Josh Groban, Denée Benton, and More Make Broadway Debuts in The Great Comet
(© David Gordon)
Dave Malloy's acclaimed musical Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 celebrated its Broadway opening night at the Imperial Theatre on November 14. Directed by Rachel Chavkin, the production stars music icon Josh Groban in his Broadway debut.
Groban plays Pierre opposite Denée Benton as Natasha, alongside Brittain Ashford as Sonya, Gelsey Bell as Princess Mary, Nicholas Belton as Bolonsky and Andrey, Nick Choksi as Dolokhov, Amber Gray as Helene, Grace McLean as Marya D., Paul Pinto as Balaga, Lucas Steele as Anatole, and Scott Stangland as the standby for Pierre.
The production welcomed a host of guests, including Hamilton vets Phillipa Soo and Okieriete Onaodowan; Gotham stars Cory Michael Smith and Robin Lord Taylor; Marla Maples, and many others. Check out TheaterMania's photos in the gallery below.
The ensemble includes Sumayya Ali, Courtney Bassett, Josh Canfield, Ken Clark, Erica Dorfler, Lulu Fall, Ashley Pérez Flanagan, Paloma Garcia-Lee, Nick Gaswirth, Alex Gibson, Billy Joe Kiessling, Mary Spencer Knapp, Reed Luplau, Brandt Martinez, Andrew Mayer, Azudi Onyejekwe, Pearl Rhein, Heath Saunders, Ani Taj, Cathryn Wake, Katrina Yaukey, and Lauren Zakrin.
Inspired by a small section of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, The Great Comet was originally commissioned and developed at Ars Nova, in New York, where it had its world premiere in fall 2012, and was transferred to a custom-built venue in the Meatpacking District for summer 2013. The show and the entire venue was transferred to the Theater District where it continued its run into spring 2014. It played a pre-Broadway engagement in 2015 at American Repertory Theater in Massachusetts.
The Great Comet creative team features choreography by Sam Pinkleton, set design by Mimi Lien, costume design by Tony Award winner Paloma Young, lighting design by Bradley King, sound design by Nicholas Pope, music supervision by Sonny Paladino, and musical direction by Or Matias.
