Great Comet of 1812 at ART- Page 4

[getatme]

Posted: 12/15/15 at 6:24pm

Could someone who has a program possibly post an understudy list? Got to see Lauren Zakrin as both Natasha and Sonya during the last run in New York and I'm curious who the new understudies are. Thanks!

[JBroadway]

Posted: 12/15/15 at 7:11pm

Here's the undertsudy list:

 

For Mary/Sonya: COURTNEY BASSETT; ASHLEY PEREZ FLANAGAN

 

For Anatole: JOSH CANFIELD

 

For Dolokhov/Bolkonsky/Andrey: KEN CLARK

 

For Mayra D/Helene: ERICA DORFLER; LULU FALL

 

For Dolokhov: AZUDI ONYEJEKWE

 

For Pierre/Balaga: NICK GASWIRTH; HEATH SAUNDERS

 

For Natasha: LAUREN ZANKRIN

 

For Ensemble: SASHA HIRSH, LAUREN NOLL, ALI STONER, KYLE VANZANDT, KATHERINE WRIGHT

[getatme]

Posted: 12/15/15 at 9:07pm

Thank you so much!

[downhillskier]

Posted: 12/18/15 at 10:41am

What is the running time? Is there an intermission? Thanks!

[JBroadway]

Posted: 12/18/15 at 10:44am

Can't remember the exact running time but it's something like 2:15 or 2:20. Yes, there is an intermission. 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/18/15 at 10:47am

I saw Lauren Zakrin as Natasha as well. She's great.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 12/19/15 at 1:49am

I do wonder what size theater they'll try and get for this. I mean with Groban attached, I hope they try for something on the Jacobs size of things.

[Capeguy]

Posted: 12/20/15 at 8:49pm

I saw the matinee today. WOW! Loved it. This was a total experience like I've never had in the theater before. The set is literally the entire theater as is the stage. I was lucky to get a seat at a table on the stage. I was served a pierogi as well as a shot of vodka at one point. It was really an amazing event. This could be next year's "Hamilton." If they are going to keep the staging as it is at the A.R.T. (and I hope they do since it's fantastic) -- they will need to find just the right theater. The Circle in the Square would work (if "Fun Home" slumps after the cast change) --  otherwise, it would seem that they need a theater that is all on one level. I don't see how it could work with a balcony. Any thoughts on where it might work???

[JBroadway]

Posted: 12/20/15 at 11:33pm

Some beautiful footage from this production below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tlDnaLucDg

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 10:30am

Also saw this at the matinee yesterday and really enjoyed it.

But it kept reminding me of Pippin, which we missed at the ART and saw on B'way.

 

Both shows are spectacles.  Great sets, amazing costumes, bold performances, dramatic lighting, and lots of singing.

 

Neither has much of a story.  Now I'm not qualified to judge the source material for The Great Comet, but the story you get here is pretty much your standard Russian tale, and you know it's either going to end up with everyone dead (there's a comet!) or star crossed lovers finally finding true love, or a misunderstanding causes everyone to be miserable, and that's pretty much what you get.

 

Was it fun?  Yes.  Was the Pierogi delicious?  I don't know, our row was missed (but we did get a little shaker percussion thing).  Will your neck be sore because there's going to be something going on right behind you?  You bet.  Am I glad we saw this?  Definitely.  But don't go looking for a great story.  Enjoy the entertainment.

[Capeguy]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 1:23pm

The source material is War and Peace by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. It's just one chapter (about 72 pages) from the "huge" book (1,225 pages). Many of the lyrics are actually taken from the book. If you read the character backgrounds in the program -- you'll appreciate the story more.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 1:32pm

It also interpolates some of an earlier segment in the form of the duel between Pierre and Dolokhov, presumably to strengthen Pierre as a character (who really only figures into the 72-page segment at its conclusion).

[Wee Thomas2]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 3:06pm

There were a few things about that duel that reminded me of another dueling sequence currently on B'way.

 

Like, scarily reminiscent, with the sounds.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 3:22pm

Well, the dueling sequence pre-dates Hamilton considerably.

