Chief Of Staff At DC V.A. Hospital Commutes To NYC To Be In GATZ With His Son: Gothamist

Chief Of Staff At DC V.A. Hospital Commutes To NYC To Be In GATZ With His Son: Gothamist:

GATZ, the inspired stage adaptation of The Great Gatsby created by groundbreaking theater company Elevator Repair Service, is back for a limited run at The Public Theater. As you may recall, not a single word of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece was cut for this adaptation, which lasts nearly seven hours, plus multiple intermissions and a leisurely dinner break. This radical approach to the text presents a rare opportunity to surf Fitzgerald's masterpiece in one continuous rolling wave, and it's enthralling.

Actor Scott Shepherd, who by now knows all 49,000 words of the novel by heart, has gotten most of the press for his uncanny mental acumen, but GATZ is an ensemble piece through and through, with precise and funny performances given by everyone on the team. The title role, for instance, is played by downtown theater regular Jim Fletcher (perhaps you saw him recently in The Early Plays), who brings an unconventional mix of menace and daffiness to the iconic part. As it happens, the role of Gatsby's father is played by Fletcher's real-life father Dr. Ross Fletcher, a non-actor who happens to be the Chief of Staff at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, DC. Not exactly a lightweight.