Photo Flash: First Look at GATZ at the Public Theater

The Public Theater will begin performances on Wednesday, March 14 for the return of GATZ, the critically lauded theatrical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Created and performed by Elevator Repair Service, this award-winning theatrical event, directed by John Collins and featuring Scott Shepherd as Nick, will run through Sunday, May 6 for 28 performances only in the Newman Theater. Single tickets, beginning at $160, are on sale now. Check out production shots below!

GATZ was created and developed by the Elevator Repair Service ensemble, which includes Laurena Allan (Myrtle), Frank Boyd (George), Jim Fletcher (Jim), Ross Fletcher (Henry C. Gatz), Mike Iveson (Ewing), Vin Knight (Chester), Annie McNamara (Catherine), Kate Scelsa (Lucille), Scott Shepherd (Nick), Susie Sokol (Jordan), Victoria Vazquez (Daisy), Ben Williams (Michaelis), and Gary Wilmes (Tom).

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.

GATZ's Associate Director is Steve Bodow and features scenic design by Louisa Thompson, costume design by Colleen Werthmann, lighting design by Mark Barton, and sound design by Ben Williams.

ELEVATOR REPAIR SERVICE, a theater ensemble, was founded by director John Collins and a group of actors in 1991. Since that time, ERS has built a body of highly acclaimed work and has appeared on stages in downtown New York and across the U.S. and Europe. ERS's core artistic mission is to create original works, with a consistent ensemble, that explore and challenge the fundamentals of live performance. ERS shows are built around a broad range of subject matter including literary, dramatic and cinematic forms. They combine elements of hi-tech and lo-tech design, vaudeville, both literary and found text, found objects and discarded furniture, and the group's own highly developed style of choreography. The company has generated a repertoire that includes 14 original full-length pieces and several short pieces and workshop productions. Their newest piece, The Select (The Sun Also Rises) had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2010, its U.S. premiere at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival in September 2010, and its New York premiere in September 2011 with an extended ten-week run at New York Theatre Workshop. Elevator Repair Service is a member of TCG and A.R.T./New York.

Since its 2006 premiere at the Kunsten Festival des Arts in Brussels, GATZ has been seen on 18 stages, including at the American Repertory Theater (Boston, 2010), Sydney Opera House (2009), Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art (2008), Vienna Festival (2007), The Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, 2006), and The Holland Festival (2006). Awards include Zürcher Theater Spektakel ZKB-Acknowledgement Prize (2006); Elliot Norton Awards for Outstanding Visiting Production, Outstanding Director - John Collins, and Outstanding Actor - Scott Shepherd (2010); Lortel Awards for Outstanding Alternative Theatrical Experience and an Outstanding Director Award for John Collins (2011); and an Obie Award for Scott Shepherd's performance as Nick. GATZ also received a Drama Desk nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience; a Drama League nomination for Distinguished Production of a Play and a Distinguished Performance nomination for Scott Shepherd; Lortel nominations for Outstanding Lighting Design and Outstanding Sound design; and an Off-Broadway Alliance Award nomination for Best Theatrical Experience.

THE PUBLIC THEATER (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals and productions of classics at its downtown home and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public Theater's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through extensive outreach programs. Each year, more than 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public Theater's productions have won 42 Tony Awards, 158 Obies, 42 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. Fifty-four Public Theater productions have moved to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; For Colored Girls...; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Passing Strange; the revival of HAIR; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Merchant of Venice. www.publictheater.org.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus