Walking into Her Majesty’s Theatre on Wednesday night, I had barely made it through the doors before the 1920s swallowed me whole. Sequins caught the light in every direction, feathers brushed past bare shoulders, and the low hum of a crowd dressed with genuine, enthusiastic intention created something that felt less like a theatre foyer and more like a portal — an invitation to step out of 2026 entirely and into a world that, somehow, still has an extraordinary grip on our collective imagination.
When Melbourne Decided to Show Up
Let’s begin before the curtain rose — because the audience at Her Majesty’s Theatre on opening night was a performance in its own right.
Walking through those doors felt like arriving at the party Fitzgerald always promised. The foyer shimmered with sequins, feathers, long gloves, wide-brim hats and pearl strings that caught the light at every angle. Thousands of Melbournians had made a decision, collectively and enthusiastically, to honour this show by becoming part of it — arriving in full Roaring Twenties glamour, as though the invitation had arrived not from a box office but from Gatsby himself. That is not nothing. It is proof of a cultural connection to this story that transcends nostalgia.
Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby in 1925. One hundred years on, audiences are still dressing up for it, still feeling the pull of its themes, still wanting to be inside that world even knowing exactly how it ends. The Jazz Age collapsed under the weight of its own excess, but the longing at the heart of it — for love, for reinvention, for the belief that the past can be remade — apparently does not expire. Melbourne’s opening night made that abundantly clear.
How This Ballet Retells The Great Gatsby Like You’ve Never Seen It
I have watched the Baz Luhrmann film more than once, because it is one of those productions that rewards revisiting — the spectacle, the golden-green cinematography, the particular sadness underneath all that excess. So arriving at Her Majesty’s with Fitzgerald’s world already running in my memory, I was genuinely curious about what this production would offer that I hadn’t already seen. The answer arrived quickly and decisively: this version lives entirely in the body.
Where the film externalises Gatsby’s world, this production puts it through the dancers. Where Luhrmann gives you a party, Joel Burke gives you what it actually feels like to be at a party while being utterly, privately alone at the centre of it — and that distinction is enormous. This is not a period recreation or a nostalgic tribute. It is a psychological investigation of a world that looked brilliant and felt hollow, and that is a far more interesting proposition.
What struck me equally was how thoughtfully the production guides its audience through the chapters of Fitzgerald’s narrative. Narration — arranged by James Millar — is woven through the choreography as a structural spine, giving the evening a clear forward momentum and emotional roadmap. Someone coming to the story entirely fresh could follow every development. And for those of us who already knew the ending, watching each chapter unfold in movement gave the familiar tragedy a texture that prose and film simply cannot replicate.
Joel Burke’s Choreography: The Direction Behind the Great Gatsby Ballet
Directed and choreographed by Joel Burke, this production makes a bold and completely successful choice in reframing Gatsby as a man of genuine, reckless belief rather than as a figure of irony. “For me, Gatsby isn’t irony,” Burke has said. “He is a romantic who genuinely believes the past can be remade. I wanted to remove the wink and let the longing sit front and centre.”
You feel that decision in every scene. The party sequences are expansive and rhythm-charged — a full company of dancers filling the stage in ensemble sections that are thrilling in their synchrony and sheer physical commitment. But Burke never allows the spectacle to become self-satisfied. He interrupts the movement. He introduces stillness where you expect velocity and hesitation where you expect grace, and in those gaps the character’s private vulnerability is completely, almost uncomfortably visible. “Sometimes the stillness tells the story more truthfully than virtuosity,” Burke has noted — and in the quiet moments of this production, that belief is fully borne out.
The Score: Jason Fernandez, Gershwin and the Sound of the Jazz Age
I have loved jazz since I was old enough to understand what it was doing to me. There is an intelligence to it that operates just beneath the surface — the structure that enables freedom, the discipline that makes spontaneity possible. Walking into a show with jazz at its heart means arriving with expectations, and this production surpasses them.
The score, composed primarily by Emmy Award-winning Jason Fernandez alongside Dominic Cabusi, weaves bold new original compositions together with beloved Jazz Age masterpieces including Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Summertime and James P. Johnson’s The Charleston. The result feels simultaneously period-authentic and cinematically contemporary — there is a propulsion to it, a relentless forward momentum that matches Burke’s pacing, and in the rousing up-tempo ensemble sequences the entire theatre leans forward as one. The music does not simply accompany the movement; it drives it, contradicts it, amplifies it, and at key moments seems to arrive slightly ahead of the body — creating a particularly powerful sensation of inevitability that suits Fitzgerald’s tragic arc perfectly.
For anyone who might be concerned that blending classical ballet, tap and jazz into a single production risks feeling stylistically uneven or patchwork, the answer is: it does not. The physical vocabulary Burke and the company have constructed makes these forms feel like natural, organic extensions of each other. This is a genuine hybrid language, and it is one of the production’s most impressive achievements.
The Cast: World-Class Ballet Dancers Bring Gatsby to Life
I should be upfront about something here. As a lover of jazz and someone who, as a child, tried to learn ballet and failed — completely and somewhat comically — I watch exceptional dancers with a very specific kind of appreciation. The kind that comes from knowing just enough to understand how extraordinarily difficult it actually is. What this cast does on stage is not merely technically impressive. It is the result of years of dedication that most of us will never fully comprehend, and it shows.
