The Case of the Greater Gatsby

**The Case of the Greater Gatsby** is a Shipwrecked Comedy audio narrative podcast series set to take place in the "Fig and Ford" Universe. The podcast episodes will each be around 20-30 minutes long. The new project will offer a return to familiar characters from The Case of the Gilded Lily in addition to new characters as Fig and Ford work to solve the murder of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

## Listen Here

The first episode was released on July 26th, 2023. Most recently, the fifteenth episode was released: *Dashing Through the Snow - A Fig & Ford Holiday Special,* a standalone episode that can be listened without the previous episodes.

The Case of the Greater Gatsby is currently on hiatus until early 2024.

* Spotify
* Google
* Apple

## Summary

Set in 1940s Hollywood, this comedic film noir mystery follows hardboiled private eye Ford Phillips and his feisty, fast-talking partner Fig Wineshine as they delve into the seedy underbelly of Tinsel Town while trying to solve the murder of famed novelist-turned-screenwriter F. Scott Fitzgerald. Featuring a coterie of wacky characters - including real actors and public figures from the time - and original musical numbers, The Case of The Greater Gatsby turns historical fiction and genre tropes into a twisty, hilarious romp.

## Plot

In 1940, Fig and Ford return to try to solve the murder of famed author F. Scott Fitzgerald, a man who was intimate with Vivian Nightingale. Fitzgerald had moved out to Hollywood to write a sequel movie," The Greater Gatsby," to his book *The Great Gatsby*. While living out there, he became involved in an affair with Vivian Nightingale. All too soon, he is murdered, and an attempt is made by someone to cover it up.

## Credits

### Cast

* Mary Kate Wiles as Vivian Nightingale
* Sinéad Persaud as Fig Wineshine
* Sean Persaud as Ford Phillips
* Tom Detrinis as Cliff Calloway
* Lauren Lopez as Penny Nickelpenny
* Dante Swain as Bixby Crane
* Joey Richter as Dash Gunfire
* Sarah Grace Hart as Wilhelmina Vanderjetski
* Clark Baxtresser as Cole Porter
* Joanna Sotomura as Cluadette Knickerbocker
* Daniel Vincent Gordh as F. Scott Fitzgerald
* Parvesh Cheena as Whitley Trufflehaus
* Julia Cho as Sheilah Graham
* Tommy Hobson as Barnaby Nightingale
* Gabe Greenspan as Roger Haircremé
* Lesli Margheita as Mel Hammermeister
* Tessa Netting as Zelda Fitzgerald
* Matthew Mercer as Officer Maurice (“Mo”) Beats
* Carlos Alazraqui as Leery O’Shaughnessy
* Brian Rosenthal (Rex Punchwhistle) and Esther Fallick (Lex Punchwhistle) as "The Punchwhistle Twins"
* Blake Silver as Theodore Dorcas (T.D.) Hammermeister
* Christopher Higgins as The Emcee
* Ginny Di as Darby Farnsworth

### Crew

* Director: William J. Stribling
* Composer: Dylan Glatthorn
* Audio recording: Ears Up Studio and Noah Hunt Audio
* Mixing and Sound Design: Lizzie Goldsmith

## Production

The idea for this project has been in Shipwrecked's minds for a while; they have even planted easter eggs for it before. The idea pre-dated The Case of the Gilded Lily. Originally, it was going to be a webseries, but, realistically, it was turned into an audio narrative. In the days leading up the the Kickstarter announcement, a six part art piece by Sarah Kieley was revealed; it featured the Chinese Theatre, the Griffith Observatory, a radio tower, and a billboard with a pair of eyes (as a nod to *The Great Gatsby*).

The Kickstarter for the project began on June 28th, 2022 and is set to end on July 24th, 2022. Their goal is to raise 85,000 dollars. Cast reveals were released every 5,000 dollars, and there were livestreams every Sunday. During the campaign they had add-ons such as a sticker, enamel pins, and posters. In the final five days of the Kickstarter, they also announced four stretch goals: a Dash Gunfire podcast episode (100k), live Vivian Nightingale show (115k), Vivian Nightingal album (with possible guests) (130k), and solving the case of the Black Dahlia murder (1 mil). They became fully funded on July 23rd, 2022. When the campaign ended, they raised a total of 101,272 dollars through 921 backers. This meant they were able to reach their first stretch goal- a Dash Gunfire podcast episode.

The podcast began recording in early 2023. The first episode was released on July 26th, 2023.

## Extras

A kickstarter trailer was released on June 28th, 2022. And, on July 9th, 2022, they uploaded a video discussing more of what Greater Gatsby will be. There have also been monthly livestreams to support the release of the new episodes.

## Trivia

* Many characters have been mentioned, appeared in, or are related to *The Case of the Gilded Lily* and "American Whoopee".
* Joey Richter reprised his role as Ernest Hemingway in Episode 12 - Misery. He previously played this role in Shipwrecked Comedy's other work, Edgar Allan Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party.