It's one of the few shows I really wish I could see again, not just because I like it, but because I missed all the cool stuff I didn't see the first time.
Everyone has talked about the cast, and Great Comet - because performers were around you no matter where you sat - created a bond (if you let it happen). The guy who played the violin and flirted with my wife, hey, there he was at the top of the stage in the Tonys performance! Gelsey Bell threw us pierogis. Everyone has these stories, and some of you lucky folks have multiple, better ones.
But here's something that I appreciated about the show that has nothing to do with its diversity, or the cast, or all the fun.
Dave Malloy created a musical that got the audience playing along as co-conspirators and then pulls out the rug. We're on the side, during a significant part of the show, of the irresponsible, dissolute Russian nobility. We laugh along with or enjoy Dolokhov, ghostwriting love letters to Natasha; with Anatole, who has almost no redeeming qualities except for a little self-awareness; with the nasty seductress Helene. It all culminates with the "The Abduction," and then Marya brings the whole egg-shaking party to a screeching halt.
From then on, we're watching a tragedy and a small but important redemption story. The show, in the end, is about Pierre's depression, and his way to find a little way out of it while helping someone else (even if he has more than a little crush on that person). The last two songs drive that home in a way that felt more relevant and moving to me than any musical or play I've seen in a very long time. I lingered around the theater for a while afterward, complimenting an ensemble member, chatting with a woman we'd met, looking again at the beautiful set design from a different perspective. It is a very special show.
Updated On: 9/2/17 at 05:20 PM
