REVIEW: ‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’
Broadway is evolving from classical Rodger and Hammerstein musicals to modern, upbeat tunes. Although “Hamilton” popularized this, before the hip-hop founding fathers there was the electric-opera Russian aristocracy.
For history, literature and musical fans alike, “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” is a show that portrays a small portion of Leo Tolstoy’s notorious Russian novel, “War and Peace.”
The story follows Natasha Rostov, a young countess visiting her godmother, Marya, in Moscow while her fiance, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, is off fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. After nearly a year of separation, Natasha is beginning to feel lonely and doubt her fiance’s love. She spends her days longing for him for return but is powerless to do anything. To distract her from her pining, her cousin and godmother take her to the opera where she fatefully meets Anatole Kuragin, a rogue prince known for his profuse drinking habits and nefarious pursuit of women. This seemingly innocent acquaintance slowly becomes a scandalous affair as Anatole sets his advances on the unsuspecting Natasha whose moral compass stalls to allow her heart to overrule her mind. On the brink of ruin, Natasha’s only hope is the rich, awkward and kind-hearted Pierre.
With a two-hour run time, the show manages to pack in the emotion of watching a car crash in slow motion. Much of this raging emotion can be found at the heart of its soundtrack. Uniquely, it is categorized as an eclectic-pop-opera musical because of the way it combines multiple elements from each genre. Amidst beautiful romantic arias, there are also electric vamps, and pop beats in the background. Many of the show’s lyrics are taken directly from Tolstoy’s novel with near word for word translation.
“Natasha, Pierre” first premiered in October 2012 at Ars Nova in New York City. Ars Nova is a small off-Broadway, non-profit theatre that helps develop shows while in their early stages. After its two-month run and raving critical reviews, it returned several more times in small theater between 2013 and 2014, until hitting Broadway itself in 2016. The original off-broadway production starred a pre-“Hamilton” Phillipa Soo (OBC’s Eliza Schuyler/Hamilton) and composer Dave Malloy as Pierre, while the Broadway starred Dene Benton as Natasha and popular singer Josh Groban as Pierre.
During the 71st annual Tony awards in 2017, “Natasha, Pierre” was nominated for 12 awards including best musical, best leading actress (Dene Benton), and best leading actor (Josh Groban), but only took home two awards: best scenic design of a musical and best lighting design of a musical.
Despite high critical review and Tony awards to back up its name, the show closed on Sept. 3, 2017, after a racial scandal. During its opening run, lead actor Josh Groban was a big selling point for the show. When he left the cast at the beginning of July, the role of Pierre was given to African American actor Okieriete Onaodowan, fresh off his run as the original Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in “Hamilton.” Ticket sales immediately dropped at an alarming rate. To counter this, Onaodowan was replaced as the male lead by Tony and Emmy award-winning Mandy Patinkin. The replacement of an African American actor with a white one on such abrupt terms caused fans and fellow actors to attack the show on social media for being racist towards its actors despite the original Broadway Nastaha, Dene Benton, having been half African American. The scandal lowered ticket sales even further to the point it had to close.
Despite the scandal that cut its run short, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” is a gem amongst modern Broadway and will hopefully return to the spotlight in the future.
Both the original Broadway and off-Broadway soundtracks can be found on Spotify as well as YouTube and iTunes.
—dara.lusk@outlook.com
@dara_marie_