Ryan McCartan and China Anne McClain discuss their evolving roles in THE GREAT GATSBY

In an interview published by People on 4 September 2026, Ryan McCartan and China Anne McClain, the current Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan in THE GREAT GATSBY, described how they are reshaping the musical’s central relationship at the Broadway Theatre in New York. Their comments, made during McClain’s first month on Broadway, focus on character agency, representation and the continual adjustments demanded by live performance.

McCartan told People that his Gatsby has changed across the separate engagements he has played since first taking over the role in January 2025. Those appearances have been divided across separate engagements rather than forming one continuous tenure, so the interview records a performer comparing versions of his own work over time. In his earlier approach, he leaned more heavily on Gatsby’s charm as a way of concealing the character’s intentions. He now brings Gatsby’s status and scale further forward, playing the character’s consuming fixation on Daisy more directly.

McClain has approached Daisy from the other side of that fixation. She told People that she did not want Daisy to function simply as an ornamental object of Gatsby’s desire. Instead, she has sought to make the character emotionally exposed, lively and sharp, with an independent capacity for thought. In a separate interview published by Broadway.com on 1 September, McClain also discussed being drawn to the musical’s fuller treatment of Daisy and described her as intelligent in ways she does not always disclose.

McClain is building the role while also adjusting to Broadway for the first time, placing her in a different position from the returning McCartan. She told Broadway.com that she had been working through longstanding stage fright while settling into the production. In the People interview, she placed storytelling and connection with the audience ahead of vocal perfection, an approach consistent with her aim of keeping Daisy’s emotions visible on stage.

McClain also addressed playing Daisy as a Black performer in a story set in the 1920s. She framed the casting as an example of theatre’s ability to revisit period stories with broader representation, while allowing her to remain herself in the role. It is her perspective on the possibilities of representation, rather than a statement from the production about its wider staging.

The pair’s working process also depends on what changes from night to night. Speaking to People, both performers discussed responding to different scene partners, understudies and audiences, all of which can alter a performance’s rhythm. McCartan described imperfection and continual variation as intrinsic to live theatre. McClain similarly emphasised the connection created by telling the story, rather than treating technical flawlessness as the sole measure of a performance.

The September interview reflects a casting transition that had already been completed. Casting reports from Playbill and Broadway Direct document that Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada gave their final performances as Gatsby and Daisy on 26 July. McCartan returned on 27 July, while national tour lead Senzel Ahmady played Daisy at the Broadway Theatre from 27 July to 2 August. McClain began performances on 3 August, making her Broadway debut and completing the current central pairing. The discussion is therefore a post-debut account of their work, not a new casting announcement.

Production records published by the Shubert Organization trace THE GREAT GATSBY to its premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse in October 2023. The engagement became the theatre’s highest-grossing production and sold out before its first performance. Broadway previews began on 29 March 2024, with the production officially opening at the Broadway Theatre on 25 April. It later broke the venue’s weekly sales record in both 2024 and 2025.

The musical has music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Nathan Tysen and a book by Kait Kerrigan. Marc Bruni directs and Dominique Kelley choreographs. Linda Cho won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, providing independent context for the visual extravagance associated with the Broadway staging.

McCartan, McClain and Corbin Bleu share Disney screen backgrounds alongside their theatre work. Bleu currently plays Nick Carraway. The principal company also includes Naturi Naughton-Lewis as Jordan Baker, John Behlmann as Tom Buchanan, Linedy Genao as Myrtle Wilson, Charlie Pollock as George Wilson and Matthew Saldívar as Meyer Wolfsheim.

As of 5 September 2026, the official production website was selling performances at the Broadway Theatre through 3 January 2027. That booking period belongs to the production as a whole. No official end date has been announced for either McCartan’s or McClain’s current engagement, so ticket availability should not be read as confirmation that both leads will remain through January.