Elevator Repair Service's Gatz Sells Out Public Theater Run | Playbill

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News Elevator Repair Service's Gatz Sells Out Public Theater Run New Yorkers have proven their love for a theatrical marathon. The Public Theater engagement of Elevator Repair Service's Gatz, a word-for-word performance of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, has sold-out its extended run.

Gatz, which clocks in at over six hours, sold-out its initial engagement prior to the Sept. 28 start of performances. In response to ticket demand, the Public extended Gatz twice through its currently scheduled closing performance on Nov. 28. All performances of the production are sold-out.

Representatives for the Public note that theatregoers are encouraged to wait on the stand-by line for tickets. Pending availability, rush tickets may also be available for $20 or $40.

The production opened to acclaim Oct. 7, which included a rave from the New York Times. Gatz has been an anticipated event since an early workshop in 2005 that was seen by only a few theatre insiders.

Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis and several other downtown theatre company leaders had been interested in the property at the time, but the Fitzgerald estate gave the green light to a Broadway-aimed stage adaptation of the novel.

In the meantime, Elevator Repair Service began to tour Gatz to acclaim internationally and regionally (including a recent run at the American Repertory Theater). When the Broadway version of "The Great Gatsby" never materialized, ERS was finally given permission to debut the work for New York audiences. The cast of Gatz features Laurena Allan (Myrtle), Jim Fletcher (Jim), Ross Fletcher (Henry C. Gatz), Mike Iveson (Ewing), Vin Knight (Chester), Aaron Landsman (George), Annie McNamara (Catherine), Kate Scelsa (Lucille), Scott Shepherd (Nick), Susie Sokol (Jordan), Victoria Vazquez (Daisy), Ben Williams (Michaelis) and Gary Wilmes (Tom).

The design team includes Louisa Thompson (set design), Mark Barton (lighting design), Colleen Werthmann (costume design) and Ben Williams (sound design).

Here's how ERS describes the work: "One morning in the office of a mysterious small business, an employee finds a copy of 'The Great Gatsby' in the clutter of his desk. He starts to read it out loud, and doesn’t stop. At first his coworkers hardly notice. But after a series of strange coincidences, it’s no longer clear whether he’s reading the book or the book is transforming him. Gatz is a theatrical and literary tour de force, not a retelling of the Gatsby story but an enactment of the novel itself. Over the course of a single 6 1/2 hour production, Fitzgerald’s American masterpiece is delivered word for word, startlingly brought to life by a low-rent office staff in the midst of their inscrutable business operations."

[AUDIO-LEFT]

Gatz was created by the theatrical ensemble Elevator Repair Service in 2004 and has toured internationally to the Sydney Opera House, the Holland Festival, the Vienna Festival, the Dublin Theatre Festival, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center and the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival.

Presented in marathon format (two intermissions and a dinner break), Gatz is broken into Acts 1 & 2 (presented Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 3 PM and Sundays at 2 PM); and Acts 3 & 4 (presented Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 7 PM).

For tickets phone (212) 967-7555 or visit PublicTheater.

The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street in Manhattan.

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The cast of Gatz Photo by Joan Marcus
 
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