Inside the Music with The Great Gatsby Musical lyricist Nathan Tysen

Nathan Tysen is an American lyricist and songwriter best known for his work in musical theatre and television, with Tuck Everlasting, Amélie, and Paradise Square among his credits. Most recently, Nathan crafted the lyrics that bring F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic characters to life in the musical adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Ahead of the show's opening in London's West End, we caught up with Nathan about his musical background and influences, the adaptation of The Great Gatsby, his advice for aspiring songwriters, and more.

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Interview with Nathan Tysen

Sheet Music Direct ("S"): What was your first experience of music as a child?

Nathan Tysen ("N"): I grew up in a Von Trapp-esque family. My father is a minister and he would parade my brother, mom, and me around to churches on Sundays where we would sing hymns in four-part harmony. I really enjoyed performing as a kid, but growing up in a small town in Kansas, there weren't a lot of opportunities. The first musical I was in was in fifth grade, where I played, no kidding, Kurt Von Trapp in The Sound of Music.

S: And who were your musical inspirations growing up?

N: A lot of my childhood was spent playing with Legos and listening to my parents modest but influential vinyl collection. It was a mix of folk music and showtunes, James Taylor and Jesus Christ Superstar. I also loved Weird Al Yankovic. His parody songs were my gateway to actual pop music. I found Sondheim in middle school. A friend of my parents gave me a VHS tape of the PBS Into the Woods performance. I remember seeing him a couple days later and him asking me, "Can you believe when the baker's wife dies?" and I replied, "Wait, what? She dies?" He had only recorded Act One. I was so thrilled to learn there was more! In college was where I first heard Falsettos. William Finn's songs keyed me into the power and artistry of musicals and what they can do. How they can be funny and quirky and gut-wrenching all at the same time.

William Finn's songs keyed me into the power and artistry of musicals and what they can do. How they can be funny and quirky and gut-wrenching all at the same time."

S: Fantastic, and can you remember what the first piece of music you ever wrote was?

N: I wrote my first song in seventh grade. It was a pop ballad called "You Are Not Alone." but I spelled it "U R Not Alone." This was years before Prince did it, so I was way ahead of my time! The first lyric was, "Sitting on a door frame, staring up at the moon," and I was convinced it was the most beautiful lyric ever written.

S: We'd love to hear that! So, The Great Gatsby was obviously a huge success on Broadway. It opens in London very, very soon. Can you talk us through the creative process alongside your wife (Kait Kerrigan) and also Jason Howland?

N: So the commission came to us during the pandemic. Jason, the composer, has worked a lot in Asia and was approached by the amazing Korean producer Chun Soo Shin who absolutely adores The Great Gatsby. He talked to Jason about adapting it for Seoul, and Jason asked if he could write it with an American team. Mr. Shin agreed. Jason and I had just worked on the musical Paradise Square together and he asked Kait and I to join the project.

Because all of the initial writing happened inside of the pandemic, we were unable to travel to Korea to work on the show, so we kept doing steps of development in the States. The show started to build momentum and gain some buzz, and all of a sudden the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey saw a reading of the show and offered us a world premiere. It became the best-selling show in the history of the Paper Mill, and soon after we transferred to Broadway. What's really fascinating is this was all in a three-year time span. I'm used to shows taking 6-10 years to make it to Broadway.

S: Awesome, that is incredibly quick! And can you tell us how you went about adapting the story for stage?

N: In the summer of 2021, we spent a week at Jason's house talking through the story and flagging important moments that we knew we wanted in the show. We wrote a full treatment in the first few days that outlined each scene, as well as possible song moments/titles/hooks. Once we had that, we all went off with specific writing assignments.

Kait started writing some exploratory scenes, Jason and I began writing songs, starting with the low hanging fruit. We knew we wanted to write a song for Daisy called "Beautiful Little Fool." We knew there should be an opening number that establishes time and place and invites the audience into the story. That became "Roaring On" which musically has never changed, although I've had to rewrite the verses at least four times. Believe it or not, the original version had Gatsby leading the song, not Nick.

As far as the adaptation was concerned, we wanted to focus on the parts of the story that still felt relevant today. A world coming out of a pandemic, faced with economic inequality. The fascination with the American Dream while the richest 1% of the world own half of the world's wealth. Kait was also interested in jettisoning Nick as sole narrator, which allowed us to delve into the inner lives of all our characters, especially the female roles, giving them fuller emotional journeys. One of the first exploratory scenes Kait wrote, which is not in the book, was between Daisy and Jordan as they drove golf balls into the Long Island Sound. Kait read an interview with F. Scott Fitzgerald who said he believed the reason The Great Gatsby was initially critically panned was because he had underwritten the female characters. Kait took that to heart, and we really did our best to flesh out Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle both in scene and song.

S: Fantastic, and can you describe the feeling of attending an opening night for a show like that you're one of the creators of?

