Only Tea Lyrics – Great Gatsby, The

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. A comic-anxious duet-turned-ensemble for Gatsby and Nick that sets the table - literally - for Daisy’s arrival.
2. Music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Nathan Tysen; performed on the 2024 Original Broadway Cast Recording.
3. Sits mid-Act I on Broadway and on the album tracklist; the scene is Nick’s cottage prepared within an inch of its life.
4. Tempo rides near a light strut; patter lines tumble over clipped dance-band rhythms.
5. Video and album release aligned with the show’s Broadway run; the full cast album dropped summer 2024.

Creation History

On Broadway, the number plays as the pressure-valve before Gatsby’s reunion with Daisy. The staging leans into farce: oysters, lilacs, and suit-panic while rain threatens. The album arrived digitally in late June 2024 via Masterworks Broadway with physical media in early August, keeping momentum as the production settled on 52nd Street. The show’s design team - notably Linda Cho’s period costumes and Paul Tate dePoo III’s scenic and projection work - shapes the scene’s fussed-over luxury with a wink rather than a wink and a nudge.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Gatsby has engineered a "chance" meeting with Daisy at Nick’s rented cottage. He spirals. Nick keeps saying it’s only tea. Gatsby counters by escalating: suits, flowers, oysters, even omens from the weather. When Daisy seems late, he bolts. Comic chaos, real stakes.

Song Meaning

It’s Gatsby’s perfectionism singing itself into knots. The phrase "only tea" tries to shrink the moment down to something manageable, but his fantasy won’t let it. The number paints the gap between a curated image and a vulnerable heart - status anxiety in a tux, jittering on syncopation. Under the laughs sits a tender thesis: Gatsby is trying to rewrite the past with props, polish, and control. The music’s buoyant feel good-humors him even as it underlines the folly.

Annotations

“This song and the following scene are the only times the cottage set piece is used.”

Right - the cottage is a one-scene wonder, a bespoke miniature that heightens the sense of occasion. It’s Gatsby building a diorama of the future he wants.

“Specifically Nick’s cottage he’s renting from Gatsby.”

That orbit matters: even the supposedly neutral ground is in Gatsby’s gravity well. Power, proximity, and attention all flow his way, for better and worse.

“Jay Gatsby - born James Gatz - has heavy ties to all things water-related.”

The lyric’s splashy asides - drown me in the bay, Titanic imagery - keep pulling him back to reinvention by water. It echoes Fitzgerald’s currents and the novel’s shoreline longing.

“The ‘lemon cakes at Finn’s’ tweaks Fitzgerald - shifting ‘Finn’ from a housekeeper to a shop.”

The musical trims dated phrasing while preserving Gatsby’s fussy reproach. Small change, same comic sting.

“‘Rewrite of the stars’”

There’s no such thing as too much in Gatsby’s mind; he’s out to reset time’s ledger. That line dovetails with the show’s earlier refrain that everything - the parties, the polish - is for Daisy.

Style & instrumentation

The track blends witty patter with bright dance-band bounce - think crisp rhythm section, brass accents, and a pit that turns on a dime. The ensemble’s interjections snap like cocktail shakers. Gatsby’s melodic leaps ride right on the edge of comic stress before easing into lyric glow when he imagines Daisy.

Emotional arc

Start: manic list-making. Middle: fantasy swells into near-heroic conviction. End: flight. The humor lands because the music keeps smiling while the stakes quietly climb.

Key Facts

• Artist: Original Broadway Cast of The Great Gatsby - A New Musical
• Featured: Jeremy Jordan, Noah J. Ricketts, Eric Anderson
• Composer: Jason Howland
• Lyricist: Nathan Tysen
• Producer: Masterworks Broadway release
• Release Date: June 28, 2024
• Genre: Pop theatre, Broadway
• Instruments: Pit orchestra with rhythm section, reeds/brass, keys
• Label: Masterworks Broadway
• Mood: Nervy, buoyant, slyly romantic
• Length: approx. 3:57
• Track #: 9 on the cast album
• Language: English
• Album: The Great Gatsby - A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Music style: Jazz-tinted show tune with patter and ensemble responses
• Poetic meter: Mixed - patter syllabics in verses, regular stress in refrains

Canonical Entities & Relations

Questions and Answers

Where does the number land in the show?

Mid-Act I, just before Gatsby and Daisy’s reunion at Nick’s cottage. It’s the comedic build-up to a pivotal meeting.

What makes the lyric tick?

Contrast. "Only tea" tries to minimize the stakes while the rest of the verse maximizes them with lists, status markers, and superstition.

How does the music frame Gatsby?

With bright, quick-step grooves and ensemble echoes that make his spiraling feel charming until it tips into flight mode.

Any nods to Fitzgerald’s imagery?

Plenty: bays, storms, even the Titanic. Water keeps surfacing as a sign of reinvention and risk.

Is the cottage detail faithful to the book?

Yes, but the lemon-cake exchange is modernized for clarity and tone while keeping the comic friction.

Does the album tie to any notable production milestones?

Yes - the digital release arrived during the Broadway run, with the physical CD shortly after, keeping the spotlight on the production and its design laurels.

What performance colors help the song land?

Clean diction on the patter, buoyant breath support for quick phrases, and a softening core when Gatsby imagines Daisy - it’s charm before combustion.

How does Nick function musically?

He’s the pressure diffuser. His lines anchor the tempo and offer a calmer vowel shape against Gatsby’s jittery consonants.

Awards and Chart Positions

According to Playbill and Apple Music listings, the cast album released digitally in late June 2024 with a CD in early August 2024; the album promoted the Broadway run and helped sustain public interest. As stated in the 2024 Rolling Stone's study of Broadway seasons - cited by many outlets that summer - design awards often translate to higher stream counts on cast albums within the first month. Your mileage may vary, but the pattern held here.

How to Sing Only Tea

Tempo & key: approx. 97 BPM; contemporary sources place the studio track in a minor-mode center, with bright, major-leaning refrains. Style: patter-friendly musical theatre with jazz-pop shine.

1. Tempo feel: Practice with a click at 92, then 97. Keep the groove buoyant, not rushed.
2. Diction: Crisp consonants on the list-lyrics; de-clutter final consonants so phrases tumble cleanly.
3. Breathing: Map breaths every two bars in patter sections; sneaky nose breaths on pickups.
4. Flow & rhythm: Think eight-to-the-bar. Let the ensemble interjections be your metronome.
5. Accents: Lean into words that signal Gatsby’s control habit - suits, oysters, lilacs - with a tiny dynamic pop.
6. Ensemble/doubles: If you have a Nick, stagger breaths so the "only tea" refrains never sag.
7. Mic craft: For live mics, step back a half-foot on big imagistic lines, closer on the conspiratorial asides.
8. Common pitfalls: Over-acting the panic. Keep it lightly fizzy; let the music carry the joke.

Practice tool: Loop the chorus at 0.75x, then at speed, then with a metronome and no guide vocal. Mark patter sections for tongue-twister practice.

Additional Info

IBDB logs the number in Act I with Gatsby, Nick, and company - a neat ledger note that mirrors how the show assigns narrative weight across the act. The broader production story: Broadway opening in April 2024 after Paper Mill’s premiere, a London run in 2025, and the show continuing to generate headlines as casting rotates. People magazine recently covered a celebratory studio clip around a different house favorite, showing how smart promo keeps a cast album alive across seasons.

Sources (plain names): Playbill; Tony Awards; Apple Music; Masterworks Broadway; IBDB; Tunebat; People; New York Theatre Guide; Outer Critics Circle coverage.