Visiting Louisville's 'Great Gatsby'
- Cheré Dastugue Coen
- 5 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Author F. Scott Fitzgerald frequented the Kentucky river town and used sites in his great American novel. This month the Broadway musical arrives in Louisville.
“The Great Gatsby” musical, which Entertainment Weekly calls a “Broadway extravaganza that explodes with life and energy” will be performed Feb 10-11, 2026, in downtown Louisville’s Kentucky Center. Based on the classic American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Tony Award-winning musical examines love, wealth and tragedy in the Roaring Twenties.
But did you know that Fitzgerald used the Ohio River town in his famous novel?
Fitzgerald was stationed at nearby Camp Taylor when he served in World War I. He would visit downtown Louisville and enjoy drinks at the Seelbach Hotel's bar where I enjoyed a delicious old-fashioned in the bar and toasted his ghost! (See more about Louisville's old-fashioned cockatil connection below.) It’s believed that Fitzgerald met mobsters and bootleggers while in Louisville, which inspired the novel’s main character, Jay Gatsby.
In “The Great Gatsby,” Jay Gatsby builds his Long Island mansion across from his early love, Daisy Buchanan and her husband, Tom. Fitzgerald writes that Daisy and Tom were married at the Seelbach, a wedding which saw “more pomp and circumstance than Louisville ever knew before.”
Last year the Seelbach Hotel unveiled its new Gatsby Suite, a two-room suite embellished with Art Deco décor in honor of the novel’s 100th anniversary of its publication.
In addition to Fitzgerald, the hotel, built in 1905, has seen its share of famous visitors, from U.S. presidents, Academy Award winners and famous musicians.
And, naturally, me!
If you visit Louisville for the musical , “The Great Gatsby” is directed by Marc Bruni (“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”), with choreography by Dominique Kelley (“So You Think You Can Dance”), a book by Kait Kerrigan (“The Mad Ones”) and a jazz- and pop-influenced original score by Jason Howland (“Little Women”) and Nathan Tysen (“Paradise Square”).
To make reservations for the Seelbach Hilton Hotel’s Great Gatsby Suite, or for more information on the hotel’s history, visit www.seelbachhilton.com. For information on Gatsby’s guide to Louisville, visit www.gotolouisville.com/Gatsby.
As for that Old-Fashioned...
Legend has it that the old-fashioed cocktail was born in Louisville when a guest at the private Pendennis Club bar ordered a cocktail but warned the bartender that he wasn’t a fan of bourbon. Not wanting to serve a non-bourbon drink in the Bluegrass State, the bartender concocted something unique and sweet and the customer was pleased.
The drink is believed to have been popularized by Pendennis club member and master distiller, Colonel James E. Pepper, who introduced the cocktail to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.
In 2015, Louisville proclaimed the Old Fashioned “Louisville’s Official Cocktail.”
Bourbon lovers won't want to miss visiting Louisville this month for the Louisville Bourbon Classic Feb. 25-28, 2026. The annual event brings together the best in the culinary, cocktail and Bourbon arts through interactive events. The Bourbon Classic has been named one of "Travel + Leisure’s" “7 Best Cocktail Festivals in the U.S.” and a feature in "USA Today."
Also, during the first two weeks of June, Louisville celebrates Old Fashioned Fortnight with bourbon events, cocktail specials and National Bourbon Day on June 14. You can usually order an Old-Fashioned at any of the restaurants and bars along Louisville’s Urban Bourbon Trail.
The Original Pendennis Club Old-Fashioned
Ingredients:
2 ounces fine Kentucky Bourbon
1 tsp. simple syrup (or ½ lump of sugar)
½ slice orange
1 cherry with stem
1 lemon twist
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Directions: Mix sugar, water and Angostura bitters in an Old Fashioned glass. Drop in a cherry and an orange wedge. Muddle into a paste using a muddler or the back of a spoon. Pour in bourbon, fill with ice cubes, stir and enjoy.
Weird, Wacky & Wild South is written by award-winning food, cocktail and travel writer Cheré Coen who will never say no to bourbon and an old-fashioned.
