Florence Welch writing music and lyrics for new The Great Gatsby musical

Karma Oak

F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby entered the public domain in January, and now it's set to become a new musical. Len Blavatnik and Amanda Ghost for Unigram in association with Robert Fox will produce, and they have some cool musical talent attached to the project already. Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine is writing lyrics and music for the show, along with Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman, who's also writing music.

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok (Cost of Living) is writing the book for the musical, Rebecca Frecknall (Associate Director at the Almeida Theatre in London) is directing, Jeanie O'Hare will serve as Story Consultant, and Hannah Giannoulis and James Orange will executive produce.

"This book has haunted me for a large part of my life," Florence says. "It contains some of my favourite lines in literature. Musicals were my first love, and I feel a deep connection to Fitzgerald’s broken romanticism. It is an honour to have been offered the chance to recreate this book in song."

"Florence’s passion for Gatsby and exceptional musical storytelling will bring this iconic love story to life in ways we have never experienced before," producers Amanda Ghost and Robert Fox say. "Martyna and Rebecca are two of the most exciting theatre artists of their generation and, together, this extraordinary team brings a thrilling new perspective to one of the most culturally significant books of all time. It’s been 100 years since The Great Gatsby was published and there could be no better time for a new musical adaptation of the greatest party America ever threw."

Stay tuned for information on a pre-Broadway engagement.