‘GATSBY At The Green Light’: An Excellent Cabaret Show Disguised As A Party

Jay Gatsby invites you to enter his world of hedonistic pleasure in GATSBY at the Green Light, a cabaret show disguised as a party with a particularly talented set of performers leading the evening’s festivities.

Styled on the world envisioned by F. Scott Fitzgerald in his iconic novel, Jay Gatsby welcomes the audience/partygoers into the world of The Green Light, a roaring 20s-style speakeasy with impeccably dressed staff and immaculate vibes. The show begins as soon as the doors open, with the service ensemble serving drinks to those in the frontmost seats.

Once the lights dim and GATSBY at the Green Light properly begins, the vibes are immediately immaculate. As to be expected from a cabaret show of this calibre, the quality of performance on display is sensational – the greatest achievement of the show is the way it replicates the feeling of being in an extravagant, if somewhat seedy 1920s prohibition-era bar, even if the music is anachronistic to the time.

The inspiration drawn from The Great Gatsby is largely aesthetic in this show, a fact that’s not at all a problem when the vibes are so immaculate. There are also some truly impressive performers that inhabit the Green Light, and there were a few stunts that I admit I was watching through my fingers due to the dizzying displays of acrobatics that were being performed.

GATSBY combines physical prowess and party vibes

A particular standout of the show for me was iconic burlesque performer Bettie Bombshell as The Hostess, whose charismatic presence and particularly saucy audience interaction stood out from the other performers. On top of that, her routine that utilised fire was as hypnotic as it was terrifying, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how exactly she was doing it.

Other performers include Florian Brooks as a barman and expert juggler and Odette’s fantastic performance of a variety of songs as The Shapeshifter, and a number of seemingly superhuman acrobatic performers that took to the stage throughout the show.

If I had one note for the show, it would be that a lot of these acrobatic routines seemed to include some form of spinning in the air. That’s not to undermine the sheer physical prowess of these performers – each of them are incredible and do things in GATSBY that the average person could only ever hope to achieve. But when all put together, I feel as though their individual talents stand out less overall.

For instance, there are two sets of performers that portray Gatsby and Daisy in the show: Jacob McPherson and Mariia Borysiak as a young version of the couple, while Spencer Craig and Caitlin Tomson-Moylan are their older counterparts. Both of the duos perform incredible acrobatic acts, but both routines have such a heavy emphasis on aerial arts in a way that is self-evidently impressive, but can make this short show feel a little repetitive at times .

That element doesn’t prevent Gatsby at the Green Light from being delightful to watch moment-to-moment though. Combining dizzying displays of acrobatics with immaculate speakeasy vibes, it’s a great night out that’s delightfully easy to enjoy from beginning to end.

Gatsby at the Green Light is playing now at the Opera House until March 28th.