Dave Malloy's Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 has been made available for licensing to professional theatres by Concord Theatricals through its Samuel French imprint. The musical played a Broadway run in 2016 and earned 12 Tony nominations the following year—the most of any show that season.
With a book, music, and lyrics by Malloy, The Great Comet is based on a 70-page portion of Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace. The story sees Natasha visit Moscow while waiting for her fiancé Andrey to return from war, only to succumb to a moment of indiscretion with Anatole. Her only hope to restore her reputation lies with Pierre, a compassionate outsider.
The work premiered in 2012 in an immersive production helmed by Rachel Chavkin at Off-Broadway's Ars Nova. Malloy starred as Pierre opposite a pre-Hamilton Phillipa Soo's Natasha. The following year, the production moved to a temporary structure designed to house the production in the Meatpacking District, later moving uptown to the theatre district. The production was re-mounted on a Broadway scale in 2015 at the American Repertory Theater in Massachusetts before transferring to Broadway's Imperial Theatre the following year. Chavkin continued to direct, with the leads being taken over by Josh Groban and Denée Benton.
“I am overjoyed and thrilled that The Great Comet is finally getting launched into the world,” says Malloy. “I cannot wait to come see all the new visions and re-imaginings of directors, performers, and designers breathing new life into this piece that is so dear to me.”
“Concord Theatricals is proud to represent The Great Comet, which has already seen innovative stagings both on and off Broadway, in Boston, and around the world,” adds Concord Theatricals President Sean Patrick Flahaven. “Having been fans of the show since Ars Nova, we look forward to seeing how our professional theatres further push the envelope with Dave Malloy’s groundbreaking hit musical.”
For the published script and more information, visit ConcordSho.ws.
