Crow’s Theatre & Musical Stage Company/Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, book, music, lyrics and orchestrations by Dave Malloy, (adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace), directed by Chris Abraham, Guloien Theatre, Streetcar Crowsnest, to Feb. 4, 2024. Tickets here.
Dave Malloy’s electropop sung-through opera, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, is a triumph, pure and simple. Truly, what more need be said? (Although, of course, I’m going to say more.)
I had been completely beguiled by American composer/lyricist Malloy’s 2014 song cycle, Ghost Quartet, when Crow’s mounted the cabaret in 2019. Purportedly about love, death and whisky, the show’s inherent mystery absolutely captivated me. I still remember the clever lyrics and haunting tunes to this day. So, when it was announced that Crow’s, together with the Musical Stage Company, would be mounting Malloy’s earlier (2012) full-blown musical, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, I was ecstatic.
What a joy to discover that Malloy has come up trumps, because The Great Comet (as it is usually called) is sheer brilliance in its conceit. The creator literally took on Tolstoy’s 1869 mammoth epic, War and Peace, as his inspiration.
To be precise, he chose a 70-page tract from Part 8 of Book Two, which describes two arcs — Natasha Rostova (Hailey Gillis), and her infatuation with the scoundrel Anatole Kuragin (George Krissa), and melancholy Pierre Bezukhov (Evan Buliung) and his search for direction in his meaningless life. In fact, so separate are these two storylines in The Great Comet, that Natasha and Pierre meet only at the very end of the musical. The other characters are mostly entwined between the two.
The Music
Malloy’s music (here under the excellent direction of Ryan deSouza from the Shaw Festival) is enchanting because of its very diversity. It is Malloy who called The Great Comet an electropop opera, and synthesizers are certainly in evidence, but there is also a sweep of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies about the score, not to mention references from Russian folk music.
Apparently, indie rock and electronic dance music also percolate through the various songs/arias, with their driving beat, but I found the classical/folk element to be stronger, perhaps because I recognize these elements, more so than electronica and pop.
While deSouza leads a permanent band of five, including himself on piano, seven of the 13 cast members also play a variety of instruments, which augments the rich sound of the orchestra.
The fabulous score is enhanced by wonderfully clever lyrics that brilliantly reveal character. Malloy revealed that he used the actual text from a famous 1922 translation of War and Peace for many of the songs, so we are actually hearing the words of Tolstoy himself, albeit, second hand. Perhaps this is why the songs are so strong as inner reflections.
Malloy has also written a baroque opera within The Great Comet, as Natasha and Anatole meet at the opera. Thus Marcus Nance and Heeyun Park are the opera singers, while hormones rage around them. This mini opera within the opera, is just another one of polymath Malloy’s many talents.
The Production
From the moment you enter the theatre, you are aware of the magnificent set by Julie Fox and Joshua Quinlan. You have literally stepped back into the lavish life of aristocrats in early 19th century Russia.
A gilded balcony featuring two ornate staircases sweeps around three sides of the theatre, with another playing area beneath it. In the middle, surrounded by the audience on three sides, is a revolving stage that is turned by the actors themselves, mostly to indicate scene changes. Glittering chandeliers dot the ceiling, while lush drapery covers the walls. Set pieces like chairs, tables and settees transform the revolving stage into elegant rooms. In short, the visual ambience is breathtaking.
Ming Wong’s Napoleonic era costumes are absolutely gorgeous, particularly for the woman, with their colourful rich brocades and silks. For her part, lighting designer Kimberly Purtell has created rich hues of gold to blanket the set, as if the house was lit by candlelight. Then there are the glowing, opulent chandeliers. Everything about this production is sumptuous to the extreme.
I should add that director Chris Abraham has made good use of the surroundings, because the cast is up, down and all around the set. You never know what entrance they are going to come from, or how they are going to leave, not to mention executing the rigorous and showy choreography that Ray Hogg has provided for key scenes. An actor can’t possibly perform in this show without a strong degree of stamina.
The Performers
Which brings us to the singing actors, and it is a cast that is an embarrassment of riches. Mercifully, the theatre supplies a family tree of all the characters and how they are connected.
Gillis as Natasha perfectly captures the entrancing, excited child-woman from the country, enthralled by the glittering world of Moscow. She is the quintessential ingénue. Buliung as Pierre can break your heart with his sadness and resignation, a man who has sunk into his own despair. On the other hand, Krissa’s Anatole is a swaggering stud, aware of his own charisma (which the actor has by the truckload). The scene where Anatole crosses the stage with his shirt off is sexy as hell. I’d fall for him too.
How nice it is to have the great Louise Pitre back on stage as Natasha’s sympatico godmother Marya D. Divine Brown is perfect as the flirtatious malicious schemer Hélène, Pierre’s wife, while Camille Eanga-Selenge cuts the opposite note as the sweet Sonya, Natasha’s loyal cousin. In a riveting performance, Park projects all the bitterness that has been built up in Andrey’s sister Mary over many years.
On the male side of things, Nance convincingly plays the dual role of the stiff, cold soldier Andrey, Natasha’s fiancé, as well as Bolkonsky, his own crazy demanding father. Lawrence Libor is Anatole’s slimeball friend Dolokhov, which he conveys with suitable gleeful mischief, while Andrew Penner gets to have great fun as the comic relief. He is Balaga, the merry troika driver, who is always ready for a lark, such as abducting young ladies.
If I have one complaint, however, it is that diction was at times sloppy, and, I oh so wanted to hear every word.
Final Thoughts
This production had a less than auspicious beginning, because COVID struck the cast and the show’s opening kept on being postponed. Fortunately, only one preview was cancelled as outside actors stepped into roles literally learned overnight, with understudies pitching in as well. Thus, director Abraham was able to cobble together performances until everyone was back to health.
Nonetheless, that rocky start can be put to rest, because what has emerged is a performance that will not soon be forgotten. Luckily, the show has been extended into February, such is the demand.
I don’t say this often, but buy, beg, borrow or steal a ticket. Do not miss Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.
Oh, and one last thing. For those who will never read Tolstoy’s 1,000-page tome, I’ll tell you the ending. Pierre marries Natasha.
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