The Great Gatsby Director Marc Bruni on Reaching New Audiences Through the Show's National Tour

Director Marc Bruni has brought the Roaring Twenties to the 2020s on Broadway with his Jazz Age spectacle The Great Gatsby. Broadway.com Managing Editor Beth Stevens chatted with Bruni about all things Gatsby, including new casting and the forthcoming national tour.

“We did it in London, we did it in Korea. So there's been three major casts of the show thus far, and we're in rehearsal right now with the national tour that will perform across America. Seeing what each of these actors bring and then being able to respond to that is a great gift as a director—to be able to play off of their strengths,” says Bruni. “Jason Howland, the composer, has taken the strengths of [the cast] as singers and adapted the music to each of the artists that have come to play the roles.”

He continues, “It's an entirely new company of people who are finding the story together. I just came from rehearsal today and they're all finding new ways to interpret this material and that's really exciting.” Bruni is particularly jazzed about the reach and scope that comes with a tour of this nature. “I think the most exciting thing about a tour is the accessibility of it and being able to bring this story to so many people who may not be able to get to New York and who are able to see it in their hometown. We have every bit of the opulence that we have on Broadway on the tour. They're seeing an absolutely first class version of the story.”

The Great Gatsby tour begins performances in Baltimore, Maryland at The Hippodrome Theatre on January 31, 2026, before bringing the Green Light to cities across North America. The cast will be led by Jake David Smith as Jay Gatsby and Senzel Ahmady as Daisy Buchanan, with Joshua Grosso as Nick Carraway, Leanne Robinson as Jordan Baker, Lila Coogan as Myrtle Wilson, Will Branner as Tom Buchanan, Tally Sessions as George Wilson and Edward Staudenmayer as Meyer Wolfsheim.

As for New York audiences, Bruni says, “I hope everybody comes on down to the Broadway Theatre and comes to the party. It's big, it's opulent and it hopefully also breaks your heart a little bit.”

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