Video: Go Inside THE GREAT GATSBY's Party at the Plaza

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

Following a record-breaking sold-out run at Paper Mill, the new musical The Great Gatsby is coming to Broadway

It will open on April 25th at the Broadway Theater, and I'm here at the Plaza Hotel

and I caught up with the company. I'm so excited to be asked back to the party

and to be one of the members of a great party and a great creative team

I'm just very happy I'm not hosting it, because this man, Mark Grooney, the host of the party, good luck

Well, Jay Gatsby is hosting the party, and like Jay Gatsby, we never give the same party twice

So everyone who saw the paper mill, that was then, and this is now, and we're at the Broadway theater

and what we're preparing is a totally new version of this story that takes in a lot of opinions that we heard and things we learned

and the writers have been working, and we've got our wonderful cast back

this incredible group of actor-singers to tell this story. And what the audiences can expect is an incredibly opulent treatment of this material that gives all of the glitz and the glamour that you would expect of when you think Gatsby

But at the same time, this is a story about class. This is a story about America and the ability of America to deliver on its promise

And there's a big love story at the heart of it. And so all of those things are combining to create what I think is a very love

very deluxe and intricate and depth-filled experience for an audience. And that's why people go to the theater is for a great story, great songs, a totally

opulent set, and a great night out. This is the first thing that I've worked on a long time where I feel like I'm coming to

work with my friends and just like playing. From the creative team to the cast it like everybody feels a level of trust for one another that there not that like that sort of lingering feeling of self

and of like, is this going to be good enough? Are they going to be judging me? There's really not a lot of that going on

And it's a really good environment to work in and to experiment in

And we have as much fun backstage as any cast ever. And, you know, the show kind of has ups and downs with a

characters on stage but yeah it's it's we have a great time and and everybody is so

incredibly talented some amazing voices and consummate great actors and I mean we spent so much

time in the rehearsal room just like sitting there asking questions and and what's

really great is is everybody wants to invite the collaborative you know air so that we can

make it the best possible show we can honestly this has been one of the most

thrilling experience ever and I keep mentioning the people but the people really make

or break it in my opinion and this is making a community of just such powerful

innovative and just also kind collaborative creatives and for me that's only

great groundwork for just an exceptional show so and I'm just excited to play I'm

excited to dive into the book and to expand on the characteristics of Daisy that

this production would like to bring out if that makes sense Jeremy's a goofball I

love him very much I just I love this cast very very much I mean Paper Mill was such

it was almost like I've never done acid but I picture like if we all did acid in

the desert that's kind of what it felt like we're at Paper Mill so to me it's very exciting because we're able to do this in a in a grand setting that to me

is familiar so I feel very special and privileged to be going back to a theater

that I've already been in before which is really cool I'm so excited I mean

this will be my third time on Broadway but my first time originating a role on Broadway so I'm really excited to take on that great challenge it's gonna be good

Well you know I was a part of the Great Gatsby from the first reading all the way till now So I played Nick that long So it just to see it come to life and to get to share it with so many people on Broadway is a gift in itself

Working with this cast, what it's been like for you. An absolute dream. I'm working with actors and actresses that I have idolized for a very long time

And it's still very surreal to me that I get to be on stage with Jeremy Jordan

that I get to play best friends with Eva Noblisada, someone that I have

have admired from afar for so long and now we're just friends that get to have fun together

I love this story so much. It's so deeply American. And then the other thing that I love is this

cast, man. I mean, like you look down the line. It's like one killer after another. And it's

and I think from every, every ensemble experience I've ever been in, the thing is only as good as

the quality of the ensemble allows it to be. And that was my experience on Good Night Oscar. It's my

experience on the shows I've done with Donya Tameur, and it's the experience on this

What's made this so special is I've known the creative team, like Kate Kerrigan, I've known

for 20 years, so to see her make her Broadway debut is very exciting for me, and Mark Bruny is a good

friend to see him back on Broadway is great. I just love the people. We have not stopped hanging

out with each other since the paper mill run ended. I just love the people

Unbelievable people. I mean, you can't, I don't think you can fill a room with more talent

talented singers, the ensemble are amazing dancers. This is going to be a wild ride

And I'm just, I'm lucky to be just a witness to it. What's made it so special for you

Well, being a part of the readings and the final workshop with Jeremy

I was able to really realize what legs this piece has. And the creative team are so talented

It beautifully written not to mention visually astounding so can wait to see how it fits in the Broadway Oh my God Like we over the moon Like the opportunity to come from Paper Mill was amazing Like huge success there

So many people came saw. We learned so much. And to be able to jump right on that and move forward, amazing

Yeah, there's so much hurry up and wait in this business. And the fact that we could just take that momentum and everything that we learned and immediately start writing

I mean, literally, three days after it closed, Mark Bruney was like, all right. So let's have our meeting and let's talk about our dreams about what we're going to do as we move forward

It's Jason Howland's fault that I'm on the project. He brought me in and I feel so lucky to work with these unbelievable collaborators and it

starts there and then it just sort of rippled out because we have this unbelievable team

We have both Mark Bruni and Dominique Kelly are just my favorite people to work with

They're so smart and structural and they have so much heart and then our cast is just extraordinary

Designers are they're invincible and they don't ever, nobody stops, Everybody is so meticulous and obsessed with making this the best thing they can

And also, they're really kind. It's so cool. Writing with your wife

How exciting is that? Oh, it is an absolute dream. I mean, there's such an important relationship because I feel as a lyricist

you have to be the go-between between music and book. But the fact that Kate not only writes book, but also writes lyrics

and also we share a bedroom, the fact that we can just, like, get the work done

and it all, it just, everything happens faster, you know. She's also a genius

And it's been really, really great. And, you know, it all, we got the gig during the pandemic

And the thought was like, well, we either like, you know, binge watch another series or maybe we should start writing together

You know, we've been together for 10 years, but this is the first project that we've actually done

Actually, the first song that we wrote for this musical, I wrote, and we have a picture of it somewhere

with their newborn daughter sitting on my lap at the piano. Yeah. Tess. Yeah

And now you're about to open on Broadway at the Broadway theater. Pinch me moment

Fantastic, yes