La Dee Dah With You Lyrics - Great Gatsby, The

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Track 14 on the Broadway cast album, released late June 2024 via Masterworks Broadway.
2. Sung by Dariana Mullen as Gilda Gray - the 1920s shimmy star reimagined inside Gatsby’s party world.
3. A flirty fox-trot flavored showpiece that folds wartime slang and soldier send-off tropes into a nightclub tease.
4. Placed at a high-gloss party sequence where Gatsby and Daisy whirl through champagne light.
5. Title refrain doubles as onomatopoeia - lips and hips scatting syllables while the band struts.

Creation History

The cast album dropped June 28, 2024 as the show settled into its Broadway Theatre run. Masterworks Broadway handled the release, with the digital edition arriving first and a physical CD following. The number is built by composer Jason Howland and lyricist Nathan Tysen as a period-bright pop theatre cut: tight rhythm section, wink of brass, and a melody that lets Mullen sell the room with nightclub poise. Trade outlets flagged the album as part of the production’s larger cultural moment, with Gilda’s feature turning the party into plot.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

We are at one of Gatsby’s blowout parties. Gilda Gray - a celebrity get - serenades a uniformed guest headed to war. She teases, lifts spirits, and grants him a final dance before reveille. Around them, the champagne culture hums. Daisy and Gatsby draw closer on the floor while the lyric keeps the spotlight on bravado before goodbye.

Song Meaning

The number dresses yearning as fun. On the surface it is saucy - a stage flirt sending a soldier off with rhythm and rhyme. Underneath, the wartime frame sharpens the gloss: late night as temporary sanctuary, the body as good luck charm, and performance as shield. The repeated “la dee dah” syllables feel like party gloss, but they also mimic the way people deflect fear with chatter and charm.

Annotations

“Hunt the Hun”

The lyric tips a World War I phrase that shows up in sheet music and barracks slang. A 1918 hit called “Hunting the Hun” captured that tone - blithe, combative, a little cruel - which this song quotes as period color.

“A little revelry before the reveille”

Reveille is the morning bugle call that starts the duty day. Here the line flips celebration against the clock: steal joy now because sunrise means orders, not kisses.

“Let your lips go ‘La dee dah dee dah’ as my hips go ‘La dee dah dee doo’”

The refrain turns syllables into choreography. It is a shimmy on the tongue - appropriate for Gilda Gray, the 1920s star credited with popularizing the shimmy on stage and screen.

Style, staging, and subtext

Style-wise, call it pop theatre with speakeasy sparkle. The band walks a jaunty midtempo, reeds peeking through the rhythm section while the vocal rides in clean phrases you can two-step to. Dramaturgically, the song earns its keep by doing three jobs at once: it flatters Gatsby’s spectacle, models the era’s star culture, and slips wartime stakes into the bubbles. The emotional arc starts playful, then softens as the send-off subtext flickers at the edges.

Key Facts

• Artist: Dariana Mullen, Original Broadway Cast of The Great Gatsby - A New Musical
• Featured: Ensemble vocals as party crowd
• Composer: Jason Howland
• Producer: Masterworks Broadway release (album)
• Release Date: June 28, 2024
• Genre: Pop theatre
• Instruments: Rhythm section, piano, reeds/brass accents
• Label: Masterworks Broadway (Sony Music Entertainment)
• Mood: Flirtatious on top, bittersweet beneath
• Length: 3:55
• Track #: 14
• Language: English
• Album: The Great Gatsby - A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Music style: Party showpiece with fox-trot pulse
• Poetic meter: Speech-driven iambs over 4/4

Canonical Entities & Relations

People

• Dariana Mullen - vocalist portraying Gilda Gray on Broadway.
• Gilda Gray - historic dancer associated with the shimmy; invoked by the number.
• Jason Howland - composer of the score.
• Nathan Tysen - lyricist of the score.
• Marc Bruni - director of the Broadway production.

Organizations

• Masterworks Broadway - label partner for the album.
• The Broadway Theatre - Broadway venue for the production.

Works

• La Dee Dah With You - cast album track performed by Dariana Mullen.
• The Great Gatsby - A New Musical - the source musical.
• Hunting the Hun - 1918 war song referenced by the lyric’s slang.

Venues/Locations

• Long Island and Manhattan - story world for the party scenes.
• Broadway Theatre - New York home of the 2024 production.

Questions and Answers

Who is Gilda Gray in the context of the show?

A period celebrity booked for Gatsby’s party - here voiced by Dariana Mullen - whose shimmy persona suits the clubby vibe.

What narrative job does this track do?

It lifts the party energy while shading in wartime stakes, letting Gatsby and Daisy float through a crowd that is dancing against the clock.

Is the refrain just nonsense syllables?

Not quite. The “la dee dah” scats are dance-calls that cue hips, lips, and sway - musicalized body language.

Does the lyric quote real WWI culture?

Yes - “Hunt the Hun” echoes a 1918 song title and common slang from the American side of the war.

Where does the song sit on the record?

Middle of Act 2 on the album sequence, arriving as track 14 to keep the party flowing before the drama tightens.

Who released the album?

Masterworks Broadway, under license from the show’s producers.

Is there an official audio online?

Yes - the label issued a YouTube audio upload with artwork from the cast album.

Awards and Chart Positions

The individual track has no separate chart listing. The parent production earned major design recognition on Broadway - costuming in particular - and the album formed part of the show’s broader cultural footprint in 2024.

Additional Info

Dariana Mullen’s Broadway bio lists Gilda Gray as her featured role, with ensemble and understudy duties - a neat real-world mirror to the show’s party-world casting. According to Playbill’s album note, the recording arrived June 28, 2024 as the production was riding its post-opening buzz. People magazine’s Broadway coverage has tracked casting shifts and fresh media from the show through 2025. For Gilda’s historic footprint, museum and encyclopedia notes credit her with popularizing the shimmy in New York’s roaring era - exactly the energy this song bottles for a few glittering minutes.

Sources: Playbill; Apple Music; Amazon Music; Broadway’s Tony Awards site; Outer Critics Circle listings; People magazine; The Great Gatsby official site; Wikipedia overview entries; University write-ups on Gilda Gray; Today’s Military and U.S. Army resources on reveille.