sheffield, which is well signposted around the city centre with plenty of parking nearby. The local Q park at Charles Street has an agreement with the theatres to offer the first hour free if you get a ticket from a member of staff at the theatre. There is a bar and a snack shop as well as a souvenir area in the theatre.

This was my first real experience of a full ballet show so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. It was very artistic and clearly appeals to a wide audience as it looked like the Lyceum was sold out and the audience were enthralled by it. I suspect the plot may have been a little too complex to portray via ballet though, unless you really knew it in advance of attending.

Rating: I rate it a 4/5

Tickets cost from £11 to £55
Northern Ballet’s The Great Gatsby is at Sheffield Lyceum between 21st and 25th March 2023.
For more information or to book tickets visit www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk or call the Box Office on 0114 249 6000
Sheffield Theatres, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA
For further tour details please see here; https://northernballet.com/the-great-gatsby (although please note that it is currently only due to run in London in May after the Sheffield dates)