Austin Colby, who played Tom Buchanan in the Broadway production of The Great Gatsby, will step into the title role of the musical’s current North American tour for a limited engagement beginning October 21 at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.
Colby, who also understudied the role of Jay Gatsby on Broadway, has also been seen on New York stages in Masquerade and Jersey Boys, and starred in the national tours of Disney’s Frozen as Hans and The Sound of Music as Rolf.
“It was a pleasure to have Austin in our original Broadway company, and I’m thrilled that audiences across the country will now get to experience his charismatic, enigmatic, and extremely well sung Gatsby in the coming weeks,” said director Marc Bruni in a statement.
Jake David Smith (Frozen) currently leads the touring company as Jay Gatsby, with Senzel
Ahmady (who starred in the recent Korean production) returning to the
role of Daisy Buchanan.
The two are joined by Joshua Grosso (Les Misérables) as Nick Carraway, Leanne Robinson (The Book of Mormon) as Jordan Baker, Lila Coogan (Anastasia) as Myrtle Wilson, Will Branner (Back to the Future) as Tom Buchanan, Tally Sessions (A Wonderful World) as George Wilson, and Edward Staudenmayer (Girl From the North Country) as Meyer Wolfsheim.
Based on the Fitzgerald novel, The Great Gatsby features music and lyrics by Nathan Tysen (Paradise Square) and Jason Howland (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) and a book by Jonathan Larson Grant winner Kait Kerrigan (The Mad Ones). Marc Bruni (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) directs with choreography by Dominique Kelley (Mariah’s Magical Christmas Special). The show continues its run on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre.
Set in the Roaring ’20s, the musical follows eccentric millionaire
Jay Gatsby, who will stop at nothing in his tragic pursuit of Daisy
Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom he loved in his youth.
Check out The Great Gatsby merchandise in the Playbill Store.
The Great Gatsby also has scenic and projection design by
Paul Tate de Poo III, costume design by Linda Cho, sound design by Brian
Ronan, lighting design by Cory Pattak, and hair and wig design by
Charles G. LaPointe and Rachael Geier.
Arrangements are by Jason Howland with orchestrations by Howland and
Kim Scharnberg and music direction by Daniel Edmonds. The music producer
is Grammy winner Billy Jay Stein for Strike Audio. Casting is by
Stephen Kopel and Jillian Cimini at C12 Casting.
The tour conductor is Charlie Alterman, Kelsey Tippins serves as the production stage manager, Amanda M. Stuart is the stage manager, and Benji Kern is the assistant stage manager. Katie Cortez is the company manager, and Taylor O. Parris is the assistant company manager.
The new musical won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical.
The North American tour is produced by Chunsoo Shin, OD Company, and
NETworks Presentations. Mark Shacket and Trinity Wheeler serve as
executive producers for the production. Worldwide management is handled
by Foresight Theatrical.
Tour cities, tickets, and additional information are available at BroadwayGatsby.com/tour.