Arvada Center's The Great Comet Is a Theatrical Reflection on War and Humanity

As the lights dim and the first notes of the prelude to Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 resonate through the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities' black-box space, audiences are immediately drawn in by a line that sets the tone for the entire performance: "There's a war going on out there somewhere."

At first the introduction could simply be seen as an innocuous reference to Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, on which the musical is based. But it also stands out in today's context, when the specter of war is a reality affecting millions around the globe. With more than 45 armed conflicts currently active, including the high-profile confrontations between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Palestine, this line from the musical's opening song reflects the unsettling truth that war is a persistent presence in human civilization.

"Our director, Lynne [Collins], talked about the ongoing wars being such a crucial aspect of why she wanted to do this show," says Bella Hathorne, who plays Natasha. "We're all aware of what's happening in the world, even when it's not right in front of us. Everything we do is reckoning with, ‘How much am I going to think about this today?' This show follows very wealthy, privileged people who are essentially ignoring the war and choosing to party, fall in love and drink. They felt like the world was ending at this point in history, and I think that many of us today feel like the world is ending.

"But our lives go on, and we do what we can," she adds. "It is great to have something that pokes fun at how the privileged fetter away their lives while the world is ending in a lot of places and there's no way not to look at it."

This acknowledgment of war's shadow over the characters' lives invites audiences to reflect on how they navigate their own lives during global turmoil. Written by Dave Malloy, the musical is a daring adaptation of a seventy-page section of Tolstoy's epic novel, focusing on the young Countess Natasha Rostova's affair with the roguish Anatole Kuragin as well as the introspective journey of Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count. "Apparently, Leo Tolstoy can really write; people should really be talking about that," quips Brett Ambler, who plays Pierre. "But seriously, it's an incredible story with wildly different music than what I was used to hearing from a Broadway score. I also love actor-musician shows, so the fact that most of the actors were also going to be instrumentalists was so interesting to me."

With a fourteen-person cast that includes local favorites — such as Ambler, Nicole deBree, Anna Maria High and Neyla Pekarek (formerly of the Lumineers) — the Arvada Center's regional premiere of The Great Comet combines pop flavors with Russian folk and classical motifs, set against a wartime narrative of love, betrayal and redemption.

“Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 is unique and requires everyone involved to be playful and bold," says Collins. "A lot of what we do in all aspects of our lives is safe and familiar, and that can be great, but sometimes it’s also great to rock the boat. I am in awe of the imagination and courage that Dave Malloy brought to this piece.

"Imagine his pitch to producers," the director muses. "’I want to turn seventy pages of War and Peace into an electro-pop opera with Russian folk, classical, indie rock and electronic dance music. Audiences will be a part of the play, and actors will play instruments. Oh, and there’s a giant comet!’ The sheer chutzpah of it thrills me. After becoming a 'must-see’ Off-Broadway production [in 2012], it moved to Broadway [in 2016] and earned twelve Tony nominations. I want the Arvada Center audience to experience something so rare.”

The creative team embarked on an ambitious endeavor to re-create Malloy's experiential vision within the center's Black Box Theatre, which has only been used to stage a musical once before — in 2007, for a production of Plaid Tidings. Brian Mallgrave, responsible for scenic design, faced the challenge of creating an environment that not only supported the narrative, but also enveloped the audience in the world of the play. He was inspired by the architecture of European speakeasies and lavish, gilded-age Russian period styles. He describes the process as akin to "interior design rather than a stage set," because he had to decorate every inch of the Black Box.
The rehearsal process was equally intensive and rewarding, fostering a sense of creative synergy among the cast. "We rehearsed for eight hours a day and spent all this time with each other, which was great, because we developed camaraderie and closeness," Hathorne says. A self-professed fan of the show since she was thirteen, Hathorne brings a unique blend of personal nostalgia and professional prowess to her role.

"Natasha is very relatable to a lot of girls and young women; her story has a universal quality to it," she says. "I enjoyed tapping into the way that I was at thirteen or fourteen. It was really nice to kind of reconnect to myself at that age and remember what it felt like to just be in love with everything and everyone — [to] imagine that the world was the magical place that I had hoped it always would be when I was a kid...and then sort of the threat of discovering all the ways that it's maybe not that, but still hoping, really hoping."

As the lines between performers and spectators blur, the production promises a communal experience that transcends the traditional boundaries of theater. The immersive experience begins when you enter the lobby filled with period-accurate seating and music played by live musicians; the space was done by local designer Brian Watson, who also acts in the musical, with assistance from Mallgrave. From here, the audience will enter the theater, where the cast is waiting to greet members and chat with them throughout the performance.
"It's great and kind of refreshing to do a show and not pretend that the audience isn't there," Ambler says. "We're fully aware of them the whole time. The show starts with all the actors coming out as themselves to chat with the audience, warm up their instruments and wander about the house. We drop the idea that we can't see the audience, and it's nice. There’s a lot of moments that are soliloquy sort of songs; traditionally, you might deliver them to the clock at the back of the theater, but here you can just look someone right in the eye and make a real connection. Some people are open to that, and for others, it’s brand-new and kind of startles them."

Hathorne poignantly observes that this experiential endeavor is not a gimmick, but rather a means of fostering a relationship with the audience and prompting reflection on our shared human experience.

"There's no time to overthink when you're just doing it and there are people there — you don’t have an opportunity to be false," she says. "I've also learned that old stuff is still very relevant. Humans are really not that different than we used to be. I read War and Peace, and I researched what the times were like and the way that culture and society influenced these people. Things were so different then, but they were still humans, and the problems they have are so much the same — there’s still a war going on out there. It’s nice to show other people that we are not a lone group of humans going through something unique, but that years ago, people had the same love, fear and existential terror as we have today."

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, through Sunday, March 31, Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, 6901 Wadsworth Boulevard, Arvada. Get tickets at arvadacenter.org.