The cast features alumni of the Mariinsky Theatre, English National Ballet, Queensland Ballet, The Australian Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet — and that breadth of world-class training is evident in the quality and range of what is delivered. Principal artists Ervin Zagidullin and Abbey Hansen anchor the production with performances of genuine emotional force, their scenes together carrying the central ache of the story — the love that is real but cannot land — with a physical precision that is, at moments, quietly heartbreaking. Soloist Emilia Bignami brings further elegance and depth to the company’s work, and the full ensemble navigates the scale of those party sequences with an energy that makes massive, precisely coordinated choreography look effortless — which, of course, it is anything but.
There is something so beautiful about ballet. About what the human body becomes when it has been trained with absolute commitment and set free by intention. In another lifetime, perhaps I will be one of those people on stage. This lifetime, I will sit in the darkness and feel completely grateful for the ones who are.
Set Design, Costumes and the Visual Spectacle of Gatsby Melbourne
Her Majesty’s Theatre is not a small house, and this production knows exactly how to fill it. Set design by Ben Hambling gives the stage a grandeur that breathes — architectural rather than decorative, built to be moved through rather than simply admired. Motion graphics by Craig Deeker and lighting by Steven May and Ben Hambling layer the Jazz Era atmosphere with a texture and visual depth that is particularly striking in the party sequences, where the stage transforms into something genuinely spectacular. The floor parquet effect is a standout visual moment, grounding the dance in a space that feels both period-specific and abstractly timeless.
Costume design by Sophia Drakos, developed in collaboration with Brisbane Arts Theatre, is one of the production’s quiet triumphs. The 1920s silhouettes are rendered with both commitment and intelligence — the costuming complements the audience’s own glamorous dressing-up without ever being outshone by it, and the detail truly emerges in motion, in how the fabrics behave at speed and how the silhouettes shift between the expansive social world of Gatsby’s parties and the stripped, exposed intimacy of his longing.
Attending with Sebnem Gencer, whose own artistic eye brought a particular quality of attention to the evening, I found myself comparing notes on what we had each felt. Her response captured something that gets to the precise heart of why this production works as well as it does.
“I’m still sitting with it. There was something so beautiful in the way it held both the glamour and the quiet loneliness underneath. The music, the movement, the atmosphere — it felt like stepping into a dream that slowly reveals its truth. Soft, powerful, and just a little bit heartbreaking.” Sebnem Gencer
That description is exact. This production sustains two truths simultaneously throughout its entire run time — the surface brilliance of the Jazz Age and the emotional devastation running beneath it — and it does not allow either one to cancel out the other. Gatsby’s parties are genuinely, thrillingly joyful. And the green light, when we finally arrive at it, is genuinely, quietly devastating. Holding both of those things at once, without collapsing into spectacle on one side or pure tragedy on the other, is the production’s greatest single achievement.
Is The Great Gatsby Ballet Melbourne Worth Seeing?
Absolutely, and without the slightest hesitation.
The Great Gatsby: A Jazz Ballet Odyssey runs at Her Majesty’s Theatre until 5 April 2026, across a strictly limited 18-performance run. BIG Live’s Sydney season drew 29,000 audience members — and the response was deservedly enthusiastic. Following Melbourne, the national tour continues to Canberra, Cairns, Perth, Newcastle and Adelaide.
Whether you are arriving with the novel thoroughly read, the Luhrmann film fresh in your memory, or simply a love of exceptional dance and live music, this show will meet you where you are and take you somewhere you did not expect. Come in costume if you are moved to — and you genuinely should be. Melbourne’s opening night proved that when this city decides to dress for something, it does so with full and glorious commitment, and walking into that foyer before the curtain rises is an experience entirely in itself.
Tickets are available through Ticketek.
The Great Gatsby: A Jazz Ballet Odyssey runs at Her Majesty’s Theatre, 219 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, until 5 April 2026. Presented by BIG Live. The production includes strobe lighting, theatrical haze, gunshots and pyrotechnics.
FAQs
What is The Great Gatsby: A Jazz Ballet Odyssey?
It is a large-scale theatrical production by BIG Live that reimagines F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel through a fusion of ballet, tap and jazz. Directed and choreographed by Joel Burke, with narration arranged by James Millar, the show features an original score by Emmy Award-winning composer Jason Fernandez and Dominic Cabusi, woven together with Jazz Age classics including Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Summertime and James P. Johnson’s The Charleston.
Who is in the cast?
Where is the show playing in Melbourne, and when?
At Her Majesty’s Theatre, 219 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, from 18 March to 5 April 2026. This is a strictly limited run of 18 performances.
How much are tickets?
Tickets start from $55, with general adult tickets at $60 and senior, student and concession tickets from $55. Available through Ticketek.
Should I dress up for The Great Gatsby?
It is entirely optional, but Melbourne’s opening night made abundantly clear that the city is enthusiastically up for it. 1920s attire — feathers, sequins, pearls, drop-waist dresses and tailored suits — made for an unforgettable pre-show atmosphere, and the production’s visual world only deepens when the audience arrives dressed for it.
Does the show tour beyond Melbourne?
Is the show suitable for children?
Does this follow the original novel?
The production is drawn from Fitzgerald’s novel and carries its full narrative arc, from Nick Carraway’s arrival on Long Island through to the final image of the green light. Narration is woven through the choreography to guide audiences through the story’s chapters, making it accessible to those encountering it for the first time as well as those who know it well.
Disclaimer: Glamorazzi representatives Roslyn Foo & Sebnem Gencer attended the opening night of The Great Gatsby: A Jazz Ballet Odyssey on Wednesday 18 March 2026 at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, as guests of HRPR. All opinions expressed are entirely our own.
