‘Great Comet’: Out of this World Musical 

Out of the Box, the local theater company that has been producing alternative contemporary musical theater for 15 years, soars all the way up into the heavens for its next show, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Dave Malloy’s genre-defying musical adaptation of a scandalous 70-page segment from Tolstoy‘s famed 1869 novel War and Peace is set in the opulent world of Moscow high society, focusing on the impulsive Natasha’s romance with intoxicating aristocrat Anatole and savior Pierre’s search for meaning in his life.

Director and Out of the Box founder Samantha Eve has been a fan of Great Comet since its original run in a pop-up tent in lower Manhattan years prior to its 2016-17 run on Broadway, where it earned a dozen Tony nominations. 

“I have been hunting down the show since then and bugged them so much to get the rights to produce it here that Dave Malloy himself actually wrote me back to tell me they couldn’t because they were trying to get the show to Broadway,” Eve explained. “He set it up as a musical theater/opera, so it’s all heightened emotion that goes right to the heart of the story and moves very quickly. It’s sort of like an intro to Tolstoy, a fascinating way into a 1,000-page book that isn’t necessarily accessible to everyone.” 

Comet, which runs April 4-13 at Center Stage Theatre, has been called an electropop opera, which Eve explained includes several elements that might normally be considered a bit disparate. 

“It has hints of Russian folk music, sounds in a nightclub, elements of indie rock and folk music, even a little bit of Joni Mitchell and the Beatles. It’s a real melting pot. I don’t think there’s another musical quite like it.” 

What also sets Comet apart is that the actors frequently break the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience in ways not normally seen. 

“There are times the characters are actually narrating their own actions,” Eve said. “For example, somebody on the stage will say, ‘Natasha’s whole body shook with noiseless convulsive sobs,’ which you’re seeing at the same time. It really allows connection with the audience in a way that doesn’t happen when you are in your own world and telling the story separate from them.”

To that end, Out of the Box is going a step beyond, adding an onstage VIP table seating area where the actors might actually augment scenes on the fly, jumping onto the chairs or pulling an audience member into the action for a dance number. 

“We want to make it feel very immersive like it was in the tent, tell the story with the audience instead of just to the audience,” Eve said. 

The audience is also helped along in deciphering the action in this staged segment of the complicated Russian novel. A prologue song introduces each of the characters and their connection to the others, complementing a family tree in the program and projected graphics for each character based on the actors – which include both OOB longtime cast members and newcomers to the company. 

“It’s really helpful to piece it all together,” Eve said. 

As for the comet in the title? That refers to an actual celestial event that was visible back in 1811-12 for more than 250 days, which the novel’s Pierre witnesses. 

“Rather than fear, he feels a sense of hope, of change, of something positive about to happen,” Eve said. “That’s also what I hope people take away from the show.”