Broadway's Natasha, Pierre, Starring Josh Groban, Finds Its Leading Lady

Denée Benton, who recently starred as Natasha in the American Repertory Theater run of Dave Malloy's Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, will lead the company alongside music superstar Josh Groban when the show makes its Broadway debut in September 2016. The news was announced during the BroadwayCon panel "Next Stop Broadway."

Groban will play Pierre to Benton's Natasha. Both performers are making their Broadway debuts. Full casting, dates, and Broadway venue will be announced in the coming months.

Inspired by a section of Leo Tolstoy's War & Peace, Natasha, Pierre follows Natasha Rostova as she awaits the arrival of her fiancé from the front lines and falls under the spell of Moscow and the city's most charming rogue. The immersive production had its premiere at Ars Nova in the fall of 2012 and later moved to a specially created venue called Kazino in the meatpacking district. After critical acclaim, producers transferred the production and its custom venue to the theater district, before a late 2015 run at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based American Repertory Theatre.

During the original New York engagements, the roles of Natasha and Pierre were created by Hamilton's Phillipa Soo and the show's author, Malloy, respectively.