Florence Welch throws her hat into the musical theater ring

Florence Welch is ditching the machine for musicals

NEW YORK -- Florence Welch is ditching the machine for musicals. The Grammy-nominated leader of Florence + The Machine is supplying the lyrics and co-writing music for a stage musical adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” it was announced Wednesday. No cast or premiere venue was announced. Welch will collaborate on the music with Thomas Bartlett — who earned a Grammy nomination for best song written for visual media in 2019 for “Mystery of Love” by Sufjan Stevens — and story writer Martyna Majok, who was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for drama for “Cost of Living.” The musical will be directed by Olivier Award nominee Rebecca Frecknall. The copyright to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic Jazz Age novel expired at the end of 2020, meaning anyone is now allowed to adapt it to a movie, make it into an opera or stage a Broadway musical without permission from the estate.