The vast second floor of Colorado Ballet’s headquarters was alive with dancers admiring themselves in full-length mirrors, the women garbed in their stunning pastel-colored flapper dresses, the men looking sharp in their tuxes. Everyone dressed for a wild night of Jazz Era champagne revelry.

Instead, the occasion on this Wednesday afternoon was the first costumed run-through of the company’s production of “The Great Gatsby,” which opens Friday in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and runs through Feb. 8. The popular 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the subject of several movies, has been turned into a ballet by choreographer Jorden Morris. And there they are, that fascinating bunch of upper-crust hard-living, hard-drinking, hard-loving characters.

For Morris, the transition from page to stage did not come easily. It started back in 2018 with a phone call from Terry Orr, then artistic director of Pittsburgh Ballet.

“Terry had seen my ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘Moulin Rouge’,” Morris said in a recent phone interview. “He’d staged those two works for Pittsburgh, and realized I was a good story-teller. He told me he had tried (to create) a ‘Gatsby’ three times with no luck. So he asked me to do it. He wanted it to work this time.”

It did. Pittsburgh Ballet gave the premiere of Morris’ staging in 2019, and it was a hit. The choreographer admitted he had some crucial help.

“Terry had (composer) Carl Davis in mind,” Morris said.

Good choice. Based in Windsor, England, Davis had already contributed music for several musicals and ballets. An initial meeting lasted five hours and the two hit it off. The long-distance work began, involving round-trip flights to England.

“This was all meant to be,” Morris said of the selection of Davis, who died in 2023. “He was the right man. He’d spent time in New York — he knew Long Island (the story’s setting), which really helped.”

The dizzying world of the ’20s and Fitzgerald’s intense story come alive in this ballet, as witnessed in the Wednesday run-through. Responding to Davis’ colorful recorded score, the large cast seemed to melt into their characters: silently flirting, snubbing, arguing, threatening, loving, crying, grieving — and dancing the night away at Gatsby’s boozy parties. All under the watchful eye of the choreographer’s wife Lisa and company ballet master Sandra Brown, who sat observing every move of every dancer.

Davis’ score bubbled with re-creations of jazzy dance music in those party sequences. The central characters are clearly drawn: Liam Hogan presented a tall, strapping Gatsby, unable to hide his passion for his ex-lover Daisy, portrayed by a softly danced Jennifer Grace. Her husky husband, Tom, became the bad guy by a scowling Christopher Moulton, his jealous temper adding visible tension. Leah McFadden as sassy Myrtle, emerged as a likable character, as did Jonnathan Ramirez’s Nick. Catherine McGregor’s Jordan, Daisy’s trusted companion, also had her warm, intimate moments. All were backed by a busy supporting cast of waiters, maids and flapper girls. There was also a stuffed pet dog — auditions for the real canine were being held in an adjacent room.

Missing on this occasion was a crucial character — the automobile. Actually, Morris noted, the story calls for two of them.

“We’ll have a replica,” he promised. “It’s 18 feet long. Only one is used here. Gatsby’s is yellow, Tom’s is blue.” He explained that stage trickery will create two cars — but we’ll keep that a secret. As for the novel’s setting for the final scene, there will be no pool.

“We’ll have a suggestion of a swimming pool,” Morris said.

Having just survived his violent ending, “Gatsby’s” title player relaxed in an upstairs office, chatting amiably about the challenges of the role and smiling at the honor of receiving the star billing. After all, Liam Hogan is only a demi-soloist, two levels below the top level of principal dancer.

Choreographer Morris had half-jokingly told me that he was looking for “the smartest guy in the room, who was good-looking, had that ‘yummy factor’ and looked good in a military outfit and white tuxedo.” I resisted sharing those qualifications with Hogan — though he did appear to check all the boxes.

The role of Gatsby requires more than dancing the steps, Hogan acknowledged.

“He has so many character flaws,” Hogan said. “He’s so hopeful that everything will work out, that true love will survive.”

Preparing for a full-length ballet requires mental as well as physical preparation, he said, particularly for someone like Hogan, who is not exactly a mellow dude. Just look at his wild head of hair. Not exactly a 1920s look. No worries, he chuckled — off to the barber’s in the morning. Hogan did confess to being a naturally high-energy guy.

“I bounce off the walls. I have to listen to music and be still before I warm up,” he said. “As a dancer, you have to get your mind and your body ready every day.”