Updated On: 12/21/15 at 03:22 PM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 3:27pm

Kad, you're correct, except:

 

This current production does include a deliberate reference to Hamilton. There's a moment right before the duel where they've added the Hamilton "counting to 10" notes to the accompaniment. I didn't particularly like that decision. I hope they were just playing around with the idea and will decide to take it out for Broadway. 

[Capeguy]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 6:14pm

I still question what NY theater could accommodate the production as it is now at the A.R.T. aside from Circle in the Square? 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/21/15 at 6:59pm

I guess we'll have to wait to see.

[Buddy Plummer2]

Posted: 12/22/15 at 12:43pm

In terms of how they'd accomplish staging this show in a theatre with a mezzanine, the only solution I'd come up with to try and recreate what they have now at ART as much as possible is to do something like what they did for "Holler if ya Hear Me": tear out some of the orchestra and build stadium seating that connects with the balcony. Granted, this could only work in very certain theatres (Walter Kerr might be one of them), and even then, they'd need a theatre with atleast 700/800 capacity in this way.

[slmlbl]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 11:22pm

Finally saw this tonight and I can only rave about this remarkable piece.

I have never seen anything like it. inspiring, innovative, moving, lovely and many other beautiful adjectives. The cast is a wonder and truly create the energy and tone of the piece. The set is a constant surprise and is designed so beautifully. The lighting is perfect and the musicianship is remarkable.

I am purchasing tickets online to see it again from another viewpoint. What a night.

after a rotten few weeks theatrically this is exactly whatI needed to re-invigorate me! 

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/23/15 at 11:31pm

I was there again tonight. ..on stage this time.  And as fun as it was, I felt I missed much more 

 

^ good luck getting additional tickets....looking earlier today, and there were very few left.

 

Funny enough, at dinner, pre-show, the people next to us had seen the matinee.  

 

Edited because autocorrect.

Updated On: 12/24/15 at 11:31 PM

[Capeguy]

Posted: 12/24/15 at 7:55am

I wish they would extend. I would also like to see it from a different perspective. Being onstage was fantastic but it would also be interesting to see it from the front. Unfortunately, the A.R.T. seems to have a very tight schedule so it's probably not possible. We'll just have to wait for the Broadway version...

 

[Kad]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:54am

I saw the ART engagement on Saturday night from a stool in front of the stage on the house left side.

The show is in wonderful shape, and Chavkin made excellent use of the Loeb space. I was surprised to see how many of the traditional theatre seats were killed to put in cafe tables, as well as three platforms where a good deal of action occurs. I am still somewhat baffled by how they will make this work in a Broadway house, but excited to see the attempt.

Tweaks to the firat act now bring more focus on Pierre, both in minor things such as staging and the major addition of his new solo (which is excellent). The extended dance sequence after "Balaga" is fun but seems like something that can be trimmed, being extraneous and stopping the action cold.

The cast was uniformly excellent- the returning actors have only gotten better and the new additions fit perfectly. I hope they're retained for the Broadway engagement.

The pierogis were pretty inedible, but obviously I wasn't there for the pierogis. I was there for the tremendous, thrilling, and moving production, and it delivered in spades. The show really filled the space without losing any of its magic.

[KCW]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 12:26pm

I saw it recently and the show is amazing (surprise), and contrary to some I can not see the show in either the Vivian Beaumont or Circle in the Square it feels like it would loose something, even just in the opera scene. Take any proscenium, convert the orchestra to the stage, put in those three rows that just go over the seats, add a few lamp / table combinations, hang the velvet and pictures, ask Mimi Lien to adjust it to the size of the theater (maybe move the stools a bit closer and add another sunken lounge) and you would have the magic that just happened at the ART. The proscenium helps for the show not to be lost in a space, and yet the show still stays the same. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/16/16 at 1:09pm

Lifetime is presenting a 4 part War & Peace mini series, starting on the 18th.

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 1/17/16 at 1:56am

RE: Lucas Steel ... I disagree with anyone who thinks he's miscast. He's PERFECT. Oh. My. Lawwwddd... what a hunk of a man, lol. 

@themysteriousgrowl - just cause you're not attracted to the hot young type doesn't mean they're not hot still... I personally have never understood the allure of burley older men with scruff... but I have to put up with it any time a "russell crowe" type gets cast as the leading man in a movie or show. To each his own.