Green light on the dock: Ballet Arkansas to perform ‘The Great Gatsby,’ reimagined

Glitz, glamour and murder in the previous century's Roaring '20s are on display as Ballet Arkansas opens its 2021-22 main stage season with "The Great Gatsby," at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Center for Humanities and Arts Theater, University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock.

Executive and Artistic Director Michael Fothergill has adapted and choreographed F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale to period music by Bob Wilson and His Varsity Rhythm Boys, Georges Bruns & His Rag-a-Muffins, Johnny Guarnierni, Robert Farnon and His Orchestra, Fapy Lafertin Quartet & Hadi Mouallem and Hill Bowen and His Orchestra, as well as more contemporary "classical" pieces by Francis Poulenc and Pascal Roge and Eric Parkin.

The multimedia production is in collaboration with Cranford Co. and the college's production team.

Toby Lewellen and Matt Larson split performances in the roles of Nick Carraway and George Wilson; Aldrin Vendt and Paul Tillman swap out the roles of Jay Gatsby and Tom Buchanan. Amanda Sewell and Lauren Bodenheimer Hill divide the role of Daisy Buchanan — Hill today and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sewell on Friday and 2:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Megan Tillman and Leah Elizabeth split the role of Jordan Baker and Isabelle Urban and Meredith Loy the role of Myrtle Wilson.

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"While I've remained true to the essence of F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing, I've taken liberties to make the story my own, and to reflect the imagery and story I think our audiences will respond to," Fothergill says. "'The Great Gatsby' takes us back to a simpler time, filled with raw emotion, era music and a storyline unique to the period. Fitzgerald's writing has become immortalized due to his telling of passion and tragedy between characters as rich as any in literature. It's the perfect premise for a ballet."

Meanwhile, "I felt it was important to consider how our audience may have been exposed to Fitzgerald's iconic work," he adds, noting also the influence of recent film adaptations.

"Given the multimedia-heavy nature of our production, and the size of our professional company, I honed in on specific areas of the book that I felt could be translated well into movement and technology. I selected characters and scenes of significance, and those that first come to mind when recalling the story. It also meant filling in the blanks between scenes to allow the audience to linger within the theme of the previous scene.

Amanda Sewell and Paul Tillman go for a ride in Ballet Arkansas' "The Great Gatsby," today-Sunday at the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Colin J. Neel)

"In other words, many of Gatsby's minor characters do not appear, and scenes have been expanded to allow for additional dance sequences." Fothergill says he has also taken into consideration "the number of costume changes, set changes and projection shifts that we'd be able to accommodate during a condensed run time. In the effort to establish continuity in the multimedia and lighting effects, I adapted one of the story's locations to allow for fewer changes of scenery during the second act."