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Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 Reviews
The New York Times- Highly Recommended
"Who would have guessed that Dave Malloy's gorgeous pop opera would land on Broadway with all its signal virtues intact, and in some ways heightened?...The show remains a witty, inventive enchantment from rousing start to mournful finish...O.K., so it's a little dense...Even if you get lost for a bit, the dazzling staging, the vivid performances and the richness of Mr. Malloy's music will provide pleasures that go well beyond the narrative."
NY Daily News- Recommended
"That immersive world has been realized ingeniously on Broadway...The large talented cast delivers the goods in director Rachel Chavkin's lively staging and there's much to admire in Molloy's wistful arias and rowdy beats. The production sometimes stalls and loses impact amid the sprawl and spectacle...Still, the show is bold and affecting and a welcome addition to the Great White Way."
Associated Press- Not Recommended
"It's best for people who want to say they experienced a cool immersive experience on Broadway, but one without any heart. It's pure showmanship with none of the emotional payoff...The show, under the restless direction of Rachel Chavkin, reaches for an immersive experience by trying to erase the line between audience and performer...Some of the songs are super, but too many are weak and the whole thing needs editing."
Hollywood Reporter- Highly Recommended
"It arrives on Broadway in superlative shape, its humor, emotional content and rip-roaring storytelling every bit as vibrant as its madly infectious score...No disrespect to the marvelous cast, many of whom have been with the project since its earliest stages, but the true stars are the material and production, which is often as cinematic as it is blazingly theatrical...Chavkin's direction is a marvel of intricacy, with simultaneous action happening in multiple spots...Don't miss it."
Vulture- Somewhat Recommended
"If 'Natasha' used this gorgeousness to set up a contrast with the characters' turpitude, or to bring its world crashing down at the end, it might seem less vapid...Groban sings not just beautifully but without irony; almost alone among the cast he makes real connections to the ideas behind the words...The misalignment of source and style is so severe in 'Natasha' that it seems like an example of elitist decadence rather than the condemnation of it that Tolstoy intended."
NY1- Highly Recommended
"Pure theatrical magic…Country aristocrat Natasha is played with sparkle and pluck by Denée Benton…Josh Groban makes a forceful and passionate Broadway debut as the dissolute Pierre...Rachel Chavkin's breathless, immersive staging is a constant source of wonder...One of the most thrilling Broadway musicals this decade, 'The Great Comet' is intimate yet epic, ironic yet deeply felt, cosmic yet down to earth. It lights up the sky and our hearts."
Variety- Highly Recommended
"A luscious, 360-degree immersive experience that feels like being smothered in velvet...You really don't want to miss a thing in this musically lush and visually opulent production...Malloy, who wrote the marvelous book, tuneful music, and smart lyrics, understands and even admires the members of this aristocratic society, who in ensemble songs reveal themselves as irresistibly charming and hopelessly corrupt."
Entertainment Weekly- Recommended
"The staging is remarkable considering all its moving parts, and the gifted young ensemble, often cycling at full tilt through multiple roles, earn every ounce of sweat and confetti. But the end result feels a little too much like zero-calorie entertainment (well, not counting the pierogi): brisk and sexy and emotionally weightless. The flow of the story never quite takes hold, and the stakes for these star-crossed lovers feel no more or less crucial then the next musical number tells us it is."
Newsday- Recommended
"It's a massive, luscious, romantic escape into decadent 19th century Moscow by way of Broadway's Imperial Theatre...A multifaceted talent named Dave Malloy wrote and composed this seriously beautiful lark of an oddball musical...Directed by the spectacle-wizard Rachel Chavkin...Broadway debut of Josh Groban...No star turn, this is a passionate, subtle portrayal full of both heart and creamy, expressive singing...Large, daring, excellent cast."
amNY- Recommended
"Since it premiered, I have always found the show to be extremely uneven, with a stop-and-start momentum that alternates between all-out liveliness and long episodes of slow tedium. That being said, Rachel Chavkin's stunning production is an intoxicating whirlwind of wild activity...Benton, a little-known actress, is wonderful as the doe-eyed Natasha, and Groban, with his rich voice in tow, gives a sensitive performance that fully captures Pierre's angst-filled personality."
