MAKE THE ACQUAINTANCE OF THE MYSTERIOUS GATSBY

Jay Gatsby is a man of mystery.  Where is he from and how did he acquire his enormous wealth?  Why does he host lavish parties in his grand mansion on Long Island?  Is he a bootlegger?  Did he graduate from Oxford? Does he own a chain of pharmacies?  Could he be a German spy?  Did he really kill a man?  Does he in actuality run an underground pipeline from Canada and, if so, why?  Gatsby enjoys his unorthodox status and lets all the rumors and innuendoes swirl.  He has a plan, but for the last five years it has not come to fruition.

To learn all of the answers, plan to attend the Downtown Cabaret Main Stage Theatre production of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby," adapted for the stage by Simon Levy, by Sunday, February 21.  The time is the summer of 1922, in the heart of the Jazz Age, and the place is Long Island, New York. The Roaring Twenties choreography staged by Joshua Cardoza, with fancy costumes of the times designed by Jessica Camarero, on a mansion set created by Kevin Pelkey, all set the mood for the action.

Eric Regan stars as Nick Caraway, the honorable man who witnesses and narrates the tale.  As the cousin of Daisy Buchanan, an ethereal Chelsea Dacey, Nick is invited to help Jay, an intriguing Chris Kozlowski,  in his plot to win her back.  Before the war they were in love, but she could not wait four long years for his return and, instead, marries Tom Buchanan (Stanley Geter). Tom is less than faithful, now securely in the arms of Myrtle Wilson (Lisa DeAngelis).  The fact that both are married to someone else seems irrelevant.  At Daisy’s home, which is within viewing distance of Gatsby’s estate, visible by a glowing green light at the edge of her dock, Nick meets the famous golfer Jordan Baker (Kristin Gagliardi) and feels he has found his soulmate.

It is an age of wild excess and Gatsby’s parties illustrate the elaborate disregard for truth and faithfulness. A car accident sets off a trail of falling dominoes that makes the stage reminiscent of a Shakespearian tragedy.  By the end, only Nick is left to exit stage left a disillusioned man, one who has never let go of his principles. Julie Bell Petrak directs this tale of misguided love and unhappy dreams, with dramatic original music by Christopher Cavaliere..

For tickets ($ 23), call the Downtown Cabaret Theatre, 263 Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport at 203-576-6163, option 0 or online at www.MyCabaret.org. Performances are Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 5 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m.  Remember this is a cabaret and bringing food and drink is encouraged. Coming next will be Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s story of a girl of the slums who becomes royalty, “Evita,” from March 11-26.

Enter the decadent world of Jay Gatsby but beware you may find yourself like an innocent fly caught in a dangerous web.