N: Yes, it is a cornucopia of emotions. It is thrilling. It is terrifying. It is overwhelming. I got this advice when I got married to not take a single moment for granted and to soak it all in, because it all happens very quickly. A Broadway opening is similar. After years working on a show with a small group of people you suddenly realize you have birthed a baby into the world. Hundreds of people helped make it happen, thousands are going to see it every week, not to mention the online global community, and your beautiful precious sheltered baby is now out in the world kicking and screaming and everyone is going to have an opinion about it.

[Opening night] is a cornucopia of emotions. It is thrilling. It is terrifying. It is overwhelming…your beautiful precious sheltered baby is now out in the world kicking and screaming and everyone is going to have an opinion about it."

The opening night performance itself is electric because the cast has just gone through an intense rehearsal and tech process. They have been constantly bombarded with changes, rewrites, restaging, etc. But when opening night comes around, the script is frozen. Our pencils are down and the performers can enjoy the job in front of them. It's fascinating watching the show both relax and focus at the same time.

S: Do you have a favorite musical moment or a highlight from the show?

N: There is a number called "The Met," which is eight songs in. It's based on my favorite chapter from the book, when Tom Buchanan takes Nick to a secret Harlem apartment where he visits his mistress, and there's this wild party that devolves from afternoon to early morning. The chapter is funny, it's sexy, it's dangerous. The room is gaudy, cramped, and smokey; the opposite of a Gatsby party. I like to think we captured all of that, while also giving Nick a huge dilemma to solve inside of the number. I love the staging too, co-devised by our director Marc Bruni and choreographer Dominique Kelley. As Nick's head starts to spin so does the room, it's glorious.

S: A bit of trivia for you here. The sheet music for the show has been really popular on Sheet Music Direct. Can you guess what the best selling song from the show is?

N: I'm going to guess "My Green Light."

S: No.

N: Is it "New Money"?

S: No.

N: Is it "Roaring On"?

S: Nope.

N: Wow, I'm just going to name them all I guess. "For Her"?

S: Yep, that's the one! People are obviously enjoying playing that one particularly.

N: I'm very proud of that song. It feels like a standard, with a simple and powerful lyric, and a gorgeous earworm of a melody. It was also one of the only songs that basically arrived fully-formed, unlike "My Green Light" that we rewrote 20 times.

S: Aside from The Great Gatsby, obviously you've been involved in lots of projects. Putting commercial success to one side if you can is there a project you're particularly proud of that maybe didn't get the exposure that you felt it deserved?

N: So I did an adaptation of the film Amélie for Broadway and because of many factors, it closed quickly. It was not successful and it was heartbreaking. A few years later we were given the opportunity to revisit the show in the UK at the Watermill Theatre and put up the version we always wanted. It was well-received, transferred to the West End and garnered some Olivier and Grammy nominations. Sadly, it never made its way back to the States. I am dying for an American audience to see this new version.

S: Fingers crossed it makes its way back over the pond! Do you have a dream project at all? Maybe another film or a novel that you'd like to adapt for stage?

N: I do have some titles that I'm currently chasing, but unfortunately, I can't tell you because then someone else will try and get the rights! But I would like to say, and I'm going to get on my soapbox a bit, over the last couple of years, I've written two quirky, small, interesting musicals that I would love to develop somewhere, but without a commercial producer and enhancement money there doesn't seem to be a home for either of them. The American theatre developmental landscape is a little broken. We have to rethink how we can showcase and finance new work. I've never had to be a fundraiser before, but now it's part of the job, and that's frustrating.

S: A good point, well made. And lastly, do you have any advice for aspiring songwriters out there?

N: I do. The one thing I wish I knew when I started out is that writing is rewriting. Especially in the theater, songs generally have to be rewritten. I like to say, "You have to WRITE the first song to find the RIGHT song." And the quicker you can get a draft out and share it with your collaborators, the sooner you will start to learn what the song needs to do, and how you need to do it. Put something on the page so there is something to react to. Don't be precious, believe that it is going to change and get better, it can make the process less daunting. There is only one song in each of my four Broadway shows that I didn't have to rewrite at least once.

The one thing I wish I knew when I started out is that writing is rewriting. Don't be precious, believe that it is going to change and get better, it can make the process less daunting."

Also, a lot of young writers ask about how to get over writer's block and I have a few tips. The most important thing is to be diligent and to hone your craft every day. That doesn't mean you have to write every day, but you do have to put in the time. If the words aren't coming, spend some time dissecting the structure and rhyme scheme of a song you like, listen to something you've never heard before, or explore other mediums. Read a play you've never read, go to a museum, see some live music, do a free-write exercise that has nothing to do with your project. The most important thing is to dedicate a bit of time to your craft every day. If you do that, and continue to be kind to yourself, I promise the words will come.

S: That's brilliant. Those are all the questions we have. Thank you so much for your time and insights!

N: My pleasure, thanks.

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