Wall Street Journal- Not Recommended
"For all its explosive liveliness, Ms. Chavkin's staging looks like a hopped-up concert version of a musical, not a bona fide Broadway show, and it serves mainly to paper over the essentially undramatic nature of 'The Great Comet,' which feels less like an opera than a cantata...'Tunes' are flattened-out nonmelodies that exist only to carry the relentlessly wordy text and are superimposed on riffy vamps and short, oft-repeated harmonic cells."
NorthJersey- Highly Recommended
"Great, extravagantly entertaining fun, with a soaring score that runs the musical gamut from raucous rock to classical...It also stirs the soul, with a beautifully sung finale, performed to a hushed audience by pop star Josh Groban…It might not cure your heartache, but it's a reminder of the solace that art can provide…Onstage, there's unparalleled intimacy, with the actors excitingly close. The negative is that with actors continually brushing by, you can get distracted from the story."
Washington Post- Recommended
"Groban proves to be a thoroughly winning team player in an offbeat pop opera that is ultimately more memorable for technical dexterity than emotional texture...Dave Malloy's divinely eclectic score, gives a gallery of featured performers a vibrant showcase for their dramatic and vocal abilities...As for the narrative itself, well, 'Natasha, Pierre' is a vehicle built for style more than durable storytelling."
Chicago Tribune- Recommended
"'Great Comet' functions as a satire of the trope of turning Russian fiction into musicals...The weakness of director Rachel Chavkin's fabulously staged production is pretty simple and obvious. Little attention is paid to the emotional inner lives of the characters...Here, it is like you're watching a cutting, a really cool post-modern cabaret lived in real time- the show does not propel you forward on the back of ever-rising stakes, anymore that it wraps things up in a wholly satisfying fashion."
Time Out New York- Highly Recommended
"Director Rachel Chavkin's approach to the show—spectacular yet intimate, theatrical yet personal—is an ideal complement to Malloy's brilliantly unconventional musical...In Malloy's complex and eclectic score, lovely stand-alone songs are woven into a larger blanket of recitative and surprising combinations of content and genre. Bittersweet and joyous, artful and accessible, this is a Broadway party like no other...It's a wonderful, soul-stirring escape."
The Wrap- Recommended
"'War and Peace' is a lot of story to tell in one musical. But why leave out its ending when 'The Great Comet' meanders rather aimlessly for the first 45 minutes?...While there are occasional dollops of levity in Malloy's lyrics, Chavkin never stops spoofing his material, which is the major saving grace of this 'Comet.' Throughout the evening, clever bits of thespian business, as well as unobtrusive audience participation, manage to delight. And distract, in a good way."
Village Voice- Highly Recommended
"Malloy and Chavkin, unceasingly inventive, explore this sliver of Tolstoy's vast tale fully, with a glorious, free-ranging mixture of panache, tenderness, and common-sense directness…The lyrics, if occasionally prosy, bear the narrative weight…Chavkin and her team second this with soulful, strongly rooted performances…Everyone's excellent, but Groban's Pierre is a creation sure to linger; he gives this giant, swirling spectacle a core reason far beyond anything in most recent musicals."
Financial Times- Recommended
"'The Great Comet' collapses the boundaries between music, dialogue and exposition, seamlessly telling the story through the show's 27 numbers…Under Rachel Chavkin's brisk direction, the central performances also tend towards playful high-spiritedness…One senses even Tolstoy himself might have had a good chuckle over this irreverent take on a small slice of his epic novel."
The Guardian- Highly Recommended
"When the dancers are leaping, the accordions wheezing, the lights flashing, the skirts swirling, and the vodka flowing, then 'Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812' feels thrillingly unlike anything else on Broadway...The combinatory musical style is perhaps too eclectic, yet also undeniably invigorating – like a shot of horseradish vodka. Besides, these are rather minor quibbles when compared with the beauty of many of the songs and the excitement of the immersive staging."
Deadline- Somewhat Recommended
"I can pretty much guarantee that no-one attending this gorgeous evocation of 19th-century Moscow will leave convinced they didn't get their ruble's worth...The book and score by Dave Malloy, which takes great pains to spell it all out for us, often to the exclusion of, oh character development, motivation and feeling...Malloy is an inventive composer of not very beautiful music...All this action delivers pleasure for the eye and, intermittently, the ear. But not for the soul."
