When the Masquers had settled on their shows for their 86 th season, and F.

Scott Fitzgeralds The

Great Gatsby was among the ranks I was insanely excited. Gatsby is such a beautiful piece of literature,
the characters all have a piece of us in them, the high energy and excitement of the roaring 20s (a term, by
the way, Fitzgerald coined!) is so appealing and in the end we have a beautiful and tragic romance. This
romance runs deep its not just between Daisy and Gatsby, its also in Nicks internal struggle with
himself and as an audience member the tragic romance is between us and our dreams and how far we are
willing to reach for them. It would be my honor to take our audience through this ride as the director of
Stephen Levys adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby.
Now, this material is taught to death in high schools all over the country, but this book became
one of my favorite books I was taught. I soaked up the information and the depth of the story and
characters, and I still continue to dwell on them and their connections. I have an incredible reverence for
Fitzgeralds material, and as this shows director it is important for me to help the actors in this project
have some understanding of the depth of this story as well. It is interesting in this piece as the characters
are established in many mediums and have been for years. I had the same double edged sword when I
directed The Addams Family in 2015. I found it important for the actors to know where their characters
came from at their source, but still have a chance to discover nuances of their own. The characters in
Gatsby are very thought out, but their core functions are very representative of ideas that we hold
Gatsby is the American Dream. Daisy is Innocence. The green light in the distance represents hope. It is
important that those meanings dont get lost as they were so intentional when Fitzgerald wrote this story. I
hope to be able to help the actors fully realize this as we get started in the process:
Jay Gatsby a secretive and secluded young millionaire. His journey representative of what we all find to
be the ideal life. Hes known to many but truly loved by very few. He uses his money as a crutch and we
find even though he has a lot of it, its not necessarily enough to win Daisy. Gatsby has two sides to him
in this show, an actor must be able to show us his strong faade while being able to show us the
vulnerability of who he used to be in his younger days when he met Daisy.
Daisy Buchanan a former southern debutante from Kentucky. Daisy, like all of the central characters in
this show, is very layered complex. My concern with her character is that sometimes she can be played
dumb and shallow. Daisy is quite the opposite. She knows what she is saying and knows what it means.

One of my favorite lines in the show is something she says, and speaks volumes;
It'll show you how I've gotten to feel about things. Well, she was less than an hour old
and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned
feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl,
and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope
she'll be a fool that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.'
She identifies as a flapper, so she is a contemporary woman (for the 1920s). The actress in this part needs
to find a very delicate balance between under acting and over acting the part. Its very easy to do both
with this part in particular. I am hoping I can find an actress who can access the complexity of this part, as
her conflict with Gatsby and her husband Tom provides one of the major conflicts in the story.
Tom Buchanan Tom is described as a brute of a man by Daisy, and out of all the characters, it would
be most important that his type is just right. He is an unfaithful man and a little (alright, a LOT) racist.
His character is not to be liked, but Tom wrestles with him own mixed pot of issues. He is just as rich as
Gatsby, he is probably even just as attractive as Gatsby too. Theres always a comparison between the two
characters, an internal conflict for his character.

Nick Carroway Nick is new to the scene, and I see him as a true Midwesterner. He truly the vehicle this
story rides on. He is the first-person narrator of the book, and in the play not much is different. We rely on
him to drive the narrative along and comment not just as an outsider to this land of excess but also willing
participate in this new world he is in. This actor has work to do, being able to be charismatic and draw in
the audience. I see him very similarly to how Bobby in Company functions; he is very important to the
narrative but actively takes in what is around him and feeds off of it allowing him to draw his own
conclusions.
These are only a few of the many characters that round out this show. All of them are very
delicate and complex in their own way, and it is important as the director of this show that I allow the
actors to find the balance of their complexity so that, even in this insane world of excess they stay real
and connected in a way that an audience can relate to their experiences and emotions.
This show has an opportunity to expand its ensemble to a larger cast size. It is my plan to use this
idea to its full potential! I will have regular cast auditions, but I am thinking of expanding to having a slot
of auditions for just people interested in being smaller roles or dancers/extras in scenes. This would be an
audition time for those who are looking for involvement with minimal commitment (this is not to say that
they would be any less accountable for knowing the world in which they are playing in!). I am fortunate
to have choreography experience under my belt, so I would plan on taking this task on in the process.
One character that is not written in to the book but is very alive in this play is the music. The
script makes a comment on that right in the first few pages. The music is so essential to the effectiveness
of the story telling. The music is used to evoke these moods and feelings in the audience as well as
transport us back to the 1920s. I plan on researching and using jazz music originally from and inspired by
the 1920s to complete a very complex sound scape. Additionally, Ive had a lot of time to think about
additional ways it functions. The 1920s were to those people as our time is to us now. It was new, bold
and exciting. I really want to bridge that gap with the audience in that way, and for some scenes provide
music that is 1920s inspired but a very contemporary 21st century beat. Should I be called in for an
interview, I would love to bring you a few examples of what I mean by this, it is hard to explain on paper.
This is a concept I have been trying to work through, and would require a lot of additional work on my
end of mixing tracks to get the right thing. It is a very bold concept and I would not plan to follow
through with it unless I can do it right. I can say though with certainty that the musicscape (and yes I do
mean MUSICSCAPE it is THAT important) of this show will be nothing short of beautiful, nostalgic
and mood evoking.
As we all know, putting on a show is no small feat. I am hoping to bring a really strong team on
with me to make this happen! I have approached Tessa Komorowski to assist me in directing. I think this
could be a really great opportunity for Tessa to gain some directing experience and will be a nice ease in
the rehearsal process we can block more than one scene at a time this way if our schedule allows it!
Tessa also has a beautiful stylistic eye and the same kind of reverence for the material that I do. We work
very well together, and our partnership will help put this incredible show together.
Claran LaViolette has agreed to be a part of my team as my costume mistress. This show is going
to be a challenge because of how period it is, and I know I can trust her to make this be a visually
interesting and accurate piece. I have also approached my own sister Katie to work on hair for this show.
She is very skilled in styling hair and has a good knowledge of wig use, both are things I can use to create
the looks I want to achieve in this show.
I have approached Luan Leonardelli about the possibility of set decorating for the show. She has
told me with her commitment as director for Arsenic it may be hard to commit completely as head of the

project, but she did say she was willing to act as a decorating consultant/task delegator of a team of artists
interested in working on the project, and I told her I would love to have her in this capacity. Warren
Schmidt is someone I have approached for set design, though I have not heard firmly yet if he would
accept I know he would be fantastic at bringing some of what I have in mind to life.
Finally, I have approached Jeff and Erin Lafond to potentially co-produce. I know the decision of
producer ultimately is up to the board, but I approached these two because I would work really well with
these two, and with their busy lives as parents and theatre people it would be an easier load on them I
think to work together. I would really trust them on my team.
Though there are still positions needing to be filled, I am confident that with this team in place
and with great communication between all of us we will be able to put together a show that will raise the
bar for theatre here in Manitowoc.
The Great Gatsby is such a beautiful piece of art. I want to be able to cradle and care for this
piece of art and put together an amazing show for all to see and enjoy. I would very much love to be this
shows director.

Thank you for your consideration,

Kevin James Sievert