The Great Gatsby by the Numbers: The Cars, Costumes and Green Light Behind the Broadway Hit

We’re raising a glass of champagne to The Great Gatsby, the Jazz Age spectacle that has been dazzling Broadway audiences for over two years. An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby features elaborate sets, ravishing costumes and high-octane choreography. Take a dip into Gatsby’s decadent world as we break down the crowd-pleasing production by the numbers, from peacock plumage to pyrotechnics. Dive in, old sport, the water's warm!

Fitzgerald’s classic novel was published over 101 years ago, on April 10, 1925.

“Old sport” is said or sung 21 times in The Great Gatsby.

Gatsby’s ensemble have a combined average of 150 costume changes throughout the course of a single performance.

Holy headpiece! There are over 90 hats, headbands, floral hair pieces, jeweled clips and headscarves used in The Great Gatsby.

There are four prop fans used during the show; three in "New Money" and one for Daisy in "The Plaza."

The number "Only Tea" uses six prop tea kettles.

Eight prop champagne coupes are used during "New Money."

The Great Gatsby combines physical set pieces with video projection. The production uses a screen that is 27 feet, 7 inches tall by 47 feet, 3 inches wide, with a resolution of 1792x3072 pixels!

His eyes see all. Thirty-nine vertical slats of wood make up the iconic Doctor T. J. Eckleburg billboard.

Gatsby’s first party is heralded by the showstopper “New Money.” This number features a fashion parade that boasts 29 costumes sported by members of the ensemble.

The first female ensemble member who emerges in the “New Money” fashion parade wears the heaviest costume in the show: an elaborate coat that contains 50 yards of custom marabou feathers, 15 yards of hand-sequined net and 12 yards of silk satin. The acccompanying headpiece is made of beads, rhinestones and burnt peacock feathers, and is custom-made for the ensemble member.

Associate Costume Designer Patrick Bevilacqua reveals: “The color base for 'New Money' is ‘peacock colors,’ because the characters are preening and parading around like peacocks.”

At the end of “New Money,” there are four pyrotechnic bursts, with eight sparks machines in use to create the effect.

The word “money” is said or sung 56 times per show.

Two full-sized, working cars are operated onstage in Gatsby.

Ryan McCartan, who currently plays Jay Gatsby, speaks to the unique experience of working with these vehicles. “Because we have very limited wing space, the crew has to constantly move the car back and forth throughout the backstage area. Car-eography. While we're doing really intimate scenes, you can hear them winching up the car and moving it from one side to the other. The audience can't hear it, but we can. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, Daisy, I love you so much’ and the car is like, ‘kong, kong, kong!’ It's really loud.”

There are 250 costumes on stage for every performance of Gatsby plus another 150 costumes backstage for swings and covers.

There are an estimated 75 wigs housed backstage at the Broadway Theatre.

There’s quick changes and then there’s quick changes. Myrtle’s quick change in “Second-Hand Suit” happens in about three seconds.

During the Act 1 opener “Shady,” 14 coats are used on stage. Each coat takes 10 yards of Italian wool.

Isn't she an absolute rose? Daisy has nine costume changes with nine pairs of shoes to boot. For the shoe-sessed, here’s a breakdown of Daisy’s fabulous footwear: white satin with straps for “Absolute Rose,” beige and green leather for “For Better or Worse,” custom-dyed blue satin for “Only Tea,” lavender leather for “Shady,” rose gold satin for “La Dee Dah,” peach satin for “Made to Last,” yellow satin with jewels for “Beautiful Fool” and white satin with jewels for the cast bows at the end of the show.

As Bevilacqua points out, "One little detail that gets overlooked is that the first dress we see Daisy in is white. Her last dress in the show is yellow. The colors of a daisy are white and yellow. That’s our Easter egg."

Have you ever seen such beautiful shirts? Gatsby's fashion statement of choice is expressed through the button downs on display in his bedroom. Cast member Dan Rosales shares an Easter egg pertaining to this feature: “All of the shirts in Gatsby’s giant bedroom closet havepersonalized shirt tags that say 'Alice,' who is a beloved family member of our incredible scenic and projection designer, Paul Tate DePoo III. He made it a point to make something so 'invisible' so intimate and real in its design, and that floored me. Anyone else could have slapped a generic shirt tag in the back that 99.99% of the audience can’t even see, but he took the time to create something so meaningful.”

You need some serious pipes to play the titular millionaire. The longest sustained note is the one sung at the end of Gatsby’s Act 2 ballad, “Past Is Catching Up to Me.” Though it varies depending on the performer, the note is generally held for 16 seconds.

The green light is just the tip of the iceberg. There are 580 lighting cues in Gatsby.

It takes over 110 people to run a performance of Gatsby, including 28 actors, four stage managers, six carpenters, five props people, six electricians, three people in the sound department, 14 people in the wardrobe department, four people in the hair department and 19 musicians in the orchestra.

The name “Gatsby” is spoken or sung 47 times throughout the show.

Impressed by these sparkling statistics, old sport? Head to the Broadway Theatre to see the Prohibition-era party for yourself. You’d be a (beautiful little) fool to miss it!

Get tickets to The Great Gatsby!