CurtainUp - Recommended
"Malloy's sung-through lyrics are clear as any play dialogue and propel the narrative most effectively. And Chavkin has guided the performers to make their situations and feelings easily comprehensible...Electropop influenced and sung-through like an opera, but it also, and beautifully, blends in Russian folk and classical music...They've managed to give audiences a view of Tolstoy's rather overwrought romantic sub-plot through a contemporary and often humorous and unique lens."
Talkin Broadway- Recommended
"More often than not it succeeds at making a great time, even if it falls short of making great art...Though I remain an admirer of 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,' I find that its flaws are even more evident now, and Chavkin and Malloy are not able to disguise how hard they're working...Malloy walks a thin line between serious adaptation and rib-poking irony, and does not always get the ratios correct...Ultimately more a triumph of style than it is a classic piece of writing."
TheaterMania- Highly Recommended
"With a formally daring score by Dave Malloy and a boldly immersive production by director Rachel Chavkin, 'Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812' is the most exciting theatrical experience since 'Hamilton,' a must-see for anyone who wants a sneak peek at how Broadway will look in the coming decades...'The Great Comet' is a model for how to present 21st-century theater in venues designed 100 years ago....Everyone in this cast is working hard and it pays off."
TheaterScene.net- Highly Recommended
"Lest you feared that in the move to the Great White Way David Malloy's magnificent electro pop opera, now starring Josh Groban and Denée Benton in their Broadway debuts, this innovative musical work would lose its ambiance, be reassured. Resourceful and gifted set designer Mimi Lien has recreated her Russian supper club in the Imperial Theatre, an ironically named choice of venue, and director Rachel Chavkin's staging has lost none of its effectiveness."
Theatre Reviews Limited- Highly Recommended
"A masterful musical… A remarkable story of love gone wrong…'The Great Comet' is one of the most innovative musicals to appear on Broadway for a very long time. Its uniqueness is surpassed only by its impressive cast. Under Rachel Chavkin's refined and imaginative direction, Denee Benton, Josh Groban and the ensemble cast grapple successfully with Dave Malloy's music, lyrics, and book and create a delicious and innovative approach to a small slice of ‘War and Peace.'"
Stage Buddy- Highly Recommended
"An ecstatic, transportive experience...There's enough avant antics and gender bending in the chorus to counter to old-fashioned elements, and the various elements of stagecraft weave ever more densely into an orgiastic, all-consuming tapestry...I've sought the words to describe it -- mesmerizing, splendid, heady -- but all seem insufficient to capture the fullness of the show. Don your finest fur and head to the theater for one of the finest productions of the year."
Theater Pizzazz- Highly Recommended
"A remarkably moving and highly spirited condensation of one section of Leo Tolstoy's seminal novel 'War and Peace'...The sheer amount of blazing talent we are blessed to share our time with, led by the stunning Broadway newcomer Denee Benton..Malloy has an incredible facility to traverse genre...Malloy's greatest musical triumphs may be his witty, infectious numbers...You'll also get a kick, at times, from Sam Pinkleton's choreography, which smartly complements Chavkin's staging."
DC Theatre Scene- Highly Recommended
"Extraordinary, the freshest, most inviting show on Broadway this season. 'Great Comet' is awesome in its stagecraft, in its music, and in its performances...Director Rachel Chavkin and set designer Mimi Lien in particular deserve kudos for staging on Broadway something very close to the kind of immersive theater that's lately been intriguing theatergoers all over the world – everywhere but Broadway, until now."
Stu on Broadway- Highly Recommended
"It effectively mixes numerous musical styles into a strikingly affecting whole. The works can be uplifting, poignant, and unabashedly joyous...Chavkin deserves huge praise for the diverse and complex tableaus she has conceived, which produce an almost intoxicating sensory overload...This machination keeps the audience dazzled and entranced. There is never an tiresome moment, even if the goings-on are less then appealing...An absorbing, exhilarating piece of theater."
Towle Road- Recommended
"Malloy's sung-through treatment injects vibrancy, energy, and wry humor into the sordid tale. Alternately wild, seductive, and beautifully operatic, Malloy's score is as broad and varied as the sentiments expressed in Tolstoy's prose…While the story feels somewhat incomplete in the end, there's enough emotion and intrigue here to satisfy most appetites for drama…Benton and Groban's knockout performances make the case for jumping in and losing yourself."
