The Great Gatzby — A Musical Book in 32 Songs

THE FELICITY STATION PRESENTS

The Great Gatzby

A musical book in 32 songs — already created, and coming to The Felicity Station.

This one has moved beyond the idea stage. The songs have already been written and assembled into a complete musical book. What is still coming is the presentation: bringing the story out through The Felicity Station so it can be heard in sequence as a story told through music.

It is not a handful of songs inspired by the story. The sequence is built chapter by chapter. There are 32 tracks across two acts, and the titles themselves show the movement of the book — people seen from a distance, names and reputations, private identities, remembered love, the pull of the past, the breaking point, and finally the current that carries everything away.

HOW THE SONGS MOVE

Act One begins with “Across the Water,” “What Do People Plan?” and “Green Lights and Smiles.” From the first chapter, the music starts with distance, questions and an image that can keep returning in the listener’s mind. Chapter 2 turns sharper with “Above the Ashes,” “One Car Away,” “Mrs. Wilson” and “Say Her Name Again.”

Chapter 3 gives Gatsby a three-song entrance: “Everybody Knows Gatsby,” “I’m Gatsby” and “The Man Outside the Music.” I like that progression because the titles move from the reputation everyone talks about, to the introduction, to the man left standing when the noise around him is stripped away.

The middle of Act One turns toward memory and Daisy with “Her Name Was Daisy,” “Before She Was,” “Tea in the Rain,” “All of This for You” and “The Green Light Is Gone.” By the end of the act, the titles have travelled from looking toward something to finally reaching it — and discovering that reaching it changes what the symbol meant.

Act Two opens by going straight at identity and the past: “James Gatz Is Gone,” “She Hated the Party” and “Repeat the Past.” Chapter 7 then becomes the largest musical movement in the book, six songs running from “She Looks Like Me” and “What Will We Do Today?” through “Full of Money,” “Never Loved Him,” “The Yellow Car” and “Watching Her Window.”

The ending deliberately slows the promise down. “She’ll Call Today” is followed by “The Last Swim” and “Dream Was Already.” Then Chapter 9 closes the book with “Nobody Came,” a reprise of “What Do People Plan?,” “They Were Careless People,” and finally “Boats Against the Current.” The reprise matters because it lets a question from near the beginning return after everything that happened in between.

The musical book is finished. The next part is letting people hear the whole journey.

THE COMPLETE 32-SONG MUSICAL BOOK

ACT ONE

Chapter 1

1. Across the Water 2. What Do People Plan? 3. Green Lights and Smiles

Chapter 2

4. Above the Ashes 5. One Car Away 6. Mrs. Wilson 7. Say Her Name Again

Chapter 3

8. Everybody Knows Gatsby 9. I’m Gatsby 10. The Man Outside the Music

Chapter 4

11. Oxford, Medals and Montenegro 12. Her Name Was Daisy 13. Before She Was

Chapter 5

14. Tea in the Rain 15. All of This for You 16. The Green Light Is Gone

ACT TWO

Chapter 6

17. James Gatz Is Gone 18. She Hated the Party 19. Repeat the Past

Chapter 7

20. She Looks Like Me 21. What Will We Do Today? 22. Full of Money 23. Never Loved Him 24. The Yellow Car 25. Watching Her Window

Chapter 8

26. She’ll Call Today 27. The Last Swim 28. Dream Was Already

Chapter 9

29. Nobody Came 30. What Do People Plan? (Reprise) 31. They Were Careless People 32. Boats Against the Current

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There will be more on The Great Gatzby as I prepare it for the station. For now, this is the map: nine chapters, two acts and 32 songs built to be heard in order. Keep watching the Notes for what comes next.

The Felicity Station — stories in song.