A Roaring Homecoming: Will Branner Returns to Belk Theater with The Great Gatsby

Will Branner is worried about his cheering section when the Broadway musical, The Great Gatsby, comes to the Belk Theater. He’s warned friends and family they’ll “look crazy for cheering for a terrible person.”

The Waxhaw native and Charlotte Latin School alum is, as usual, playing the villain. He’s played Biff in Back to the Future  and Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., the sadistic dentist in Little Shop of Horrors.

This time, the bad guy he plays is Tom Buchanan, who possesses two things the newly wealthy Jay Gatsby wants: “old money” social status and the woman he loves. That’s Tom’s wife, Daisy.

“Some villains are redeemable,” Branner said. “But let me tell you: Tom Buchanan is not to be redeemed. There’s no silver lining with a guy who makes the wrong choice every single time. He’s a mess through and through.”

But Tom’s in good company. “All these characters are flawed,” Branner said. “Fitzgerald wrote the book as a farce, so no one is meant to be a paragon of virtue. Everybody is at fault for the tragedy that happens.”

You may recall from high school English what he’s referring to. If not, no spoilers here. Let’s just say that this tragedy goes down easier than most since, as Branner said, “it’s disguised by lots of glitz and glam.”   

‘A feast for the eyes’

Branner has loved the Gatsby story since he studied it in eighth or ninth grade. Of the musical  adaptation, he said, “It’s one of the great American novels translated into the great American art form.”

He calls the show “an absolute feast for the eyes. You have Tony Award-winning costumes and sets that have been barely pared down from Broadway to go on the road.”

Even the 1920s Rolls Royce Branner gets to drive on stage is making the trek. And yes, he’s really driving. “That’s part of the spectacle,” he said. “That car is not on a track. It’s not being guided, except by me.”

Everything about the musical is larger than life. What better way to convey the excesses of that era?

(Pictured (L- R): Joshua Grosso (Nick Carraway), Lila Coogan (Myrtle Wilson), Will Branner (Tom Buchanan) in the First National Touring Company of THE GREAT GATSBY. Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.)

All in good fun

Some theatergoers are acting the part and showing up in period costumes. Night after night, Branner sees men in tuxes and women in flapper dresses in the audience.

The characters in Fitzgerald’s story (reimagined for the stage by Kait Kerrigan, who wrote the book, and Jason Howland, who wrote the score) may be doing horrible things to each other, but they’re as fun to watch as they are for the actors to play.

Even when Tom is sulking, Branner’s having a ball.

For instance, during Act II’s “La Dee Dah with You,” the entire company is dancing at one of Gatsby’s opulent bashes. And during it all, Tom is on the sidelines, looking at the revelers with contempt.

“That’s the best acting I can possibly do,” Branner said. “I’m pretending like I hate this amazing production number with incredible choreography by Dominique Kelly, when it’s really so magical.”

Tom may be beyond redemption, but Branner offered a way to stomach his actions: “I hope you see the fun I have playing him and that it helps the atrocities go down a little easier.”

A timeless tale

Although the novel was published in 1925, and it’s set just a few years prior, Fitzgerald’s message is relevant now. “The 1920s were such a turning point for our country,” Branner said. “There was so much new technology and so much was changing. It’s a lot like 2026. It’s a real cautionary tale.”

 “As a society, we’re grappling with AI,” he continued. “In the 1920s, it was cars and airplanes. Suddenly, the class structure was flipped on its head. As a result, some people got ahead, and some fell behind.”

‘I’m living my dream’

Branner wouldn’t know about falling behind. The University of Michigan alum has been in musical theater since he was a third grader. That’s when he asked his mom if he could be in a commercial. Instead, she took him to Matthews Playhouse to audition for Peter Rabbit.

He didn’t get a part, but Matthews Playhouse would soon be holding auditions for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and Branner set his sights on playing an Oompa-Loompa.

That was his first time on a stage. “From then on,” he said, “I did two or three musicals every year.”

(Will Branner playing a fork in Charlotte Latin’s production of Beauty and the Beast)

He had star power even then. At the inaugural Blumey Awards in 2012, Branner was a Best Actor nominee for playing the lead in Charlotte Latin’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Branner has been in the Belk Theater audience countless times. “I saw every single Broadway show there, usually because I’d gotten a $20 student rush ticket,” he said. And he performed on the Belk Theater stage for the 2012 Blumey Awards. But with Gatsby, he’s making his professional debut on the Belk stage, which he calls a “full-circle moment.”

(Will Branner performing in the 2012 Blumey Awards at Belk Theater)

“I’ve been waiting for this a long time,” he said. “To finally play a part on that stage has been one of my life’s goals. When you see me up there, know that I’m living my dream. I remember sitting in that audience as a high school freshman and thinking: I’m gonna be up there one day. To be able to make good on that promise to young Will means the world to me.”

Fun fact! The team at Blumenthal is always proud to see a former intern or Blumey nominee pursue their dream. We congratulate Will Branner and welcome him to his home stage. And we’re proud of another Blumey alum who originated the role of Daisy when The Great Gatsby premiered on Broadway in 2024. Eva Noblezada won the Best Actress Blumey in 2013 for her role as Ariel in Footloose.

(Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)