Front Row Center- Somewhat Recommended
"The talent here is mighty. Across the board. The story, however, could have been condensed into a tight 90 minutes extravaganza. As it is the themes are repeated over and over and over – and not in nuanced ways. Repetition overcomes talent as well as spectacle and wears the listener down...To be sure this is a visual spectacle that you rarely see on Broadway. Without the spectacle, however, the story does not stand up."
WNBC- Recommended
''The Great Comet' will be lauded for its innovative and transformative approach to storytelling...Malloy's score is heavily influenced by Russian folk and classical music, and then underlined with powerful electro-pop...At times I'll admit to finding some of it inaccessible...'The Great Comet' team has managed something unusual for Broadway, an intimate and affecting musical that can't really be said to have populist appeal...Bravo."
Show Showdown- Somewhat Recommended
"A sometimes annoyingly frenetic, immersive experience that both irritates and captivates...The electro pop opera-styled music and lyrics by Dave Malloy (who also did the book and orchestrations) are often clever and entertaining, but sometimes feature too much oversimplification and not enough emotion...Ultimately, despite the show's flaws, director Rachel Chavkin deserves much credit for creating an experience that allows the audience to feel a show rather than just see it."
Phindie- Highly Recommended
"A musical unlike anything else on Broadway...As incredible as the set is, though, it's not the star. That billing belongs, not to the velvet-voiced pop star Josh Groban who plays Pierre, but to Broadway newcomer Denée Benton. Benton sparkles as Natasha...Whimsy and wit permeates 'The Great Comet.' It's a dazzling production. Like the comet it's named for, the show brings wonder in its wake."
WNYC- Highly Recommended
"A musical unlike anything else on Broadway...As incredible as the set is, though, it's not the star. That billing belongs, not to the velvet-voiced pop star Josh Groban who plays Pierre, but to Broadway newcomer Denée Benton. Benton sparkles as Natasha...Whimsy and wit permeates 'The Great Comet.' It's a dazzling production. Like the comet it's named for, the show brings wonder in its wake."
Times Square Chronicles- Recommended
"The visually stunning ‘The Great Comet' has improved in many ways from its other three incarnations…Rachel Chavkin's direction is another work of art. Ms. Chavkin moves her players around with such grace and intimacy, the audience is sure to be astounded in it's opulence. Again I see a Tony nod…Mr. Groban's acting is splendid...What is lacking from this production is the force of energy that was Natasha. "
Reviewing The Drama- Recommended
"I had a blast..Despite being on Broadway, there's a scrappy sensibility to the storytelling...It's different, because it takes risks, because it's audacious, it actually excites...I knew Groban would thrill me, but I was not ready for the luminous Denee Benton, who is also making her Broadway debut. She is fabulous, and has a beautiful voice... Natasha is naive but not a flake, and, like Pierre, searching for something true. I think we've found it in this adventurous new musical."
StageZine- Recommended
"The real deal here is Josh Groban. As an actor, he is perfect as Pierre, and as a singer he is outstanding...Denée Benton is lovely as Natasha. Also noteworthy is Amber Gray as Helene...As for the rest, they vary in degrees of overplay due to the direction they were given...At times it seems like a mashup of Cirque De Soleil butchering Leo Tolstoy. In this case so much is too much. If you go with the purpose of seeing Josh Groban, you'll not be disappointed."
DC Metro Theater Arts- Recommended
"A most elaborate and tastefully glamorous musical...The achievement of the creators, the splendor of the performances, the magnificence of the sets, costumes, and lighting make this a worthy and welcome addition to the young season. I would like to have become more involved with the emotional underpinnings, but for me this was more a treat for the eyes and ears...I just think another polish would have turned this into a total triumph."
ZEALnyc- Recommended
"The score includes heavenly ballads and more traditional pop-rock. It is all woven together brilliantly by director Rachel Chavkin...But the last, deeper, darker portion of the show gives us a powerful taste of what could have been, and I wished that it had informed the rest of the production, instead of going for what felt like easy humor and facile irony...'The Great Comet' is creative, fully absorbing, and a damn fun night at the theater. I just wish I had cried as well as laughed."
