That’s a wrap! On Saturday, January 28, East Theater put on their final performance of its Winter show, The Great Gatsby.

The play is a stage adaptation of the critically acclaimed novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The show follows Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, who passionately pursues the elusive Daisy Buchanan. Nick Carraway, a young newcomer to New York, is drawn into their world of obsession, greed, and danger.

The production was directed by Katie Belovsky and headlined by Cooper Carlisle as Nick Carraway, Morgan Elliot as Daisy Buchanan, Aiden Ploger as Tom Buchanan, and Connor Ries as Jay Gatsby himself. 

A charming and dramatic script allowed East Theater to string the audience along on a suspenseful yet humorous show. The entertaining dialogue paired with stellar acting made The Great Gatsby an enjoyable experience for all in attendance. 

This performance was the result of months of hard work and dedication from the cast and crew. However, East Theater was met with numerous obstacles during production. 

Senior, Jett Morales, who played the role of Mr. Mckee, shares the setbacks the cast faced while rehearsing in poor weather conditions. . 

“We stayed long hours after school to ensure our efforts were reflected in our production,” Morales said. 

At one point they even had to move their rehearsals online. Nothing was going to stop East Theater from producing the best show possible.

Although the captivating performances and well-constructed set pieces are all that you can see during the show, tons of work goes on behind the scenes to make everything possible.

Senior, Kai Anemone, experienced this first hand during their time on the construction and paint crew at East Theater. 

“Most of the set is built completely from scratch by students and everything is painted by students too. It takes months to build and we spend hours almost every day just at school working on the set and props,” Anemone said. 

The production crew was able to get all of this done in a very limited amount of time.

“With winter break falling in the middle of building and painting the set we had to push a lot of what we would usually have finished already into tech and production week so there was a lot less time to learn all the ques for the show,” Anemone said. 

Student Director and cast member Sam Greene is a prime example of the dedication shown from the cast during Saturday’s performance. Sam was able to create his own original music for the show while simultaneously preparing for his role and assisting others as a Student Director.

“It was something that I was incredibly proud of, and it was always satisfying to hear my own music played before such a welcoming and kind community,” Greene said. “The Great Gatsby is a show that I will look back on with pride for everyone involved. It broadcasted the passion and diverse talents that my castmates possess, highlighting their skills in more dramatic performance settings.”

Director Katie Belovsky was delighted with the cast and crew’s ability to execute her vision. 

“This show was a very ambitious production to put on. As directors, Mrs. Chandler and I push the students to have a flawless show and to exceed their expectations,” Belovsky said. “Bringing this story to life was a challenge that we happily accepted.”
Following their final curtain call for The Great Gatsby, East Theater is gearing up for their spring musical, Ranked. This dystopian tale, fueled by academic rivalry, is slated to debut in late April, with auditions kicking off on February 5.

Johnathan Crouch, Benjamin Heuberger, and Jack Polkow are staff writers for Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl.