Theater Review: Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT): The Great Gatsby

Every year, Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) opens its season in a big way and 2015-2016 season is no exception. What better way to welcome its 44th season in Indianapolis than with the glamour and glitz of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby?

Attendees were encouraged to don era-appropriate fashion and join in on the festivities, including the Champagne toast afterward. Arriving in 1920's-inspired attire, flapper-styled ladies and bow-tied dapper-clothed men mingled in the historic lobby creating an energy unlike any this critic has seen before at the theater's season opening night. In fact, I am uncertain how this gala will be topped next year, but will be eager to watch the attempt.

The story of people's lives spinning out of control in a world of excess, money and glitz centers on the theory that everyone cheats at something in their lives. Moral compass Midwesterner (and distant cousin to Daisy) Nick Caraway is portrayed by Zach Kenney. Kenney brings a quiet energy to the role, filled with anticipated excitement at living among the wealthy and ready to be one of them.
Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker are brought to life marvelously by Hillary Clemens and Teagan Rose respectively. These lifelong best friends are full of mischief, secrets, desires and love for each other's happiness. Whether lounging on a chaise sipping illegal liquor, looking for passion in their lives or giggling over an inside joke, Clemens and Rose shine as wealthy women of the post World War I era.

Tom Buchanan, husband of Daisy, is portrayed by David Folsom with slick, polished manners toward everyone except his ill-fated mistress Myrtle Wilson (Angela Ingersoll). Folsom creates a Tom with a thin pleasant veneer which he keeps in check except when his hot temper slips out for all to see. The actor's ability to portray a successful businessman ~ physically abusive bully ~ manipulator is a thrill to witness.

The mysterious Jay Gatsby's lies, a desire to break through the wall around the "beautiful people" and a desperate need to finally capture the heart of small town beauty Daisy Buchanan, are seamlessly portrayed by Matt Schwader. His lies become delusions, his need for the "perfect" love of Daisy an obsession and his drive to become rich a lifelong attempt to rewrite history.

Bottom Line: Everyone should catch IRT's The Great Gatsby twice. Once for the glitz and glamour and the second time for the moral of the story and wonderful performance. I predict this show will be on more than one Top 10 List for 2015.

Elizabeth J. Musgrave writes two magazine food and wine columns: Destination Dining and White Linen & Corks,and is a travel, features, food and wine writer, travel and food photographer, and performing arts and restaurant critic.Follow her on Twitter @GottaGo, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) 2015-2016 Season Includes a Gatsby, a Mockingbird and a Mousetrap

Downtown Indianapolis' Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) opensits 44th season with a flourish ~ as always. Known for opening annually with a dramatic production, this year will be no different.

The remainder of the season, which ends May 22, 2016, offers the glitz of the 1920s, the confusion of the '60s, the depression of the '30s and the opportunities of the '50s.

The Great Gatsby

September 30 – October 25

Mainstage

A theatrical adaptation of what some consider the Greatest American Novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Opulent parties, romantic affairs, jealousy and murder come to life in this powerful and vivid tale of American bravado, lost love and war recovery in the Roaring Twenties.

April 4, 1968

Upperstage

October 20 – November 15

IRT’s playwright-in-residence shares an intimate look at one Indianapolis family and their personal experience surrounding the events of April 4, 1968, which include Bobby Kennedy’s history-making speech on the night of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.

A Christmas Carol

Mainstage

November 14 – December 26

Indy’s favorite holiday tradition comes to life again for its 25th year on the Mainstage. A Christmas Carol celebrates the universal story of redemption as literature’s most infamous “Scrooge” learns to love after a walk through Christmas past, present and future.

Peter Rabbit and Me

The Cabaret

November 21 – December 20

In this classic tale,13-year-old Beatrix Potter creates her own exciting world as she invents such beloved characters as Peter Rabbit, Flopsy, Mopsy & Cottontail and their playful adventures in Mr. McGregor’s garden.

The Mystery of Irma Vep

Upperstage

January 12-February 14

A hilarious mash-up of chilling Gothic horror story and passionate Victorian bodice-ripper. Two actors play a mysterious archeologist, a flighty new bride, a saucy housekeeper, a loveable werewolf and an Egyptian mummy, in a dizzying quick-change marathon.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Mainstage

January 29 – February 28

The story of how two siblings, Scout and Jem Finch, and their father, Atticus, changed the way many American’s perceived race and prejudice in the country. Coming of age in a small Depression-era community in the mid-30’s, the Finch siblings learn about social injustice as their lawyer father defends a man wrongly accused of a heinous crime.

Fences

Mainstage

March 9 – April 3

Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Play, Fences is the most widely acclaimed play from August Wilson’s towering 20th Century Cycle. A former Negro League baseball player, thwarted in his dreams of a Major League career, struggles to provide for his family and break free from the boundaries imposed upon him. Set in 1957, at the intersection of old prejudices and changing opportunities.

Bridge and Tunnel

Upperstage

March 29 - May 1

An open-mic poetry night becomes a celebration of American diversity in the Tony Award–winning Bridge and Tunnel. One woman plays more than a dozen characters of both sexes, many races and all ages, as life stories are shared and dreams are dared.

The Mousetrap

By Agatha Christie

Mainstage

April 26 – May 22

The Mousetrap is the world’s longest running stage play, celebrating its 64th birthday in 2016. It is the classic Agatha Christie mystery thriller, with a houseful of strangers trapped by a blizzard and stalked by an unknown murderer. Part drawing room comedy and part murder mystery, this timeless chiller is a double-barreled whodunit full of twists and surprises.

Tickets

Contact the ticket office at 317-635-5252 or visit irtlive.org.

All performances are at the Indiana Repertory Theatre building located at 140 W. Washington Street in Downtown Indianapolis.

Elizabeth J. Musgrave writes two magazine food and wine columns: Destination Dining and White Linen & Corks,and is a travel, features, food and wine writer, travel and food photographer, and performing arts and restaurant critic. Catch her as the Travel & Leisure Adviser on FOX59 Morning News Show. She also is a speaker, consultant and trainer for hospitality, travel and luxury businesses, P.R., and tourism groups, as well as a radio and television guest and host. Follow her on Twitter @GottaGo, LinkedIn and Facebook.