by Dancin' Dan
Broadway has never seen anything quite like Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812. Oh, pieces of it have been seen before - the modern-meets-traditional costumes were done in Hamilton, ensemble members have been playing their own instruments since at least John Doyle's landmark revival of Sweeney Todd, and actors have been performing in the aisles since time immemorial. But still, it's never been done quite like this.
For one thing, for an adaptation of mammoth Russian novel War and Peace, it's amazingly entertaining. All credit to creator Dave Malloy (Tony nominee for Best Score, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Orchestrations), who had the vision to see that this could be turned into a musical at all. This is one of the wittiest musicals to grace the Broadway stage in quite some time, in large part because it recognizes the difficulty of the source material:
This is all in your program, you are at the opera!
You're gonna have to study up a little bit if you want to keep with the plot
'Cause it's a complicated Russian novel, everyone's got nine different names
So look it up in your program, we appreciate it, thanks a lot!
The "Prologue" lays this out for us right at the top, along with all of the characters, their relationships to each other, and their defining traits, in a quick, catchy, rousing number that you'll be humming on your way home. The plot is simple enough - Natasha is young, engaged to Andrey, who is at war, and staying with her godmother and cousin in Moscow, where she falls under the spell of playboy Anatole, and... well, you've heard about what happens to Anna Karenina, right? But, you may find yourself asking, what about Pierre?
Pierre is Anatole's brother-in-law, Andrey's best friend, and currently living a slothful existence in the midst of an existential crisis. He's also played by Josh Groban, playing so far against type you'd be forgiven for not recognizing him, even without the padding in his costume! Groban is in good voice, as always, but he brings a stirring, soulful grit to Pierre's big solo, "Dust and Ashes", that completely belies his previous existence as a technically precise but dull singer of adult contemporary pablum. His Tony nomination is well-deserved.
Actually, every single one of this production's 12 Tony nominations (the most of any production this year) is well-deserved. Director Rachel Chavkin and her team have completely transformed the Imperial Theatre into a turn-of-the-century Russian salon, with Russian-language posters lining the walls of the lobby only to explode into a luxurious red-and-gold performance space that looks impossibly gorgeous - and also without a proscenium. Scenic Designer Mimi Lien has exploded the fourth wall, putting the audience in various spaces on the stage and platforms and walkways all the way through the audience, including the mezzanine. She has given Lighting Designer Bradley King a nearly impossible task, having to light every square inch of the theater, which he does to downright stunning effect.
And all of this is to say nothing of Chavkin's mind-boggling work navigating the space. This is total theater at its best - at any given moment, the main action could be happening in the traditional stage area, in one of the boxes, in the mezzanine, or literally anywhere else in the theater. In one particularly memorable moment, while Pierre is sining solo, the ensemble lines up in the back of the mezzanine to sing choral backup, and the effect is even better than surround sound; it's as if Pierre's crisis has risen the ghosts of the dead.
Oh, the many magical moments of this show! A duel turns into a rave (Malloy's orchestrations are constantly surprising, adding dark electronic elements to match the roiling emotions of the piece), a troika driver stops the show to momentarily draft the audience into the orchestra... and somehow the performers don't get lost in any of it. Groban and the lovely Denée Benton as Natasha (Tony nominated) are the headliners, but everyone creates a distinct character whose defining traits and motivations are always clearly visible even in the chaotic group numbers. The standouts are Brittain Ashford, whose plaintive solo "Sonya Alone" is a highlight, and Tony nominee Lucas Steele, who steals the show as sexy rogue Anatole.
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 is not a perfect musical - it goes out with more of a whimper than a bang (seemingly the only place in the whole thing where being a faithful adaptation hurts the material). But it is a stunning experience - indeed, it's that rare Broadway show that you experience instead of merely watch. It may come from difficult source material, and it may be very sophisticated musically, but you simply cannot see it and not be wowed. This is everything great theater should be: Involving, exciting, and emotional. You've never seen anything like it.
Tony Predictions: Great Comet has 12 nominations, more than any other show. It's a threat to win most of them, and the odds-on favorite for Scenic Design and Lighting Design. It's probably a lock for Best Orchestrations and Best Director as well. Don't be surprised if Lucas Steele surprises in Best Featured Actor in a Musical. As for the big three musical categories of Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book... that's anyone's guess this year. I'd guess the likeliest of those is Best Musical, followed by Best Score.