British pop star Florence Welch writing 'Great Gatsby' musical for Broadway

'This book has haunted me for a large part of my life," Welch said in a statement. "It contains some of my favourite lines in literature. Musicals were my first love, and I feel a deep connection to Fitzgerald's broken romanticism. It is an honour to have been offered the chance to recreate this book in song." Photo: Handout

Florence Welch will journey into the Jazz Age for her new musical project, one that will offer up fortune seekers and flappers, rum runners and rich dilettantes, self-made men and high society standard bearers.

In short, it's F. Scott Fitzgerald's glittering masterwork, The Great Gatsby, which will provide the spine of a new stage show that is eyeing a Broadway run. It will feature lyrics from Welch, best known as the leading force behind the Grammy-nominated Florence + the Machine, as well as music by Welch and Oscar and Grammy Award nominee Thomas Bartlett. Bartlett previously worked as a producer with Florence + The Machine on the song Jenny Of Oldstones, and has released four albums as Doveman.