Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

The story of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812

The show compresses a slice of Tolstoy's sprawling novel into a single evening, centered on Natasha Rostova, a young woman waiting for her fiance to return from war, and Pierre Bezukhov, an unhappily married nobleman adrift in his own life. While her fiance is away, Natasha falls under the spell of the charming, reckless Anatole Kuragin, setting off a scandal that threatens to ruin her.

Pierre, watching from the edges of high society, becomes drawn into Natasha's crisis and finds in it a reason to reconnect with his own sense of purpose. The show is narrated directly to the audience by its characters, immersing theatergoers in a story of longing, temptation, and quiet redemption set against the backdrop of Napoleonic-era Russia.

The music and the makers

Dave Malloy wrote the music, lyrics, and book, adapting the material himself and creating a score that blends classical Russian folk color with electronic dance beats, indie rock, and traditional musical theater balladry. The result is a genre-blurring sound rarely heard on Broadway, closer to a nightclub happening than a conventional book musical.

The production's immersive staging, with performers moving through the audience and the orchestra scattered around the theater, reinforced that sense of a shared, almost theatrical rave, making the score's eclecticism feel like part of the show's design rather than a novelty.

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 on Broadway

After developing through several off-Broadway and pop-up venues, the show opened on Broadway in 2016 at the Imperial Theatre, transformed into a supper-club-style environment. Josh Groban starred as Pierre in his Broadway debut, opposite Denee Benton as Natasha, and both earned Tony nominations for their performances.

The production received twelve Tony nominations, the most of any show that season, and won two, for its scenic design and lighting design. It closed in 2017 after a shortened run, but its inventive staging and boundary-pushing score left a lasting mark on discussions of what a Broadway musical could sound and look like.

Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812: frequently asked questions