Photos provided by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade and OD Company

As a literary staple, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” endures over a century later and continues to be remade in almost every artistic format imaginable, but believe it or not, the perennial best-seller hasn’t been staged as a Broadway musical until now.

Considering it’s set in the Roaring Twenties when swing was king makes a natural fit for this format, which as anyone visiting the Cadillac Palace Theatre through Sunday, May 3 will witness firsthand, is a razzle-dazzle, Prohibition-era extravaganza for fans of “Chicago,” “Moulin Rouge!” or “Cabaret,” yet in a lane entirely its own.

Take for instance the story of the strange and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby (Jake David Smith), who is so desperate to reclaim a lost love of younger years, Daisy Buchanan (Senzel Ahmady), he orchestrates a massive plot to get them back together, including practically rebuilding a castle, hosting extravagant parties, and pressuring her cousin Nick Carraway (Joshua Grosso), a tenant in an adjoining cottage and a World War I veteran turned bond salesmen, to provide a re-introduction.

However, she’s now a mother and married to the wealthy Tom Buchanan (Will Branner), a former football star already having an affair with Myrtle Wilson (Lila Coogan), the wife of the far more common George Wilson (Tally Sessions), owner of a run-down gas station that’s receives suspicious deliveries from Meyer Wolfsheim (Edward Staudenmayer), one of Gatsby’s associates.

Meanwhile, Nick finds a love interest of his own blossoming in the form of Daisy’s friend, the independently-minded amateur golfer Jordan Baker (Leanne Robinson), and thus the convoluted puzzle pieces appear to click for everyone, even if a few are quite scandalous (although “no judgement” as Nick would say) and more in line with Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio than sticking strictly to the original text.

The creative team is additional glue capable of holding them all together, featuring music/lyrics by Jason Howland (“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”) and Nathan Tysen (“Paradise Square”), a book by Kait Kerrigan (“The Mad Ones”), alongside director Marc Bruni (“Beautiful”), choreographer Dominique Kelley (Mariah Carey, “Dancing With The Stars”) and costume designer Linda Cho (“Anastasia”).

Their expertise and execution results in a feast for the senses, including stunning dance routines, glamorous, Tony Award-winning costumes and a steady streak of soaring, jazzy pop songs (“Roaring On,” “New Money,” “For Her,” “My Green Light”).

In spite of such prose and pageantry, “The Great Gatsby” is very much a drama prompting some seriously tragic outcomes, plus underlying social commentaries on class, ladder climbing and consumerism, making the ride feel like quite a roller coaster, though its nonetheless intoxicating to the last drop.

“The Great Gatsby” continues at the Cadillac Palace Theatre through Sunday, May 3. For additional details, visit BroadwayGatsby.com and BroadwayInChicago.com.

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