The Great Gatsby comes alive in Hong Kong Ballet jazz production of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic
- Artistic director Septime Webre pulls out all the stops with stunning visuals, gorgeous music and an abundance of good dancing
- Where it falls short as an adaptation of a great novel, it makes up for in sheer entertainment value
Hong Kong Ballet’s The Great Gatsby, artistic director Septime Webre’s adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, offers a Jazz Age extravaganza with stunning visuals, gorgeous music and an abundance of good dancing. If it falls short as an adaptation of one of the 20th century’s greatest novels, it makes up for it in sheer entertainment value.
Narrator Nick Carraway becomes involved with his neighbour, Jay Gatsby, whose lavish parties draw the spoilt denizens of upper class New York in droves while his background (and the source of his wealth) remain a mystery. It transpires that Gatsby is obsessed by his former love, Carraway’s cousin Daisy, now married to the brutal, arrogant Tom Buchanan. Other key characters completing a tangled web are the vulgar, voluptuous Myrtle and her pitiful husband, George. As Gatsby tries to win Daisy back, the threads connecting these five people converge to end in tragedy.
The ballet is packed with Webre’s trademark high energy, technically demanding choreography, including much intricate and risky partnering. It’s a feast for the eyes, with Tim Yip’s gorgeous costumes (beaded frocks to die for) and clever video designs by William Kwok and Tobias Gremmler.
Above all, it’s a feast for the ears – an irresistible period score from Billy Novick weaves together 1920s classics (Irving Berlin’s poignant What’ll I Do is used as the love theme for Gatsby and Daisy) and original music, performed by his trad jazz ensemble the Blue Syncopations and featuring outstanding singing from Freddy Au Yeung (think Dick Powell) and E. Faye Butler (think Bessie Smith). Another nod to the era is a tap dance number of breathtaking virtuosity from Wong Tan-ki.
Large scale set pieces showcase the company’s skills as an ensemble. A brilliantly realised kaleidoscope of New York draws on silent movies with everything from a Keystone cop chasing burglars to the Salvation Army to a nun leading a crocodile of schoolgirls.