Seeing Gatz

Sorry for the unexpected absence the past couple of days. There's no particular reason for it; I guess just going away, and then adjusting to being back, threw me off schedule. So, do you want to hear about the epic play I saw in New York? I hope so, because that's what this post is about.

To refresh your memory, I saw Elevator Repair Service's production of Gatz at the Public Theater. The building that's home to the Public, on Lafayette Street near Cooper Union, is over 150 years and originally housed the New York Public Library. It's a beautiful old building, and the interior public spaces are currently being renovated, which can be slightly confusing, but the staff was gracious and helpful.

Because of the extreme running time, the show began at 3 pm. The story opens with people working in a dreary, cruddy-looking office. One employee arrives and finds he can't start up his computer (which is ancient). Bored and unable to work, he rummages around his desk and comes up with a copy of The Great Gatsby, which he begins to read aloud. This brings some odd looks from his coworkers, but he ignores them and continues. At one point he appears to go home for the day, return the next morning, and resume his reading (by that point, his computer has been taken away by an IT tech).

Gradually, his office mates become the other characters in the story, and by the time our narrator (he's reading the part of Nick Carraway, who tells the story in the book) had reached the end of chapter 3, two hours had passed, and it was time for the first intermission. I got up and stretched my legs, and stood around waiting for those in my row who had gone to use the restroom to return.

Act 2 ran about an hour and 15 minutes, after which there was a 90-minute dinner break. I used that time to walk a few blocks north to Dos Toros, a burrito place on Fourth Avenue just below Union Square. I had an enormous burrito and a $2 can of Tecate, and walked off my dinner a little before starting back. I grabbed an oatmeal raisin cookie from the concession stand before heading back into the theater. The show resumed promptly at 8 pm, with the final intermission at 9:30. Act 4 ran from 9:45 until around 11:10 pm. It took me only about 15 minutes to walk back to my hotel, just off Houston Street.

I was slightly terrified that I might fall asleep after eating, but the performance was completely engrossing. It really didn't feel like I had been sitting for over six hours, and it also didn't seem possible that the cast had covered the entire text of The Great Gatsby in that time. F. Scott Fitzgerald certainly didn't write Gatsby with the stage in mind, and I'm sure he never imagined anyone would want to perform his work on stage, but it's a brilliant idea that is flawlessly executed, making for a unique and memorable theater experience.

Travel Plans

There are nice things about not working regularly: not having to get up early every day, not dealing with a commute twice a day, having free time for other interests and pursuits.

Next week I'll be heading back to New York. This trip is structured around a play I'm seeing. I started planning this back in January, before I knew I would be getting laid off, and since I'd already bought the theater ticket, which is nonrefundable, I decided to proceed.

Actually, planning for this trip started back in November, when I learned that this particular play would be performed again. It's being presented at the Public Theater by a company called Elevator Repair Service. The play is called Gatz, and the best description I can offer is that it is a performance of the entire novel The Great Gatsby. Every word in the book is spoken onstage over the course of about six and a half hours (plus two intermissions and a dinner break!).

I first learned about this show over two years ago, when ERS was performing it at the American Repretory Theater in Cambridge. I didn't find out about it until the final week of the run, and there were no tickets available anyway. When the Mrs. and I were in New York in November of 2010, they happened to be performing it at the Public Theater, but by that point the entire run was sold out, and the Mrs. had no interest in seeing it regardless.

Her lack of interest (perfectly understandable—not everyone is a fan of the book, and not everyone wants to sit in a theater for that long), along with the demands of her school work, led me to decide to make this trip solo. Others think I'm a bit nuts for wanting to see this show, but The Great Gatsby is one of the most important works of literature of the 20th century, and I've always had a deep affection for it. This is a very unusual performance, so when the opportunity to see it arose again, with time for me to plan for it, I had to do it.

(The movie version of the book that's coming out this Christmas, directed by Baz Luhrman and shot in 3-D, is probably going to be a disaster—I mean, Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, really?—but I'll have to see it too. The 1974 version wasn't good either, but at least casting Robert Redford as Gatsby made some sense.)

Of course, there's plenty else to amuse me in New York, including a couple of museum exhibits and (obviously) some shopping. I had a bit more trouble than usual getting a hotel room at a decent rate, probably due in some part to the Tribeca Film Festival, which runs through next weekend. When I picked the date to see the play I wasn't aware the festival would be going on, or I would have chosen a different weekend. These things can't always be helped, but I managed to get a reservation at a hotel that is convenient to the theater and a subway station. More to come...

This Is Exciting

Several months ago, my friend A Proper Bostonian was contacted by a theater group about using some of the posts she had written in a production, along with those of other local bloggers. The director/writer asked her about other possible sources, and she suggested me.

At the time I didn't think anything of it, since I don't tend to focus on life in the city in quite the way PB does, and I never heard anything from the person who had contacted her. Some time later, I got an email from him saying he'd seen some posts he was interested in incorporating into the production.

The resulting production, called Blogoliloquy: Boston, is being presented next week, April 4-7, by Turnstyle Theatre Company at the Plaza Black Box Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts on Tremont Street in the South End. Six bloggers are represented, including PB and myself.

I've never met any of the other bloggers (as far as I know), but it's a thrill to be included and I'm looking forward to seeing the show. Tickets are available through BostonTheatreScene.com.