Jim Hammond, Director
Jim Hammond is the Artistic and Managing Director of the Gainesville Theater Alliance. He has directed many plays, including Into the Woods, In the Heights, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Dracula. Mr. Hammond began acting at age 16 and says he was “fascinated by the role of the director.” His first chance at directing was for a production of Around the World in Eighty Days at a community theater when he was 17. “I was hooked,” he recalls.
One of Mr. Hammond’s most memorable directing experiences was in 2008 when he directed Metamorphoses with an 8,000 gallon pool with underwater tunnels installed in the Ed Cabell Theatre. He says that was the first time he has ever directed wearing a swimsuit.
Jim Hammond first read The Great Gatsby in high school and loved the novel and its movie adaptations. At only 100 minutes long, Mr. Hammond says it will be different from the play in that it only hits the highlights, but still accomplishes telling a “clear and moving story.” He also mentions that he has incorporated interesting theatrical conventions that bend time and visual point of view. These altered scenes include the car crash, the plane flight, the parties and the pool scene.
Mr. Hammond also discusses the costuming in the play, saying that “costumes carry the responsibility for establishing the 1920s in this production.” He says that Cole Spivia, a senior costume designer in the program, has done excellent work.
Mr. Hammond says more than 80 actors auditioned for the show and each one was picked based on specific qualities he had in mind for each character. In order to prepare himself for directing The Great Gatsby, Jim Hammond spent last summer studying the novel and researching the period. “It was critical that I familiarize myself and the cast with the world of the play,” he says.