Fil-Am Broadway actor Eva Noblezada gives a peek of upcoming ‘Gatsby’ musical
Screencap from Playbill/YouTube
Ahead of its Broadway opening on Oct. 12, the cast of “The Great Gatsby” musical, including Filipino-American actor Eva Noblezada, performed a series of songs in a preview last week.
Noblezada stars as Daisy Buchanan in the new Marc Bruni-directed musical that features a book by Kait Kerrigan and a jazz- and pop-influenced original score by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen.
During the preview, Noblezada sang her heart out in the ballad “Beautiful Little Fool,” which alludes to her fear for her infant daughter to be such. “The best thing a girl can be in this world is a beautiful little fool,” she trails off, its lyrics a direct quote from the 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
She was also joined by Jeremy Jordan, who plays Jay Gatsby, in a romantic duet entitled “My Green Light.” The song starts with a playful exchange—with flying shirts—between the two leads but climaxes into a song of longing, “Only heaven knows what I might do. If I save you, will you save me, too?”
@broadwayworld Watch #JeremyJordan and #EvaNoblezada rehearse a duet for #TheGreatGatsby at @Paper Mill Playhouse! #theatre #musicaltheatre #broadway ♬ original sound – BroadwayWorld
The story, set in Jazz Age, Long Island, New York, follows the mysterious millionaire Gatsby trying to rekindle an old flame with Buchanan.
Noblezada was announced to play Buchanan in July following a buzzy film acting debut in 2019 in the movie “Yellow Rose” alongside Lea Salonga.
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She is a Tony-nominated Broadway actor known for her role as Kim in the 2017 revival of “Miss Saigon” and as Eurydice in the 2019 musical “Hadestown.” She earned Best Actress nominations at the Tony Awards for these portrayals.
Born to a Filipino father and a Mexican-American mother in San Diego, California, Noblezada was discovered by casting director Tara Rubin at the 2013 National High School Musical Theatre Awards.
“The Great Gatsby” musical opens Oct. 12 and runs until Nov. 12 at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse.
