Everyone here's already made great points, and it seems like several of us were at the same performance last night. I should preface my comments by saying again that I saw the show three times in NYC, so I'm pretty familiar with the Kazino staging and the original lyrics/music. So I can't help but compare this version to that one, and if anyone else who saw it in NYC is curious about the changes made for this version, I can address those. Please forgive me, because I already know this is all going to come out long-winded, because there's so much to say!
I saw the show twice this weekend, on Friday night and on Saturday night. When I saw it on Friday, we were sitting in the last row of the center section of the normal proscenium theater seating, right in front of the lighting(?) booth. On Saturday we were sitting onstage, in the right sunken pit. Both seats were great, for different reasons. In a way, the show is actually now two different shows, depending on where you're sitting. There's always been that debate between those who prefer to see a show from up close, to see the actors' expressions and feel like part of the action, and those who prefer to see a show from farther back, say, the front mezz, in order to get a better view of the overall stage picture. On Friday I saw the latter show, and it was amazing. On Saturday I saw the former show, and it was also amazing. The major overall difference in the staging is that it's actually quite symmetrical in some ways, centered on a main island where musical director Or Matias and Pierre sit with the piano, drums, keyboards, and bass (this island had formerly been positioned on the side of Kazino), and the grand entrance/exit door (previously set at one end of Kazino) was centered on the back wall of the stage, over that main island. This meant that lots of important stage moments occurred at center stage, whether upstage or downstage. So if you're going to sit in the proscenium seating, the center section is definitely preferable to get the full lighting and stage effects. There were moments I saw perfectly on Friday night that I missed on Saturday because of sight lines, but the atmosphere in the onstage seating is so electric that it makes up for any missed views, and the actors make it great since they're all so earnest and comfortable making contact with the audience onstage.
Overall, I thought this staging was an excellent adaptation to the inevitable challenges of a proscenium set-up. They did their best to scatter the (much larger) ensemble throughout the theater, not only in the aisles but also on top of long, narrow ledges they had built on top of some of the rows of seating. There were three of these platforms in the audience: two shorter ones about a third of the way up each side section, and one longer one along the back of the center section of seating. Even in the back row of the proscenium seating, I felt included in the action, so that's a good sign. But as Kad says, I did wonder how I would feel if I were seated in a mezz section of a Broadway house...
As for the cast, they're on the whole excellent. The newcomers are all doing beautifully up there, and seem well integrated with the old hands. Denee Benton is so sweet and charming, and though I did think Philippa Soo had a stronger belt at the top of her range, I really thought Denee acted the hell out of the role, especially her final scene, perhaps even better than Philippa's acting. Scott Stangland is quite a good Pierre, with a burly physicality and a constantly pathetic and harried look that really helps his characterization. I liked him on Friday, but I thought he was absolutely killing it on Saturday. He's got a beautiful voice when he has to transition to the gentler singing sections towards the end of the show, which is always something I think is pretty important for a Pierre to get right. The ensemble is on fire up there, as always. Nick Choksi (Dolokhov) and the musical director Or Matias alone are so full of energy they could be a Red Bull commercial: they just look like they're having the time of their lives up there. Paul Pinto (Balaga) and Gelsey Bell (Mary Bolkonsky) are still working their asses off in about five different roles each, and the Preparations/Balaga sequence in Act II has been extended and enhanced into a straight-up showstopper. Grace McLean (Marya Dmitrievna) was as amazing as she's always been in this show, and she seemed to be really popular with the audience. I'm still in awe at her ability to shriek out those lines show after show without blowing out her voice!
As for the differences between this production and the previous off-Broadway version, as others have already mentioned above, the main differences are a new solo for Pierre, some rewrites for the beginning of "Sunday Morning," and alterations to the end of "The Duel" to provide a better transition into Pierre's new solo, which comes after the duel. To be more specific: the new transition after the duel cuts the bits between Anatole and Helene, which are then scattered throughout a few other scenes, and replaces them with a few different lines between Anatole and Helene and some more lines between Anatole and Pierre, before Pierre goes home to reflect on the ****ty state of his life. To be honest, when I saw the show on Friday, I didn't really see the need for this Pierre solo, since it covers some of the same ground that his intro solo already covers. But when I saw it for the second time on Saturday, something about it came to life more for me, whether because Scott Stangland was more into it (he was really feeling it Saturday night!), or because I had gotten more used to it once I knew what to expect, or maybe because I was sitting closer and got a better perspective of his acting of the scene, but I liked it more the second time around. The alterations to "Sunday Morning": they basically cut Sonya's lines from the beginning of the song and replaced them with lines for her that refer to a part in the book where she and Natasha play a game where they look into mirrors and try to see their futures in the mirror. (This had already been vaguely referenced in "Letters" in the off-Broadway version: "I see nothing but the candle in the mirror / No visions of the future..." so the additions to "Sunday Morning" clarify those lines a bit more.) From there, "Sunday Morning" then transitions into the remainder of the song, from Natasha's lines, "I suffer more now than before! / The theatre and Anatole..."
In addition to these more substantial changes, there are minor alterations to lyrics and notes scattered throughout the show, notably a number of lines dropped in various parts. The argument scene between Natasha and Sonya at the top of Act II has a few lines or parts of lines missing, as does "The Private and Intimate Life of the House." Pierre's verse in "Letters" is slightly altered in notes and lyrics. When I saw the show on Friday, I wasn't sure if they had just made mistakes in some of these parts, but the second time I saw the show, it became clear that these lines were simply being cut. Not sure why in most cases, but there must be some reason for the changes that I couldn't figure out. They bothered me a bit at first, since I'm so familiar with the off-Broadway cast recording and dropping some of these lines seemed to muddle the rhythm of some of these sections. To give just one example that stood out to me, when Natasha's arguing with Sonya, originally she sings, "I don't know what the reasons are, but there must be reasons! / Sonya, one can't doubt him, one can't, one can't, don't you understand?" which had a lovely rhythm going. Now it's more simplified, and she sings, "I don't know what the reasons are, but there must be reasons! / Sonya, one can't doubt him, don't you understand?" which sounds more awkward to my ear. But again, what do I know? Ultimately, most were minor changes that weren't too bothersome.
On Friday we actually had the creatives sitting next to us in our row, Rachel Chavkin and a few others, and they were taking notes, while on Saturday we had Dave Malloy sitting in our section onstage (having a blast, it seemed!), so I imagine we'll see some tweaking as the production keeps developing here at A.R.T. If there are tweaks needed, they should only really be minor ones, because this thing already plays like a well-oiled machine. As others have said, the sound design could be improved, but maybe the immersive nature of the piece makes it difficult to perfect? I was actually really impressed on Friday with how sensitive and sophisticated the microphones were, that in scenes like the finale scenes I could hear even the quietest sounds from my back-row seats.
So I guess what I'm saying is...it was beautiful, both days, from both locations. :) If you go see this, I really don't think there's a bad seat in the house. Enjoy!
Updated On: 12/13/15 at 05:55 PM
So I guess I would say, yeah, I found the mood easy to get into. But again, your mileage may vary. If you think you'd be easily embarrassed or overstimulated, you could always try for seats in the first couple rows of the normal proscenium seating, but the atmosphere onstage, despite occasional odd or blocked sight lines, is quite unique.