NJ.com- Highly Recommended
"A whirling, swirling onstage carnival in which the actors cavort with audience members and the entire theater is transformed into a performance space...That the music by Dave Malloy is so wide-ranging and rich makes the accomplishment all the more awe-inspiring...Whatever its storytelling shortcomings, 'Natasha, Pierre' more than compensates with whimsy and ravishing beauty...Like the greatest works of art, this one leaves you feeling privileged to have experienced it."
Daily Beast- Somewhat Recommended
"'Natasha and Pierre' is fun, even if—for quite long stretches—its infectious, enveloping noise and bustle appear to be the sum of its parts...There is so much comedy and energy, the shift feels too jarring when the stage shrinks and the action slows down...These dramatic holes are more than offset by the beautiful look and vibrancy of the production...As well as being a riotous lark, it wants to be something deeper—and that is both its charm and its problem."
Off Script with Dan Dwyer- Somewhat Recommended
"This visually dazzling, frenetic, swirling, non-stop circus of an electropop opera is so overpowering in its staging, costumes, design, it undermines plot and characters...The zigzag plot isn't easy to follow. The sung-through lyrics skip in and out of all kinds of idioms. Many lyrics are plainly explicative, but when they call for emotion, the singers, no matter how vocally skilled, seem disconnected…The orchestrations are big, and Groban sings beautifully. "
Musical Theater Review- Highly Recommended
"A stunningly original piece of work that elevates the pop opera genre to new heights on Broadway…For the most part, though, the sung-through show is a riot of movement and music performed by perhaps the most exuberant company to be found on the Main Stem…Among the principals, Denée Benton makes a glorious Broadway debut as a graceful and animated Natasha."
Wolf Entertainment Guide- Recommended
"All of the movement and interaction with audience members add to the excitement. But when all is said and done, the acting and singing carry the day and stir emotions. The score is dynamic and intriguingly varied, and there are outstanding performing turns...If you want to see a particularly unusual show, head for the Imperial. The theater itself is something to see and experience in its new version revamped for this run."
Broadway and Me- Somewhat Recommended
"'The Great Comet' is an ingratiating show but, despite its source material, it's not really a substantive one. Malloy and his inventive director Rachel Chavkin (this production's true MVP) throw a great party but they fail to dramatize the complex inner lives of Tolstoy's lovelorn aristocrats or to make it clear why they even wanted to retell Tolstoy...Still, the new leads who have joined the Broadway production do much with the little they've been given."
Front Mezz Junkies- Somewhat Recommended
"Directed with a manic kinetic energy by Chavkin...They all sound magnificent and perform beautifully...Descriptive language as lyrics tend to be very distancing from a strong emotional core rather than engage us or make us lean in with our hearts and our minds...Moments of fun and pleasure delivered by an expert cast, but the combination of the simplistic lyrics and the manic movements created a show that is watched rather than engaged with."
The Stage- Recommended
"The sung-through show creates a beautiful, soaring and anachronistic world, even if the music remains aloof...The complicated narrative, with overwrought romantic plot, is kept in check by delightfully self-aware humour in the direction. Rousing ensemble numbers and delicate ballads sung by Groban and Benton are Malloy's strongest compositions, but many expository songs drag. Malloy's music often feels more coolly intellectual than gripping."
Frequent Business Traveler- Highly Recommended
"Few theatergoers have seen something as lavish and as complicated as this...'The Great Comet' is immersive theater at its finest...Despite the warnings of a dizzying array of names and people, since the characters sing points of narration and make clear whom they are referring to, the story is easy to follow...The pageantry is simply spectacular and it all makes sense in the end."
Theatre Reviews by John Clum- Recommended
"Chavkin and her designer Mimi Lien have created a thrilling piece of environmental theater...My problem with the musical is that, except for Pierre's music, beautifully sung by Josh Groban, and a song Sonya has about her relationship with her sister, I don't care much for the music...Little is melodic in a conventional sense. Malloy's lyrics often seem to be more prose than poetry...As always in New York, the cast is brimming with talent...It's great theatre, less great musical theatre."
Broadway World- Recommended
"Director Rachel Chavkin's brilliantly joyous and sneakily subversive mounting of ‘The Great Comet,' an infectiously lively musical…Josh Groban supplies the attention-grabbing star name and does a fine job anchoring the festivities with gravitas…Denée Benton's Natasha revels in the spotlight much of the time and she reflects it luminously with a lovely voice and a glowing presence...Let this dazzling show fill your spirits all night long."