Video: Ryan McCartan Is Stepping Into Gatsby's Shoes

Welcome to Backstage with Richard Ridge

You know my guest, Ryan McCarton, from such shows as Heather's, Wicked and Frozen

Well, now he has just stepped into the iconic role of Jay Gatsby in the hit musical The Great Gatsby

and I caught up with him here at The Legendary Sardis. Welcome back to Broadway. How does it feel

I mean, it feels right, it feels surreal, it feels scary, it feels wonderful

I didn't think it would be this, I didn't think it would be like this, but it's such a distinct honor, and I'm really having a lot of fun so far

Because you didn't pursue this role, did you? No, it wasn't on my radar at all

I mean, I didn't know that Jeremy was leaving. I didn't know that..

I mean, I've said this before, but I do think it's worth repeating

I'm 31, but I've been doing this for 24 years. So, you know, I started when I was very young

and for most of my career, I was the youngest person in the cast

And I very much internalized that. And so, you know, and then I was on Disney Channel

and, you know, I played JD, who even though I was in my 20s, he's a teenager. and, you know, Hans is a Disney prince

and they're kind of always 18, even if they aren't. You know what I mean

And so, like, notwithstanding the characters I've played, but also the experience that I had as a child actor

I am so used to being, like, a boy. And Gatsby is such a man

And that was not in my... sphere of possibility. And so when I was approached about it, I was like, this is a joke

Like, Jeremy Jordan's like a man, and I'm like a kid. And it's like, no, Ryan, you're 31

And like, you can do this, you know. And I saw the show and fell in love with it, fell in love with the possibility of doing it

I'm incredibly fortunate that, you know, I met with the creation. creative team before anything happened

It was sort of like, we're interested, but let's meet each other first. It protects me It protects them We love Very smart way to do business And they were so insistent about like we want you because we want you

You know, let's build your version of this. And that is a very refreshing way to replace someone, especially someone as iconic as Jeremy

because it would be so easy to be like, what he did is, perfect, so could we just have this again? But they took a risk on, let's do it your way and see what

that feels like. And nothing feels better to an artist than that. And so it was this thing that felt

so impossible that then felt possible, that then felt probable, that then felt necessary. And

I'm so happy that it has happened. They are the nicest creative team. Literally. You have a

on that show. We've sat with them many, many times. But when you hear something like that, you're like, okay, now I think I can climb that mountain

Yeah. Well, and then you start climbing it, and you realize you don't just talk the talk, you walk the walk

Because then you get into the rehearsal room and it's like, okay, how much of what you said do you mean

Because, you know, we also, oh, we want you to get the job. So we're telling you the things to get the job

You know, let's just get you in the room. But no. Like, any time

David, the associate or Mark, the director, would give me a note

It would be like, you can push back on this. You know, what do you think

And it really felt like we built something together. Yeah. What was your first rehearsal like

Because you knew the book, right? Very much so, yeah. So did you go in with like, oh, this is the way it is in the book

Yes. I mean, well, and so, you know, because that was something, like, the thing that I love about Jeremy's performance is it's like

It's the musical theater Gatsby. And then we have the movie Gatsby, you know, with Leonardo

That's my version of it, at least. And then we have sort of like book Gatsby

And I was really intrigued about the idea of trying to put book Gatsby onto the stage, you know, because I am such a nerd

And because I am such a fan of the book. And I'm jumping around chronologically here, but in my first rehearsal, there were a few moments where we were talking

about it. It was like, well, actually, in the book, what happened

And I felt like such a dork. And then on my first rehearsal with Sarah, she did the exact same thing And I was like oh thank God We both losers This is going to go so well for us But there was a huge appetite for like oh okay you know we can pull from the amazing work

that Jeremy did and from what we know about the music. We can pull from these amazing movies

that we have. And we can pull from, obviously, the source material of the book, and we can

combine all of them to inform our choices. And all of that was, was, was

on the table. And again, that's just so artistically fulfilling. Yeah. I love this show. So what's it like living in the world of the Great Gatsby

the musical? I think that the thing that I'm most enjoying is discovering how alive it is discovering how

can feel to play one thing all the time? Because Gatsby is not, his character arc is not an

arc. It's a line. It's, it's Daisy, and then it's Daisy, and then it's Daisy, and then it's Daisy, and then it's

Daisy, and then you die and roll into the pit. But it's Daisy the whole time. And I was a little

not apprehensive, but, okay, how is it going to feel doing this over and over and over again? We're

like, it is one thing. But that is actually very alive. It doesn't get old

to want one thing over and over and over again because it is so direct

and it is so potent his desire for her and what he perceives she can give him

And then you combine that with the opulence of the Tony Award winning costumes, the

perfect set design, all of that automation. there's a car on stage

and it's just so larger than life, everything about it is so Gatsby

and so over amplified. But right here, there is a tiny little engine

saying one word over and over again and sort of the contrast between those two

of being in this robust environment but having just that one thing that you want

is like a fascinating thing to experience. eight times a week. It drives your performance

It does. Yeah. Yeah. Okay very rarely do people get to go in together with the other lead So you two you went in with Sarah Highland of course is Daisy Does it make it a little easier Yeah no absolutely it does I mean and it wasn just Sarah I was actually you know because it was it was

me, Terry Mann, around the same time. Sarah was a couple weeks after me, and then a wonderful

new selection of ensemble members as well. And so it can feel a little isolating

when the show is happening eight times a week over there and you're in Pearl or Ripley

with tape on the ground being like, only tea, you know what I mean

And so, and I'm used to that, you know, swinging into Wicked and Frozen

You know, I had Sierra, I had McKenzie, But this sort of felt like a wave of a lot of different people with a lot of different experiences and a lot of different personal ways with which they wanted to tell the story

And so, you know, it kind of feels like season two. And to be a part of that was so – it felt like I was a part of that

was so it felt like I was a part of something instead of trying to like shoehorn myself

into being part of something else and I will also say the

manner in which the existing cast welcomed us and fully accepted us

and ingratiated us in their onstage and backstage traditions and their senses of

humor in their, in the emotional integrity with which they do the show every night

I think everyone on that stage, their talent speaks for itself. Nothing is better than doing a good show with good people

And the new folks are good people. and the folks that are on their way out to pursue other things are good people

And those that are staying and continuing this legacy on with us newbies are good people

And that is almost worth more than anything else, in my opinion